While many of us love working in our home office or other alternative venue of choice there will often be times when your projects take you to a client site for an extended period of time. I’ve spent time on and off client sites for a majority of my career, and know it can be difficult for some workers who are used to working from home.

This post offers up a refresher on some client site etiquette in case you find yourself rusty on it as you find yourself making the trudge back to a client site for the short or long term.

• Observe your client’s IT security standards at all times. While many of us take extra pains to secure our home office network and computers from viruses, hackers and malware, you aren’t in charge of IT security once you are on site. So make sure that you receive information from your client about IT security standards that are in place. Unfortunately, this may mean your personal laptop needs to stay in its bag while you rely on client issue equipment.
• Dress the part. My home office dress code in the warm months is a T-shirt and cargo shorts. Colder months my home office dress code changes to jeans and fleece. When you take up residence on a client site, don’t forget to dress the part. Ask about any dress code in place before day one.
• Take advantage of face time. While some people may say that face time with a client is overrated, I believe that it can only benefit you, your client, and the project by helping you both forge a more trusting relationship. Not every organization is ready to hire remote web workers, but the first steps toward an off-site engagement often take place during an on-site project where relationship and trust building can take place. This is also a time for you to show yourself off as a self-sufficient worker — just the kind of worker who can function off-site –and deliver on projects without a lot of supervision.
• Plan for other client communications. If you have multiple clients, being on a client site might make you feel isolated from the rest of your business. So be prudent and ensure that you have your communications with other clients prearranged before you step onto a client site for an extended engagement. For example, if you use your mobile phone as your business line, you are already one step ahead. However, I recommend you scope out some “rabbit holes,” where you can make and take calls privately while on site. Another rule of thumb is to never let communicating with your other clients interfere with your on-site work.
  
• Consider the benefits. While spending time in a cubicle might seem like a sentence worse than death for many of us web workers, it can offer all of us valuable insights into our client’s organization, including identifying the politics, power players, and dynamics which may not be apparent via email, IM session, web conference or conference call. So take advantage of your on-site time to learn as much as you can about these organizational dynamics.
  

Have you spent time on a client site since going independent? Share your favorite survival tips below.

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But, for some reason, it’s not always that straightforward. Some clients might skip questions or answer them incorrectly, while others might want to skip answering the form altogether. Here are some free tools that can make the process easier for both parties:

SurveyMonkey

The first time I heard about SurveyMonkey I knew I could use it to improve the response rate — and the quality of responses — for my client questionnaires. It’s been very useful to me even if I’m only using the free version (the paid monthly plan is $19.95 per month). There are limits to the free version though, such as having only 10 questions and 100 allowed responses per survey. Still, I find that these limits are more than enough for small projects.Your client’s contact information (name, address, email, web site, etc.) is all considered as one question.

One practical feature of this service is that you can identify which questions are optional and which ones are required. When I send out client questionnaires via email, some important fields are often left unanswered, but that hasn’t happened since I started using SurveyMonkey. And, when you’re done working on the project, you can use it to send a client satisfaction survey as well.

Writeboard

Writeboard by 37signals is another app I’ve used for sending client questionnaires. Unlike answering your questions via email, clients don’t have to copy and paste anything or do much scrolling. They just have to type in their answers after each question. This makes it useful for other types of written collaboration as well, such as asking your client to make specific comments on copy, proposals and other text.

Now, why use something like Whiteboard over more feature-rich online writing apps such as Google Docs? First of all, I find that the clean and minimalist interface is more reassuring to clients who aren’t tech savvy. They aren’t worried about clicking the wrong buttons since there’s only one (“Save this Writeboard”). Also, it’s easy to send an invitation that your clients can just click and visit — no need for complex instructions on how to access the app.

The only disadvantage I see is that you can’t analyze client responses collectively and make reports. Still, the simplicity and straightforwardness of the app is enough reason to try it with your more technologically challenged clients.

