This article with tips to avoid bad clients is by Julie Barlow and Jean-Benoît Nadeau, authors of GOING SOLO: Everything You Need to Start Your Business and Succeed as Your Own Boss.
Every freelancer has clients who don’t pay on time or don’t pay at all. They cook up stories about invoices blowing off their desks or getting lost. They ghost you when you insist on being paid.
The best way to deal with these clients is to avoid them in the first place. Bad clients may be a fact of life for self-employed workers but spotting them quickly will save you a lot of headaches.
Here are eight ways to avoid bad clients
Prevention is the best medicine
You can usually detect an unreliable client early on. Start by asking basic questions about the job. Does the client really know what they want? Are their expectations realistic? Is the deadline do-able? Do they agree to pay you on delivery, or agree to a payment schedule? If the client gives vague answers, or is evasive, that’s a red flag. If they say, “let’s see how things go,” before they agree to a fee or conditions, you should reconsider working for them. They are not going to be reliable or keep their word.
Beware of fancy talk
When potential clients use grandiose and unnecessary terminology, or speak in monologues that sounds rehearsed, beware. Fancy speeches are designed to intimidate you and/or hide the fact that a client doesn’t know what they want. If you keep negotiating, be firm, use short, clear sentences, and expect your client to do the same. Don’t leave things up in the air. Clients must commit to specific assignments.
Don’t believe anyone who flatters you
This is especially key for self-employed workers in creative fields. When a client says you are a “natural,” they are probably trying to get you to lower your price. If they say that your work must be “effortless” or that “you must really enjoy what you do,” they are trying to get you to work for less, or for free. Stay away from them. Working creatively is neither effortless nor natural. It’s work.
Take the time you need
A client might have a good reason for wanting to get things done quickly, but that’s not your problem. Always take your time when you are negotiating, especially if your client is in a rush. Rushing you to start work before the terms of a contract have been agreed on puts you in a weak position. Clients who do this may spring new conditions on you when work is underway. Beware of anyone who says, “it shouldn’t take you long.” It almost always does.
Get it in writing
It’s the Golden Rule for self-employed workers: always try to have a signed contract before you start working on a project. But emails with information about fees and conditions also prove the existence of an agreement. It’s tempting to trust people but if they are trustworthy, they will understand that you need your fee and conditions in writing before you start working.
Keep it professional
Working for friends can be a trap. Sometimes your friend is not the person who makes decisions. That can lead to nasty surprises along the road. Or, if things get complicated, your friend might use their relationship with you to get concessions. If you work for a friend, keep it professional and remember the Golden Rule: get it in writing. Explain that their friendship is valuable, but the deal could fall through if they change jobs. If they are actually a friend, they will understand.
Never turn the other cheek
When you are self-employed, your client is not your boss. They are your customer. And no, the customer is not always right. You don’t gain anything by letting a client take advantage of you. Your job is to deliver a good or a service, and theirs is to support you while in your work, and to pay you. There is no justification for late payments, so never start a second contract with a client—especially a new one—until you have been paid for the first job.
Act on it
When clients who don’t pay, the first instinct of self-employed workers is to take legal action or threaten to. In most cases, legal action costs more than it’s worth, not to mention the stress and time it requires. But that doesn’t mean you should do nothing. Start by sending your client a simple written reminder. This often does the trick, but if not, follow up by sending a formal notice by registered mail, instructing them to pay you what they owe. Just lay out the facts: you delivered the product or service, you haven’t been paid, your customer owes you X amount, and the deadline is Y. If nothing else, you send the message that you really mean business and are getting prepared to take the next steps, if necessary.
Avoiding bad clients starts with listening to your gut. When problems happen, you almost always think back to a red flag you ignored. Thinking preventively might require a little extra work, but any successful self-employed worker will agree: it always pays off to save your energy for the best clients.
Also on Story Board from Julie Barlow and Jean-Benoît Nadeau
- Eight ways to keep things simple for freelance writers
- 16 ways to say no as a freelance writer (and why you would need to)
- 8 strategic tips for taking time off as a solopreneur