Introduction
Every entrepreneur, freelancer, sales person or anybody working with people at some point have to deal with toxic clients.
Dealing with such people is a necessary part of every journey and business, but with a plan, you can make it work.
You should prepare yourself even before you start and set personal and permanent rules to follow, in order to stay mentally healthy and improve your business and skills. Most important in negotiating or talking to these people is to remember to not allow your self-esteem to be blown away by them.
You have to be in charge of your feelings and self-esteem, not others. With that said, let’s dive a little bit.
Plan for the worst
It sounds a little intimidating and scary, but the moment you start a business is the moment you have to start preparing for bad day scenarios. Entrepreneurship is hard and demanding. If you don’t plan and prepare, your whole being could be sucked in a constant void of toxicity.
Choose and mark some of the points here ( or all of them ) and follow as many as you can. Don’t be afraid to be determined and hard if necessary.
Expect some clients to be awful and act like that. Go to conversation with them prepared and don’t allow yourself to be insulted or undervalued. The moment that happens is the moment, you need to step aside and end it.
Set boundaries
I have made that mistake. In the beginning I tried to be friends with everybody and show real connection with people. I still do and I try to connect with every client, but remember that you are a professional and you are solving a problem they have. It is not a favor and it’s not free.
If you lose that in the beginning you can enter a realm of constant revisions, constant problems and never ending “it’s something small, not a big deal. Right, buddy?”
Boundaries need to be established in the beginning and formalized. Every step aside has to be paid or refused ( depending on the field ).
Don’t allow yourself to be treated as an employee.
That leads us to my next point.
Have a clear contract
A well written and prepared contract can serve two main purposes:
It sets the boundaries and explain everyone’s role and work
shields you from toxicity and scare off potential bad clients
In my previous work I have found that working with a contract is the best choice I have made. I refuse to take money without an invoice and refuse to do work without a contract.
The percentage of toxic clients I have is significantly lower than my friend, who doesn’t follow this simple rule.
“I am a freelancer and I don’t really need a contract. It’s a simple job and it seems fast” is a line I have heard many times and at some point, the problem emerges.
Yes, it could scare good clients too, but I think everyone should risk losing a potential client and stay on the safe side.
After all, you are making money, but you don’t wanna risk your mental health.
Breath
If at any point, you get to the position to deal with toxic clients and you didn’t really prepare yourself. The first thing you should do is calm yourself.
I know it sounds so stupid and unnecessary, but I have seen it with my business partner. The moment you get angry, you lose focus and diplomacy is hurt.
Try to be calm and talk normally. Don’t be frustrated and try to prevent any lashing out.
If the clients start to demand too much or are getting too nervous and problematic, leave the conversation, step back and try again the next day.
But this time do this:
Raise your price
This really works like a charm. Even if you have already given a price, but the client is changing his/her mind all the time or never happy with anything, just raise the money you are charging.
I had this problem with my second client. He never knew what he wanted, approved every design we made, but the moment we were done, he started demanding changes. I made a few, he wasn’t happy. Wanted another one. At some point he requested something completely different.
This time I didn’t agree until he made a payment. That was the moment he decided he was happy and we didn’t need to continue.
What a relief that was.
Don’t forget to write that in your contract. You need to take a look at that possibility.
A good example to not even get to this is to charge enough. Cheap prices lead to cheap clients.
A quick reference to my previous entrepreneur endeavor. When I had a cleaning business, the biggest problems were made by people, who I charged a little.
I learned very early to charge enough. Charge your fair price and charge accordingly.
Learn to refuse and say “No”
This could be very hard if you are just starting out, but it is too powerful to not mention it. If it exceeds your contract and you don’t want to do it - just say “No”. You won’t lose the client. Almost certainly you won’t lose it.
Most of the time they will be ‘ok’. I don’t remember a single time, I lost a client thanks to refusing them. Maybe I have, but if I don’t remember, maybe it wasn’t really a problem to begin with.
I certainly would have remembered tho If I didn’t say “no” and had to deal with toxicity for X amount of time. That I would have remembered and I am happy I learned to say “no”.
Don't forget - your work ethic and culture is way more important than any deal!
Fire the toxic client!
When clients get too demanding and too problematic, it is time to end it. No money gives enough value to deal with that.
Never be rude and always explain why you do it. Maybe the client doesn’t understand his/her own behavior. You may even make him/her think.
But always be certain and final. When you fire - you fire! Do it professionally and kindly. Don’t excuse yourself and be confident.
What about bad reviews?
When you stand up for yourself and choose to defend your business and not the deal, you can have a bad review.
What can you do about it?
Take action
Don’t take too much time and give a proper response.
Explain the situation. I have had that review and it is a little bit controversial but I don’t agree you have to be all sorry and apologize.
Most of the time, it is very clear for the side observer who is the problematic person.
Be kind and keep it appropriate
Explain the real reason without being rude and anybody can make their own mind.
Answer honestly
Don’t lie and don’t hide. The truth is always revealing itself at some point and with reviews is no different.
Conclusion
It is very important to be consistent and not make any sacrifices.
Connect with people and solve their problems, but never in exchange of your own mental and physical health.
People hire you for their problems and your expertise and always try to dive in and understand their business, but make meaningful and serious business relationships.
The moment you get rid of a toxic client is the moment you can experience great weight lift away from your shoulder.
Happy grinding!
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