Your Own Web Site

Alternatively, you can host a questionnaire on your own web site by programming your own form and uploading it. Even if you don’t have programming skills, there are many free apps that can help you do this such as Email Me Form, WuFoo, and MyContactForm. While they also have paid plans, the free plans have enough features for most client surveys.

In the end, the solution you use must depend on your clients. Whichever is easier and faster for them is likely to be the same for you.

What tools do you use to create and send client questionnaires? How have they worked for you?

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No company can function effectively when confronted with clients who operate from a place of fear — which is often at the root of most difficult clients you encounter. You can’t do your job well or be recognized for a job well done when your client contact is inadvertently — or deliberately — standing in your way.

Here are six common “bad client” archetypes that can impede your success. After the definition of each client type, I’ve listed some possible tactics you can use to tame those wild beasts in your client roster.

1. Micro Manager

Description: This person wants to control every aspect of your work. It may feel like they don’t trust what you do or that you can never do your job to their satisfaction, but their obsessive compulsiveness is often driven by fear. They believe that if you make a mistake, it is their neck on the line. So they go through painstaking editing processes, which often delay progress and rack up unexpected expenditures on your part.

Tactics: Understand that the micro manager is operating from a place of fear. Instead of riding their fear wave, have a heart-to-heart and find out what you can do to help them feel more comfortable with your work. Also, express how you weren’t prepared for so many revisions on every aspect of your work and how much it is costing you. Could they train you on how to deliver the work in a way that better suits their needs? In the future, put a clause in your contracts that stipulates the number of revisions included in the deal (say, up to three) with a trigger to charge hourly for each additional round.

2. Panicker

Description: For the Panicker, everything is an emergency. There’s always a fire to put out somewhere, real or imagined. Something is always about to go wrong, and chances are it is all your fault. The Panicker who will suck you into their panic mode if you’re not careful, setting a work tone that can be extremely disconcerting.

Tactics: Panic is also a manifestation of fear. Why is this person so afraid? Maybe there are machinations behind the scenes at their job that you’re not privy to that have set them into panic mode. Your job is to help alleviate their fears. Ask them flat out what can you do to make their job easier, better. What can you empower them with to help them prove to their higher ups that they — and you – are doing a good job. Work with them to bring the panic level down to a minimum so you can all get your work done without raising anybody’s blood pressure.

3. Puppet

Description: The Puppet is not in a power position. Somebody else is pulling the puppet strings, but they have been put out there as your client contact whether they – or you – like it or not. They may be the fall guy for someone else, and if they fall, they’ll inadvertently take you with them. They most likely are inexperienced and may not even understand what you are doing for their company, creating a stream of misunderstandings.

Tactics: If you can’t get to the Puppet Master, then empower the Puppet. They may not even know how their ignorance is undermining your ability to get things done, much less communicate what you’ve accomplished to their boss. Offer to train this person — on your dime — to provide them with enough knowledge so they can play a more productive role as client contact.

4. DIY-er

Description: The DIY-er knows everything, and thinks they can do it all themselves. But somehow you’ve been hired to do what they perceive to be their job. Or perhaps they’ve been charged with cutting corners so they’d rather do some of the work that should be assigned to you in order to save a buck in the short term. Then they proceed to muck things up which could potentially set you up for failure from the start. This person may have backed themselves into a corner by saying they know more than they do, or biting off more than they can chew.

Tactics: There may be a lot of ego involved here — sensitive ego that, in a pinch, will point fingers of blame at you if anything starts to go wrong. It is up to you to make this person look good while not diminishing your own role in a job well done. Give them kudos often — both directly to them and to their team members or boss. Help them shine within their own organization as an important member of your client relationship. Once they view you as an ally and not the enemy, you can actually shift the situation so you can do the work well and everybody wins.

5. Bean Counter

Description: Bean Counters want numbers. They may stand in the way of progress and innovation if they feel they don’t have the numbers they need. Remember that the Bean Counter might have to report to someone else so they feel they need numbers to justify their every move. You’re just caught in the middle of their insecurities.

