How To Handle Thorny Clients

From the sitepoint tribune newsletter (via the aigadc listserv). there's a lot of truth in here.

http://www.sitepoint.com/newsletter/viewissue.php?id=2&issue=411

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How To Handle Thorny Clients

Let's digress from the Marketplace this week. I have something more interesting!

Over the last year my business has enjoyed a significant leap in revenue and profitability. This increase came at a time when we initiated what we called the "No Jerks" clause.

It works like this: if you're a client of ours and you become too demanding or unreasonable, then we stop doing business with you. Not in a mobster kind of way, but in a gentler "we don’t think we can help you anymore" kind of way.

The "No Jerks" clause has some fantastic benefits, eliminating:

* time wasters
* unprofitable clients (such clients usually aren't!
* clients who don't help us grow our business

This way, we have more time to spend on clients whom we like and work well with, and who are valuable. This leads to better service, happier customers, greater profits (because we can charge more due to the increased value), and referrals to like-minded, quality prospects go through the roof. It's a no-brainer.

Here's the one strategy that these thorny clients seem to use: "If you can produce a cheap web site for me now, I'll give you lots of work in the future and heaps of business referrals."

Right there is the biggest red flag for you not to waste any more time on this prospect and move on. Life's too short and business is too demanding to have to deal with people who just want to fleece you.