Bad clients to avoid and how to spot them early, for companies and freelancers

[Laszlo Ary]

Here is a list others and I experienced in the past decade and learned it the hard way:

1. Commitment Phobic

When you ask your regular 50% in advance payment. They say “Let me get back to you” and then never do.

2. Trivial Pursuits

Belittles the work with descriptors like: “it's just”, “ a simple edit”, “something quick”, “throw together”, “not hard”.

3. Empty Promiser

Promises exposure, future opportunities, and referrals to get a lower price

4. Family Guy

Has always someone in their family with incredible artistic talent “I know someone who can do it for less”

5. In-decider

“I'll know it when I see it” or brings a second opinion from a non-professional

6. Time Traveller

Needed it yesterday. Always in a rush. Last-minute procrastinator, poor project and time manager. Their emergency becomes yours.

They are the ones who will procrastinate your payment too!

7. Bottom feeder

Ultimate bargain hunter. Has an abundance of time to shop around for the lowest bid. Haggles over small amounts of money.

8. Buzz hype-year

Uses too many buzzwords like: global, epic, never-before-seen, revolutionary, viral, lit, paradigm-shifting, evergreen, epochal.

9. Neo

Dodges direct questions, gives vague and inconsistent answers. Won't give you vital information for you to do a good job.

10. First-time discounters

Never worked with you before and immediately asks for a lower price as a “trial”.

11. Never do test jobs!

I am seeing and experienced this at the local market and this is upmost the most disgusting! (even here among job posts)

A company that asks you to do free test jobs in the hope that you will get their job despite having a portfolio is the worst.

Test jobs deteriorate the market, have zero respect for the industry and for creatives. This is a very bad sign if a company asks you to prove yourself to them. Work for free. As well the decision will be based on subjective perceptions like: I like this image, I don't like this image, rather than a design based on strategy.

They don't even bother getting back to you after you devoted your time to them, as well as they will look down on you and see you as a homeless beggar, and even if they accept your work, they will force you to sign a contract that will be only beneficial to them and not to you and for a lower salary. Because they don't care if you are just a graduate hoping to get work, or lost your job because of covid, or the industry is just fell over. Even if you remained without a job, if you do free test job you will regret it later and will be just a waste of your precious time what you will never get back!

They don't value and respect your time and just want to get another option and they already evaluating you from a low perspective.

12. If you see if a client does not keep their word even in their most trivial thing like promised you to call you and did not, or did not messaged back to you, promised to start the project and never did, or coming back with shady excuses and lies, is a good sign that he/she will be a problem later whom you cannot trust to form a good business relationship

13. Someone who offers you a share, instead of payment

They do this only because they don't believe that their product will be successful, otherwise they would never give you a share

The solution is just a polite we are not a good fit and let go, otherwise you will regret it later.

(Sources: my experience and Chris Do, The Futur)

Feel free to add yours. 

[MATRADI]

Very good!

Let me add something more (maybe a little redundant)

14. That client that “knows what doesn’t want when he sees it” (i.e. when YOU show your work to them)

15. The client that spends a whole month thinking if he wants to do something or not, and when he finally decides it, he tells you that he wants the work done on the next week.

16. The client that doesn’t check your work in progress, because “it’s a work in progress”, so that he delegates this task to the secretary, or anyone else.

When you send the work completely finished, then he tests, checks it… and tells you that there are A LOT of things wrong, so that you have to almost begin again from scratch.

(Based on a 27-year experience)

[Wolfgang Himmelfarb]

3. Empty Promiser

haha we often get the "I'm sure we will work together again" or 'we have this other project coming up for you" and really just want more revisions or to extend the deadline. And they never follow through ? NEVER

oh! this one too! :

17. The Fake Deadline : just as the project deadline arrives... "we have great news, the real deadline is in three days. Lucky for you because we know all you want to do is continue work on our architecture. your dream come true."

 

[neil poppleton]

i'm sure most can relate to all these points. great selection.

we recently quoted for a 3 week production period on a large scheme, was issued to client friday, whom asked what could be done for his presentation on the tuesday.

needless to say we didn't land the job or wanted to......