3 Things that Clients Hate the Most (and how to avoid them)

I have worked as both a freelancer and a client. I also have many friends who work as freelancers or regularly hire them. As a result, I have a pretty good grasp of what clients like and don’t like, and in my experience, these are the things that they hate the most.

1. Silent Deadlines

If you’re about to miss a deadline, inform the client. If you miss a deadline, tell them immediately and provide them assurances as to when the work will be delivered.

Photo by?Towfiqu barbhuiya?on?Unsplash

I have worked with good and bad freelancers in my career. The good ones will rarely (if ever) miss a deadline. When they do, they’ll let you know in advance or on the dot.

The bad ones, however, will not message you beforehand or afterward and will simply wait for you to query them.

It’s a frustrating habit, but it’s surprisingly common. I don’t know why they do it, but I can only assume that they are burying their heads in the sand in the hope the issue will go away. In many cases, it’s harmless, as the client can find an alternative. But sometimes, that deadline is strict for a reason and if it’s not completed, the client will lose out.

Don’t let that deadline pass without an apology and never wait for the client to contact you before you provide an alternative timeframe.

2. Lying

I was once contracted to compile an app that involved a lot of basic questions and answers. It was a simple job that entailed finding facts and rewriting them in a Q&A format. I was working on other aspects of the project, so I searched for freelancers to help with the writing.

Photo by?Jametlene Reskp?on?Unsplash

The first one I hired spoke very limited English, but as it was a trial project for 10 questions, I knew I wasn’t risking much. After 30 minutes, he sent me the completed project — a page of excellent writing without a single mistake.

Upon checking the page, I found that many of the words were hyperlinked, and those links pointed to Wikipedia pages. After running a plagiarism check, I discovered it was a 100% match for a Wikipedia page. Not only had the “writer” copy and pasted from Wikipedia, but he couldn’t even be bothered to remove the hyperlinks!

I politely approached him with this issue and reminded him they needed to be original, and he insisted they were. He sent me message after message after message. First, he insisted they were legitimate. Then, before I even had a chance to reply, he began giving me a lecture on how he was an honest and hard-working writer and I should be ashamed of myself for suggesting he had plagiarized.

He sent over 500 words of instant messages before pausing and letting me reply. When I told him about the hyperlinks and plagiarism checker, he blocked me and disappeared off the platform.

He was not the exception. I have had many run-ins with freelancers who cheat and then lie about it, and they aren’t even the worst ones.

The worst offenders are the ones who reel off the excuses and get so lost in their lies that they forget what they’ve told you.

One guy killed four grandmothers and two mothers over a 6 month period. I kept giving him a chance because I felt bad for him, but in the end, he’d gone to so many fictional funerals that he didn’t have time to do any work.

Clients know when you’re lying because they‘ve heard it all before. If you forget to complete a project, tell them. They lead busy lives as well. They know how easy it is to forget projects. If you don’t intend to complete it, tell them, and let them find an alternative. Nothing angers a client more than freelancers who drag their feet for weeks and then disappear.

For example, I once worked with a freelancer who missed a deadline but informed me that the work was completed, they just needed to return home and send it. “It’ll be there tonight,” they promised. Two days later, it still wasn’t there, and they told me that they were on vacation and would be back the next day.

This continued for over 3 weeks, so long that they forgot their initial excuses. We went from the initial, “It’s completed, I just need to return home” to “I just need to edit it and send” and then to “I was ill, but it’s half-finished” to “I was in an accident, but I’m going to start tomorrow”.

It’s infuriating as a client and it’s something that every client has experienced. If you want their respect, be honest with them.

3. Unreliability

Freelancers need to be good at what they do, that goes without saying. A freelance writer needs to have a good grasp of the English language. A designer should know how to use certain software and have an eye for style. But most importantly of all, freelancers should be reliable.

Photo by?Markus Winkler?on?Unsplash

My experience as a freelancer and a client means I’m often approached by friends who insist they can do the same thing and ask for my advice.

In one example, a friend of mine insisted he could make it as a freelancer based on talent alone. When I reminded him that he was always late, usually forgot appointments, and was the most unreliable person I knew, his response was along the lines of, “But I’m good, so clients won’t mind.”

For months he adopted this approach until one day I’d had enough. I gave him the details of a successful freelancer I know and asked him to help with creating a profile and getting work for my friend. After two weeks, my talented friend got his first major contract. Within 3 months, he’d accumulated a 1-star rating on Upwork and had given up.

As it turned out, the clients really did mind.

It doesn’t matter how good you are because there are always freelancers who are just as good, if not better. Clients know this, and so they don’t have patience for freelancers who are constantly late, always get things wrong, and never respond to messages.

Your goal is to make a client’s life easier, and so you need to be reliable.