Tactics: They want numbers? Give them numbers. It may serve you well to do the extra research to find comparable statistics, to develop spreadsheets that calculate growth, to make a few charts to help assuage the fears of the Bean Counter. Yes, this will take you some time to compile the data, so make sure to build that into future contracts. But if it is numbers they want, go the extra mile to get them numbers.

6. Silo-er

Description: Beware the Silo-er. They are the most challenging of bad client types because they are wily creatures. They strategically set themselves up as the conduit by which all of the communications between you and the decision-makers flow. They do this so that if there are successes on a project, they can claim them for themselves. If there are failures, you will be the first one they blame.

Tactics: Without direct and open lines of communications with all the key players on your client’s team, you may become silo’d before you even know what has happened. It is up to you to open up or re-open up those communications channels before it’s too late. Offer to travel to the client’s office — on your dime — to meet with the whole team so you can re-establish key connections. Start requesting that other team members join meetings or calls so that you aren’t at the mercy of a single person. If no amount of overtures on your part work to break down the silo walls, try the last ditch effort of copying other team members on key email correspondence so they are somehow in the loop. Carefully document everything you do and all conversations just in case you’re set up to take the fall at any point.

Every client relationship can be peppered with moments of misunderstandings and disappointments — like any relationship. But without a strategy in place that can help you bring harmony to your client relations, your revenue stream could be negatively impacted by one or more of these bad client types. Ultimately, it is your responsibility to identify and address problems head on because when push comes to shove, you may end up being the one that is most dispensable.

What are some of the bad client types you’ve encountered, and how have you dealt with them?

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We’re often called on to be more than service providers. Sometimes we also have to educate our clients, and even be ambassadors of the worlds of technology and the Internet.

There Are More of Them Than There Are of Us

First example: I launched and manage a social network. On the signup form, one of the required fields is “Tags.” As it turns out, this field is so daunting to some people that they abandon registration at that point. And the question that comes in to customer support the most often — by far — is “What are tags?” (I’ll be making that field optional!)

Second example: I recently met an author who wanted to use a chunk of text from a blog post that someone had emailed him, without including the source. He tried to find the source online so he could cite it, but couldn’t. He didn’t know about putting quotes around text when using a search engine.

Final example, just to point out that it’s not necessarily a generational thing: There is a couple in my building, aspiring fashion photographers in their late 20s. I said something to one of them about Twitter, and he said “What’s Twitter?” These two could really use an online portfolio to show off their work, and they might contact you some day.

The moral of the story is that your clients may have close to zero understanding of things you and I take for granted. So we have to walk a fine line. Here are just a few things to keep in mind:

• Watch your language. You undoubtedly want to dazzle your client with your mastery of your field, but my advice is keep it simple. Avoid the temptation to toss around buzzwords and acronyms. I mean, who would have thought that the word “tag” could be so scary? A lot of people are still using the web for email and Amazon, and that’s about it. People like this, who could end up being your clients, will run screaming from the word “algorithm.”
• Avoid “yes or no” questions. If you ask “Do you know what a CMS is?” and your client has to say “No,” she’ll feel embarrassed. Formulate your questions in such a way that you will, at the same time, give the client some good info and confidence in your expertise, get some useful information from the client as well as a sense of her level of understanding, and avoid making her feel uninformed. For example: “I think a content management system would make sense for your project. It would make it easier for you to do A, B and C. Can you tell me how you’ve handled A, B and C in the past?”
• Tell them only what they need to know. I’m not suggesting that you keep your clients in the dark. Just that you should not bombard them with information at the start. Address the big picture in a general way, and provide more specific info only for the issues at hand over the course of the project.
• Be respectful. People who are technophobic, who live in fear that the Internet will steal their bank account info or their very soul, or who have lifestyles that just don’t include computers are people too! This is where it’s most important to put on your ambassador hat.

