Client Relations – The Ups And Downs Of Freelance Writing

Freelance writing clients, ya gotta love ‘em. You want to hug them when they put money in your Paypal account and you want to strangle them when they send you a fresh set of revisions for the project they promised was the “final final” version last week. Managing clients is one of the most difficult things we do as freelance writers. Finding balance can be a tough task.

Think about what your first client contacts are usually like. Chances are you are fresh and shiny – after all, you are putting your best foot forward because you want the work, right? There is a good chance that they are fresh and shiny as well. They are cautiously optimistic that they may have found the right person for the job. It sure would be grand if things just scooted along that way from beginning to end.

There are certainly times when things are marvy and the honeymoon never really ends. I have a client or two like that and we’ve enjoyed a wonderful relationship for years. We’ve settled in and gotten comfortable. We know what to expect from them and they know what to expect from us. All parties are happy and things move right along. Oh, my kingdom for a client list filled with nothing but these kinds of clients. One can always hope.

On the other side of the spectrum we have… Well, you know. It’s like getting to the honeymoon suite and having your new husband walk out of the bathroom wearing just his boxers, picking his nose with one hand whilst scratching his butt with the other. Oy, the honeymoon is officially over. Some client relationships diminish just that quickly. Some do make it a bit further down the path, and then something awakens the client beast. Dr. Jekyl steps out for a cuppa and Mr. Hyde comes roaring in.

Now you’re kinda stuck. You’ve probably gotten a good percentage of the project complete and all of a sudden you start getting lead in your belly when you see their emails show up in your inbox. What’s a freelance writer to do?

Option “A” is to sally forth. Hold your nose and do everything in your power to get the danged thing done so the CFH (client from hell) is out of your life. Up to a certain point, this is doable. It ain’t easy, but it can be done. Take the high road, ignore the idiosyncrasies of the client and look forward to sending the final bill. I have to warn you though, this can have repercussions. I have a client who went from pleasant to enormous pain in the ass in near record time. I took the head down, nose to the grindstone tack and was pleasant and accommodating the whole way. This resulted in – you guessed it, now he wants me to tackle his next project. My wallet says, “Yay!” My head is saying, “Hmm, should I hand-write or type my suicide note?” The good news is that before accepting another project from the client I can custom tailor a new contract that addresses all of the issues that were issues during the first gig.

Option “B” involves a very direct approach. This can be tough. Hopefully you have a pretty solid contract on file that rescues you from the worst of the possible client offenses. If so, gentle reminders to the client about what is included in the quoted price are probably in order. The ball is then in their court and they can either pony up the dineros or they can settle down and let you do the project as agreed. Chances of success are in your favor if you handle this one well.

The handling of client relations can be one of the hardest things us freelance writers do. I’m curious about how other freelance writers handle the tough ones. Do you have client stories to share?