So, it’s the weekend and you’re finally able to binge watch the whole season of Game of Thrones that you’ve been saving up for the whole month. You got your bag of chips at hand and your cat cuddling up at your feet when baaam! Your phone rings and no, it’s not your mum asking you to come home for dinner. The minute you pick up the phone, you’re bombarded with your client asking for demands on a recent project. Goodbye Game of Thrones and hello to slogging your work over the weekend.
Now, we’ve all been in this situation before. Yes, sometimes it sucks but dealing with difficult clients is part and parcel of work but how difficult is too difficult? Here are the unlucky tell-tale signs of a difficult client.
- The know-it-all jerks. Probably the most common, the know-it-all jerks are so confident of their own abilities and intelligence that they are really quick to shoot down your opinions and expertise if they find it different from theirs. Not to mention, to some extreme they even find your opinions stupid. Ouch! Talk about pride and dignity here.
- They text you and wants your response… ASAP! Yes! Work is done or it’s the weekend. I can finally have my break… and just then… Your phone decided to torture you, again. Dude, seriously? Trying to get some me time here. Wrong! “Hey, can somebody please do content on this and post it now?” Trust me, this happens. All the time. It’s like they are human and we are robots, but perhaps robots with feelings, you feel me?
- Your expertise ignored, and you get the blame when things go south. The most common part of them all? Ignorance and the blame game. “Sure, we can get it done, it is very much deliverable but we need to implement and change some few things here and there.” Your client may answer “okay, do it” but it is never that simple isn’t it? After a few times of listening to your advice, they feel that they know better and no longer optimised your initial purpose; decided to micromanage and order you around instead and when things go south, well, you get the drill…
- Insulting you is second nature to them. “You sure you know how to do this?” Now, that is definitely a clear warning sign that your expertise will not be respected but I am pretty sure this tops it all when they started to use that colourful language; “Your work doesn’t impress me at all! Are you that stupid to not research anything on us? It’s a lazy student work!” Ouch, man… Take a chill pill. You hired me to do what I do best but don’t expect results after one month. It’s not a month project. Rome wasn’t built in a day. You wound me.
- Yakuza mode on because they don’t pay you on time. Your easiest client too, can be your hardest when they fail to show the respect you deserve. Dealing with someone who fails to pay on time sure can stress you out and throw you off balance. “Sorry for the late payment. It was a long holiday and we can only pay you a week after that.” Talk about being an ah long. Maybe that works too, right?
So, if you are reading this, and all these warning signs are suddenly giving you the chills because you may have experienced it in your past or present, don’t worry. It is the reality of life and without these people, I bet your life won’t be as colourful as it is now. So, take a chill pill bro and enjoy the drama while it lasts… unless it gets too much on your nerve, you will know when is the right time to pull the plug. Cheers!