An Interesting Side Note

My husband attended an intercultural management seminar a few years ago in which the instructor talked about the differences in American and French approaches to explaining things. Americans tend to operate on the assumption that their listener has no knowledge of a subject, and begin at square one. The French, however, start off explaining things at a more complex level, and they do so out of respect; they don’t want their listener to think that they think he’s ignorant. The point is that if you’re working with clients of another culture, keep in mind that things could be different.

If you have tips for educating clients, please share them in the comments.

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It’s been a week since their last email. After seeing your web site, some leads will contact you asking for more information, a project quote, or links to your portfolio. But after you give them what they need, you might not hear from them for a few days. Then, before you know it, more than a week has gone by and they still haven’t contacted you.

I find that prospects like these are often just shopping around and gathering as much information as they can from multiple freelancers. Many of them want easy answers, such as a hastily computed price quote or a vague list of services. There’s no in-depth discussion of the project. In fact, it’s possible that they haven’t told you what the project really is.

The fix: For cases like this, I find it helpful to ask a question at the end of my first reply email. This leaves the door open for additional incoming communication. You can also suggest a phone or VoIP discussion so that all the important details are covered in one sitting and no one waits around for email replies that may or may not arrive. If your prospect is still avoiding real discussions after you’ve tried these tips, then you shouldn’t be interested in working with them, either.

They keep asking for more of your previous work. You’ve already sent your portfolio and a list of client references, but somehow they want to see more of your previous work. When you send them a link to your web site showing an extensive list of clients, they ask, “Do you have anything else?”

Usually this means they’re looking for something specific and they’re hoping that you’ve already worked on something very similar before. It’s also possible that their project is different from anything you’ve ever done before and they just want to know if you can handle it.

The fix: Instead of just sending out links, why not add a description of what your portfolio means as a whole. For example, you can write something like, “As you can see from samples X and Y, I can create both illustrative and typographical logos.” Also, research their business beforehand so that you’ll know which portfolio items to highlight when they first ask for samples.

They ask you to make “samples.” Sometimes, a prospect might say, “How about you show us three concepts you have for the project and we’ll let you know if we like them?” They’ll call it an audition or a test, but it’s really spec work. Usually, spec work is a sign that the client isn’t interested in you or your skills. They want to see as many ideas as possible, all for the price of zero dollars.

The fix: First, think about whether your prospects are aware of what they’re doing or if it’s simply an honest mistake. If it’s the latter, it’s usually easy to have a conversation about the best work process for both parties. But if you’ve tried to talk to them about it and all you get is, “So what? The three other freelancers we’re talking to will do it,” then they clearly don’t care about your work and what you have to offer.

The project is all talk and no action. I’ve encountered several prospects who’d take the first steps with me — needs analysis, project proposals — but they don’t follow through. They want to have more meetings and discussions. Weeks later, I find that we’ve talked for several hours but nothing has been accomplished.

The fix: When sending documents during the negotiation phase, it’s best to write clear action steps in the form of milestone sheets or schedules. In fact, why not include a “Where do we go from here?” or “Recommended steps” section at the end of your proposals.

Often, clients who don’t show interest in your work or decisions don’t really mean any harm by it. It’s possible that they are just extremely busy or they’re not used to working with freelancers. On the other hand, if you know that you’ve done your end of the work and they still remain indecisive or distant, then it’s time to call the relationship dead before it has even started.

What do you do when your leads and prospects have poor response time or don’t seem engaged enough in the project?

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When one of your more difficult clients contacts you for a new project, how do you work with them again, without repeating the problems you previously had?

Points to Consider

Before you sign up to work with a previously difficult client, there are some issues you need to address.

Refer to the paperwork. If your client is contacting you for support on a previous project, it helps to go over your signed contracts and documents to see whether the new request is within your area of responsibility.

