It’s called freelancing: How would you deal with these situations?
Posted by Samar | Posted in Freelancing | Posted on 19-07-2009
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Things have been crazy in Samar-ville as of late. If I start writing about that, this post will turn into a rant. And I’m trying really really hard to not become an angry ranter.
Every freelancer at one time or another faces situations that are not ideal. Wait, who am I kidding. We face not-so-ideal situations every single day. The following scenarios/situations left me wondering how I would have dealt with them.
I also wondered if it would be easy to do what was so obviously the self respecting solution to them. I’ll let you guys decide.
- A client stresses upon a deadline in every email but fails to send the required information on time to start/complete the project yet still demands that the work be submitted on the set deadline.
- If you did a one off gig for someone, and they failed to pay you by the first of next month and still haven’t paid after 20 days. 2 gentle reminders later they’re treating you like you’re being cumbersome.
- You’re in talks with a potential client. Everything has been sorted out; The number of hours, work involved, future possibilities, rates etc. The client asks you to confirm on the terms set so that they could sent you an NDA, only to disappear on you after you send the confirmation.
What would you do if you were faced with the above situations? How would you deal with them?
Image credit: Partie Traumatic
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Ugh! What a horrible situation – all three of them!
Ok, first thoughts on this (I may come back later when I’ve thought a bit more):
Q1. Tell them that you require the information x days in advance of the deadline or you are not able to complete the work. Maybe not possible for this client, however it needs to be in your criteria for all future clients. “All work requires a lead time of x days between information being submitted and the completion date requested.”
If you have anything like that for this client then point it out to them and that they submitted the information with only y days lead time. Problem belongs to client… If you don’t have an agreement like that with this client then you have two choices:
a. Tell the client you can’t do it as they did not leave you enough time. Hand the work back and don’t do it. Downside here is that they’ll never work with you again, and may tell others. Not your fault, but you’ll be seen as the bad guy.
b. Suck it up and do the work in the short time frame. If at all possible, this is what I’d do. It sucks big time, and will be hard for you. Then you have the choice of refusing to work with the client again, charging them more next time (or this time if you haven’t quoted fixed fees) and making sure they are aware of time frames for next time.
Q2. Do a search on the Men With Pens site. James has a fantastic letter that he’s written and posted. I think there’s a couple of posts there on debt collection actually.
Next time, 1/2 payment in advance, 1/2 due on completion of work. No pay = no work handed over.
Q3. Forget the client. They’re not interested. I suspect they may have been in talks with a few people for comparison.
What do you think Samar?
Melinda | WAHM Biz Builder´s last blog ..Email Branding – Add Titles to Your Feedburner RSS
I pretty much think the same things as Melinda. The first one is a nightmare situation that happens to us all – hopefully only once, though! I’d also go for producing it in the short time allowed, then getting out or ensuring that future work is VERY clearly defined (and expensive, mwuhahahaha!)
Q2: I have a similar situation. There’s not a huge amount you can do unless you’re in the same country, especially if they pay direct and not through a third-party site. One thing to do is see if they’re using your content – if they are, then you can report them to AdSense and their ISP in breach of copyright (it’ll get their AdSense banned, which is usually a nice bit of leverage for getting paid).
Q3: Ditto. Had that happen to me, recently, too!
SpikeTheLobster´s last blog ..Sponsored Blog Posts
Mel’s pretty much spot on but here’s my take on it.
1) Explain to the client that you have your own deadlines to meet as much as they do. That you have other clients, other projects and other commitments.
If they expect work done by a certain deadline, then explain to them what they must provide and by when. Also point out that any delays on their part will negatively impact on their deadline. (Pretty much as Mel said)
Whatever you do, *don’t* just suck it up and do the work. It’s just ammo for them to use next time “well it didn’t prevent you from completing the work last time.”
Charge them extra, and don’t set to work until they’ve signed off on the extra. You could say something like:
“Unfortunately your delay in providing the requested material, necessary to complete the work, will result in additional hours required to meet the original deadline.
As such there will be an additional charge of $X.
The alternative would be to alter the deadline should this additional cost be unsatisfactory to you.”
2. Don’t let this become a personal issue. One final and firm reminder:
“This payment is outstanding. You are now in breach of contract (include a highlighted copy if you have it).Failure to make payment in full within 7 days of the date of this letter will result in legal action being pursued.”
Also include an invoice so they can’t claim it’s missing, lost or damaged.
3. Don’t burn bridges. Send a friendly email, refreshing it in your client’s mind. If they still don’t reply? Don’t take it personally. Move on to the next client.
@ Mel – I know the letter you’re talking about. It had me in stitches and rooting for the men because they actually used it.
But is that letter valid for small payment? Personally, I’m off the opinion that the amount doesn’t matter. It could be $10 and I’d still want to bug the client for it. If I let every small payment go, I’d be volunteering instead of freelancing.
As for Q 1. I’d have gone for option b. Suck it up for the project and then let the client go.
For Q 3, I’d have sent an email asking them what was up. If I got a reply well and good. If I didn’t I’d know to move on.
@ Spike – I’ve heard the adsense idea before. Will have to look into it more. Thanks!
Btw, I hope Q 3 had a happy ending for you. Let me know!
@ Marc – Great advice for 2 and 3. Not taking personally is the key. As for 1, I think if you can, then suck it up the first time and then let the client go. Better to do a good job and leave because u didn’t like the terms than leave before the client had a chance to realize that they just lost an awesome writer
Why burn bridges? You’re leaving good money on the table.
By giving them the choice of paying extra to get the job done on time or changing the deadline, you show them you’re a serious professional.
Chances are they’ll respect that and come back with repeat work
Yikes, those are all big ones. I’m not a freelancer so I’m not sure I have the best answer for you.
But I’m right in line with you about the rants. I’m trying really hard not to rant too much. I did my first one a couple weeks ago and here just today I’ve got a new one. The problem is with a competitor site (and helping a friend out with their email) and the competitor’s site is just NOT user friendly.
I’m trying, Samar. I’m trying not to write a rant post LOL.