When you are doing or starting a business is it your only goal to seek and maintain perspective cooperation? It must be very tempting to accept every interesting project. Money is money, right? You are mistaken. If you have already had experience negotiating with certain types of clients, you can agree that it is better to refuse these clients. The Daily Muse has prepared an overview of the types of clients you should avoid.
1. The Searcher
"I still do not know exactly what I am looking for, but I would like to work with you on it." This is a problem. How can you help if you do not know overall vision? Moreover, what if he insists on something uncompromisingly, and you know it is definitely not realistic? In the end, you will both be frustrated and neither side will achieve a satisfactory result. So once you start negotiating with the client, determine the primary tangible aspirations. Then focus on explicit goals and make sure you set specific means of measuring success. If the client has certain expectations, make sure you are competent enough to perform the task. If the project covers more then your area of expertise, it is better to fess up. The client will appreciate your honesty, and although he will find someone else for this task, he will probably use your skills next time.
1. The Houdini
Do you sometimes have a feeling that your client has suddenly, mysteriously disappeared from earth, because all your attempts to contact him end woefully? Does he understand the meaning of the word, "urgent"? Such a client will not only suck your energy and desire for cooperation, but can also significantly affect your other projects. Most importantly, he may disappear when you want to be paid or his dissatisfaction may affect other professional relationships. Such incidents need to be monitored from the beginning. If the response to a simple question is not answered after a week, you should decide if continuing communicating is worth for your effort.
3. The Weathercock
If you directly or indirectly get some clues that the client has unsuccessfully tried to collaborate with multiple partners on the same project, be warned. Although you may be the only one who can successfully achieve the desired result, you will spend hours and hours of working with someone who will probably be dissatisfied in the end, just like all the others before you. Do a little research first, you do not want to start working with someone whom you know nothing about. Get some references first. Find out who were his previous partners, were they professionals and do they have stable and solid backgrounds. If so, take these findings into consideration. Then decide if it is worth it.
What other types of partners have you encountered?
-bn-