Understand their position. Oftentimes, I’m the only go-to person that these difficult clients have worked with. This is usually because they’re not that tech-savvy or they have a hard time convincing other professionals to take on their projects. With their situation, they just want to get things done as fast as possible. Keep this in mind if they sound frustrated or in a rush when they’re contacting you.

If you’re going to help them out, know why. In my experience, guilt is never a good reason to stay with difficult clients. This is especially true if they are verbally abusive, need 24/7 hand-holding, and don’t value your work. If they’re immature enough, they might try to appeal to your guilt. Just remember not to give in.

Help out your difficult clients only if you believe in the project and if you’re confident that you can learn to foster a better, mutually beneficial working relationship.

Rebuild Your Relationship

Once you decide to work with a difficult client again, make sure that you’ve learned from your previous mistakes and won’t be likely to repeat them. Use the insights you’ve gained from your experience to make the relationship work this time around.

Improve your contract terms to forge a more balanced relationship. Go over the last contract you signed with this particular client. Are the terms clear and easy to understand? Are there any clauses you need to add or modify to protect yourself from being exploited?

Discuss the things that didn’t work out last time and propose solutions for them. If you had to “fire” a client before, they’re probably aware that your working relationship wasn’t smooth to begin with. It’s best to express your concerns and propose ways on how problems can be avoided this time around — without blaming each other for previous mistakes, of course.

Train your client to be more self-sufficient. I used to provide solutions to my clients’ simplest needs even if they were outside the project scope. While there’s nothing wrong with going the extra mile from time to time, constant support for even the most irrelevant tech issues can be a drain on your time and energy. Instead of providing solutions yourself, point them towards the resources that can best empower them to help themselves.

As freelancers, we see ourselves improving and becoming more professional as we gain more experience. Our difficult clients are the same way. It’s reasonable to expect that they, too, can become easier to work over time.

Have you ever had a difficult client go back to you for more projects? If so, did you avoid working with them again or were you able to establish a healthier working relationship?

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Now I keep these warning signs in mind. They’re indicators that I need to take immediate action to keep my project on track. If you’re working remotely, that can be much harder to do than if you have daily face-to-face contact with your colleagues, but hopefully these tips will help you avoid the trap I fell into.

The project had started in the normal way. I took the brief, produced the work, and sent it off in draft form for review with the words, “I look forward to your amendments.” But there were no amendments. My contact at the agency asked for my invoice the same day. I wound up having to chase payment, my contact was avoiding me, and in the end, I only got paid for half the job.

Here are the five warning signs that should have alerted me to the danger.

Warning Sign 1: Moving Away from the Agreed Plan

When I emailed my contact the copy his client had commissioned — a 30-second radio ad — and he had no amendments, I thought it was very odd. I’d included time for client amendments in my project estimate, which he’d approved. We’d also discussed the turnaround time for amendments, so we were both expecting that my ad copy wouldn’t be spot-on the first time.

When his only response to my submission of the draft ad was to ask me to send the invoice, I thought it was weird. Weirder still was that he emailed me this instruction: most of my clients will call to discuss draft copy. In an office, body language and behavior indicates clearly if a colleague is uncomfortable. But even email and phone conversations provide limited feedback.

What I should have done was called my contact immediately after I received his email to confirm that he and his client really had no amendments, and that both were happy to wrap the project up. But at the time I dismissed my unease, telling myself he was probably just busy.

Warning Sign 2: Unprecedented Behavior

No one I’ve ever worked with has accepted copy straight up, without amendments. Ever. So this should have been a huge red flag for me. If a person you’re working with does something you’ve never seen before — and their behavior affects you — check it out with them.

Before you do anything else, give them a call to get clarification about what’s going on. If their behavior has made you at all nervous or uneasy, let them know. By raising the topic, you give them the opportunity to talk about any issues they have — issues that, as in my contact’s case, they may otherwise be uncomfortable raising with you.

Warning Sign 3: Silence

A sudden silence can mean that your colleague has been called out of the office unexpectedly. Or it can mean that they have a problem that they don’t know how to discuss with you.

