Do Not Cross This Line

Have you ever had a client that kept crossing your boundaries, that pushes your limits, and maximises scope creep to their advantage?

I know I’ve definitely been there before and it’s why I’m now very selective of the clients that I work with.?

Deep down we all know that the truth of loving what we do comes back to the people that we work with. And this includes making sure that our clients are people that we love to work with.?

So what do you do when you have a client that really pushes your buttons? One that you’d rather not be working with??

Well, the easy answer would be, let them go.?

But what if even after you’ve let them go they come back because they still want to work with you??

This was the predicament that one of my clients found themselves in and asked what they should do at my recent Mastermind event. To which they learned there is an elegant solution to this situation. When asked why they would consider taking this client back on, it was all about the financial benefit.? And when asked if it would matter if the client didnt come back, the answer was a flat ‘not at all’.?

When you think about a difficult client, consider all the extra hours you spend stressing about the work for this client. The extra time it takes you to prepare for meetings. Extra hours are spent re-doing parts of the project or service because they simply want more. Maybe even consider what fee would actually make some of the pain worthwhile. When you go back to this client with your proposal, make sure to charge them for those extra hours. And if you think it’s appropriate charge double for those extra hours.?

This is what was lovingly named in the Mastermind room as the ‘DH tax’ (I’m not going to expand on the acronym here but if you can't work it out and want to know feel free to message me ). It’s basically a price that if the client says NO, that’s okay because you didn’t want to work with them anyway. But if they say YES, there’s more than enough to compensate for all of the extra work you’ll be doing for just this one client.?

But what if you are still emotionally invested in the outcomes of this client and upping your prices simply isn’t enough to cover the cost of the stress and time you expend??

Here are 3 tips for handling difficult clients;

1. Stick To Your Boundaries.? Let those difficult clients know every single time they overstep a professional boundary. Whether it’s expecting out-of-scope work, expecting you to be available 24/7, or expecting you to continue work without a proper brief or agreement, let them know. If after 3 warnings they are still continuing this behaviour let them know that a fee will be charged the next time out-of-hours work needs to be completed.
2. Be Prepared To Walk Away. Many times difficult clients will push your buttons to see exactly how far they can push before you snap. If you notice this pattern of pushy behaviour you need to be prepared to walk away. That’s why it’s important to nail your market positioning and implement attraction-getting strategies to always have a steady stream of leads so you aren’t bound to the client for the sake of cash flow.
3. Decide Where Your Limit Is. Find a hard limit that means that you will walk away from difficult clients. As much as we believe that restating our boundaries and keeping things professional will be enough to protect ourselves from becoming emotionally or mentally drained, sometimes it isn’t and the only path forward is to fire the client.?

At the end of the day, a client only has power over you if you aren’t prepared to walk away, so what all of these steps are preparing you to do is to realise you’ll be okay with or without that client in your life.?

If you’ve been dealing with a handful of difficult clients and want to create more secure cash flow for your business so you can leave them in the past, reach out, and let’s have a chat. Because difficult clients don’t need to be part of your business story or legacy.? Attracting your ideal A Grade clients - the clients you love to work with, doing the work you love and in the way you want to work - is.?

Janine x

When you are ready to start growing your business or practice, here are a few ways I can help.\

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