Newsletter #25 My most nightmarish client story – and how you can avoid it!
Hey everyone,
Something I always make very clear on my clarity calls with early-stage freelancers is the importance of having basic systems in place to protect your time, energy, and business.
Because occasionally (and despite your best efforts) you’ll get a client who is either super busy, forgetful, sneaky…
…or completely insane.
A couple of years ago I had a website project that was completed, paid for, and a glowing review sent by the client.
6 months later this client emailed me and said their designer wanted another 19 pages written up, and could I have these turned around by next week?
Otherwise they would consider the project unfinished and take legal action.
As you can imagine, my WTF levels went off the chart.
While my contract specified a clear end date, I didn’t have an exact scope of work set out, because I was writing the site from scratch.
I dug through everything I’d kept from the project trying to find something that confirmed the site scope.
Finally I found the Loom walkthrough of the new site which I recorded when I delivered the final copy. I had clearly walked the client through the sitemap strategy and page frameworks. And he’d left a comment saying this was all good and approved.
So thankfully I had myself covered.
*Mops brow*
But this sh*t is real, and things like this can happen to you, even if the client seems initially awesome to work with.
Ask any seasoned freelancer and they’ll happily give you a laundry list of their nightmare client problems!
(Also, feel free to send me a laundry list of your client nightmares. I am more than happy to commiserate!)
Without a defined and signed contract in place, timelines get messed up, scope creep sneaks in, revisions get out of control, and voila – your dream project has suddenly turned into your worst nightmare.
Most client issues can be avoided by having a written document in place that sets out the exact scope of work you’ve agreed on, plus a defined start and end date for the project, and all the other conditions you personally need in there to run your business and projects smoothly.
You can draw these contracts (or statements of work) up manually in a Google doc, but if you can afford it I highly recommend you use an app like HelloBonsai, HoneyBook, or something similar.
These apps are designed for small business owners and freelancers and have the benefits of:
- Invoice, proposal, and contract templates that are simple to customize for each project
- Digital signing by you and your client
- Delivery confirmation
- Time and date confirmation of your documents being opened
- Payment options for invoices via bank transfer or credit card
- Dashboard so you can easily see what’s been signed and paid, and what’s outstanding
- Automatic reminders for payment and signing sent to the client so you can save time on admin
If you’re creating and sending your contracts manually, make sure you include at minimum:
- The fact that work will only begin once your invoice for the required deposit amount is paid
- Start and end date for the project
- Scope of work (be as specific as possible)
- Number of revisions included
- Timeline for each round of revisions (e.g. the first round of feedback must be given within 5 working days of delivering the copy)
This will cover most of your bases for naughty clients!
I’m currently dealing with a client who didn’t sign or pay my contract or deposit invoice to book a 2-week slot in my calendar. The kickoff date has been and gone, and now I’m getting angry emails from them saying they never received the documents.
But thanks to my handy app, I can see they opened and read everything, and got auto reminders to pay as well.
They just didn’t bother taking any action and assumed the project would go ahead regardless. Which in itself is a massive red flag.
So having these systems in place can also help you dodge the bullet of nightmare clients before they happen.
Here’s to a problem-free week for all of us. See you next Monday!
Rachael
Memes Of The Week
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