After I sent my 14-day invoice, I heard nothing from my client — not even an acknowledgment that he’d received it. Again, slightly uneasy, I reassured myself that he was probably busy. What I should have been doing was calling to follow up my invoice and make sure he’d received it.

As it turned out, when I called after the invoice due date and left a message, he didn’t respond. I emailed; no reply. When I called the following week, I was told he’d gone on leave for two weeks. When I was put through to Accounts, they told me there was a problem with the invoice and they’d been instructed not to pay it.

Warning Sign 4: Fast Talking

When I finally spoke to my contact, it was over the phone, and he told me that his client hadn’t liked the copy and they’d had to rewrite it. But he was going into a meeting and couldn’t talk now. He’d see that I “got paid at least part of the invoice,” and then he was gone.

By this time, I knew he wasn’t going to pay. I also knew he didn’t have a meeting. But there was still time to salvage things, had I wanted to. If this happened to me now, I’d ask to stop by the client’s office for ten minutes and discuss the problems with my work. Don’t let a client try to bamboozle you with fast talk or excuses — no matter how much they sugar-coat their story. Discussing the problems can also give you a chance to rectify the situation.

Warning Sign 5: General Unease

It won’t surprise you that all through this process I felt a general sense of unease — one that grew as matters progressed.

Now, whenever I get that feeling, I know I need to try to work out the cause of the discomfort. As my experience showed, it’s tempting to ignore your instincts and hope that things will go the way you’d like. No one likes to be uncomfortable, after all. But if you’re feeling it, you’re feeling it for a reason. Don’t ever ignore it!

If you look at your discomfort more closely, you can usually identify the source of the issue. Then, you can formulate a plan to right matters. Perhaps you’ll explain your concerns, point by point, in an email, and then call your contact to discuss those concerns. Or maybe you’ll make a few decisions about how you’ll move forward on the project, setting boundaries you will and won’t cross, or creating a series of requirements you’ll need to have met before you progress through each deliverable.

These five warning signs now ring alarm bells whenever I encounter them. Being aware of them, and acting on them, has kept me out of trouble since The Job That Went Bad. What warning signs do you watch for in your projects?

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To avoid this problem in the future, I’m reevaluating the way I work with clients. How do I include them in my work process? Can I improve on my current methodology?

So far, here are some points I’ve come up with:

Include your process on your web site. The first thing I noticed was that I failed to set expectations at the earliest stage possible — on my web site. There was nothing on my site about how I performed a needs analysis, did research and reworked drafts based on client comments. I’m going to create a page about my work process as soon as possible. Some good examples include one from Mount Evans Designs and another from Recopy Studio.

Have a milestone sheet and refer to it often. The milestone sheet includes a table that lists all the deliverables required, along with a corresponding deadline for each item. Since you’ll be needing input from the client, whether it’s comments on your work or additional documents, you should include these in the milestone sheet as well. For emphasis, I use a dark red font color for the deliverables that the client is responsible for. I let her know that these items will be coming from her, and that if there’s a delay in sending out those items, the project will be delayed as well.

When I first sent out a milestone sheet some years ago, I didn’t realize that the client didn’t even read it. Be sure to refer to it often, at every stage of the project, so that your client knows what it is for and how to use it.

Choose only the simplest tools. For less technically-savvy clients, I stick to email and instant messaging as our main communication/collaboration tools. I find that if I’m teaching my client too many things at once — from how to use a fancy collaboration app to how to improve their web site copy — they become easily confused and frustrated. Which is more important: (a) getting them to use that new app or (b) that they properly utilize your expertise to better their business?

If use of a specific tool will make a big difference in the quality of your service, then go ahead and teach your client. It’s usually much better if you can find existing video tutorials so that she can learn how to use those tools on her own time, isolated from her consultation with you.

Let them know the consequences of deviating from the process. The first time a client doesn’t follow your process, be clear about what consequences this had on the project. They have to know that if they insist on doing things their way, you won’t be able to meet your deadlines or give them your best work.

End with the important stuff. Whether you’re talking to a client on the phone or sending her an email, always finish with a list of the important things. Let them know what you’ll be submitting next and when they can expect to receive it. You should also go over what you require from the client, and when. Don’t let important details get lost in the middle of a phone call or email.

With that said, it’s always important to keep your cool and remain polite. Don’t sounding bossy or get angry; it will just irritate your client. Remember that your process is about giving the best customer service possible. It’s not just about following a flowchart.

Do your clients respect your work process? Are there any apps, tools or techniques you use to make your work process clear?

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One important benefit of qualifying your clients is that you don’t waste your time.  You get the clients that you want to work with, you’re paid the rate you want, and both parties have realistic expectations.  You don’t spend hours working on a proposal that your client eventually rejects because they realize that you weren’t on the same page after all.  If that scenario sounds familiar, then it’s time to start qualifying.

What criteria can you use to qualify clients?

Price

The easiest way to qualify clients is based on price.  This means that you’re trying to avoid clients who will try to haggle you for prices that are below your bottom line.  While negotiation is part of any business, it’s also important to work with clients who understand your worth.

Does your branding and online presence reflect your price?  If you’re one of the highest-paid online freelancers out there, can your potential clients know that based on your site design?  When they look at your portfolio, do they see that you’re only working with the biggest names in their industry?

The same applies if you want to be the more affordable option, you’d want to make sure that this is reflected in your marketing materials as well.  Your affordable rates should at least be hinted at in your website, if you can’t state exact figures.

Stage of Development

There are businesses that are mature, while there are others that are so new that they’re asking you to design a website when they haven’t figured out their target market yet.  Do you want to work with startups that are still figuring out their identity, or do you want to work with established businesses?  Each has its own set of advantages and disadvantages.

Startups can be exciting because you’re part of the birth of something new, but you might encounter multiple revisions under a low budget as the company tries to figure out what works.  Established businesses, on the other hand, might be more straightforward with what they want, but they may be hesitant to change their old approach to some things, even if this approach does not work.

It’s up to you to judge where you’ll thrive, the conception of something new or the revitalizing of something old?  Incorporate your answer into your branding so that you can be there for new clients during the stage where you can be of most help.

There are also businesses that are under a problematic stage, and they turn to you. If you like these types of challenges, that fine.  But know that while these problems can be simple and superficial, that’s not always the case.

Some problematic businesses are dysfunctional throughout the organization, and yet their owners think that a simple website redesign or a new press release will be a fix-all.  They want hire you because they think you’ll give them better profits, when all you can give them is a band-aid solution.  They actually need stronger marketing efforts, a new image, or a more productive system – something that may be out of your expertise or job description.

Unless you’re an expert at what your client truly needs, you’ll never be able to provide the solution that can help them the most.

Branding

When qualifying your clients based on branding, you’re judging the character of their business because you want it to match your own.  The benefit of qualifying clients on this level is that you truly understand their business.  You understand their vision, culture, and ideas because they are similar to yours.

If you’re the more laid back type of web worker, it might be more difficult for you to work with clients who are corporately competitive.  They might call you every hour and expect you to pick up 24/7.  Or if you’re a formal type of person, maybe you’re not the ideal freelancer to work with “Poop Jokes Inc.”, since you might not “get” the spirit of their business.  You’ll be out of touch.

While there are many criteria you can use to qualify clients, it doesn’t mean you have to use them all.  Just use the ones that are important to you.  Of course, this will lessen the number of leads that convert into clients.  But know that the ones who approach you will be closer to the kind of clients that you actually want to work with.

Do you qualify incoming clients?  How do you do it?  Is your approach direct or more subtle?  If you don’t qualify clients, how do you deal with the problematic clients that come your way?

Image credit: Rose Ann from sxc.hu

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