Do your clients suck?
Lately when people have asked me how my business is going I’ve been saying, “great, this would be the perfect business if it weren’t for the clients.”
Of course I’m being facetious, but there’s certainly an element of truth to this statement for me. I could go on and on here about the things some of my clients do to drive me crazy, but I’ll spare you because you probably have experienced the same things with your clients. The question I have though is when is it time to fire a client?
I have a few clients that I haven’t heard from in months. Not a news release to write, not a pitch to make. I’ve called and left e-mails, but for whatever reason they aren’t paying attention to promoting their business. My wife says to keep them on because a news release every few months is better than no client at all. I disagree. I say just having them on my active client roster is a distraction and then when they do show up with work for me it’ll undoubtedly be at a time when I’m knee deep on something else.
When do you fire a client?
Tweet
Add your Comment
Want Your Picture Icon? Go to gravatar.com and set a picture up to your email address for free. It also works on thousands of other websites, too!
Categories
Recent Comments
the rumors are true (@ Neighbor from the 90′s)...
Sorry to see you go. avic-x920bt
First the Space Shuttle program and now this???? OH NO!...
I think it’s really funny that Jason donates money...
Sad to see you go Mr Len… been a great ride
Blogroll
- Acme Photography
- Brain Matter
- Brian Shaler
- Convince & Convert
- Depth in PR
- Espresso Pundit
- Full Speed Marketing
- HMA Time
- Hoi Polloi Report
- It's About The Work
- Liquis Design Blog
- Mighty Interactive
- Off Madison Ave
- Park & Co.
- Park Howell
- Phoenix Defense
- Phoenix SEO
- PR Advice
- Quaintise
- Random Tuesday Morning Ramblings
- Sitewire Blog
- SoCal PR Blog
- Stealthmode Blog
- tdhurst
- The Marketing Journalist
- The One to Go To
- The PR Practitioner
- Think Fast
Comments
September 24th, 2009 at 9:04 am
Love the post Len. I’ve been asking myself the same question lately. Tough decision when you really love your client’s business.
September 24th, 2009 at 9:11 am
Call it Jewish guilt, but I assume 50% of the responsibility for my clients sucking (but if they didn’t, what on earth would I twitter about?). A wise friend once said, “you set the parameters of every single relationship in your life. But once you set them, its almost impossible to reset them”. If they suck, its because I set up a situation where I allowed them to suck.
I just consider it experiential wisdom that as time goes on, I get better at setting parameters that allow only awesomeness, but also recognizing the suck clients at 50 paces, so I don’t even engage with them.
Like I said, I’m getting better at it. I still have suck clients.
September 24th, 2009 at 10:43 am
Wonderful post, Len.
I learned a lesson in 1985. I had a client that wanted me to abuse my relationship with the media. I said, “You may be my client, but the media is my customer. The customer is always right. Goodbye.”
I worry about the clients I don’t get. Half the 21st Century ago I was recommending a YouTube and MySpace presence. Literally thrown out of offices.
Today you can’t watch a national newscast without a YouTube mention.
I worry about companies that are so limited in their thinking. EVERY management book says be open to new ways of doing things, but all I heard was, I want a press release. They paid triple at the major name downtown PR/Advertising firms that used interns to write those press releases for them. That is a smart way of growing your business.
September 24th, 2009 at 12:50 pm
Your wife is wrong on this one! There’s too much business in this town (particularly for indies) to keep on clients who suck. And as a senior PR consultant, you should have the luxury of choosing who to work with… so choose carefully!
September 24th, 2009 at 1:36 pm
The best clients I have is when I deal with the PR manager on board (helping him/her out) rather than directly with the client. So few people “get” PR or how to interact with their clients. I kind of agree with Amanda, but the customers aren’t always right, either.
September 26th, 2009 at 4:08 pm
I love thinking about this matter. Is it a sign that the PR economy is getting better to even discuss this issue? What if you choose a client, set boundaries and they change for the worse. You keep thinking back to the old days hoping you get that old friend back. So Stephanie I agree choose carefully but also remember changes happens. My advice to firing a client is when you get to that point when you don’t want to contact them anymore. You dread the thought of a call to their office.
That’s a good time to get out their pink slip.
September 30th, 2009 at 3:33 am
Personally, I slide people like that into a “dormant” file–so, I’d still do work for them if they called me, but I’m not actively going to call or email to pursue their business.
We all have a different threshold of what a “sucky” client means. A nonresponsive client may be frustrating, but doesn’t cause me any extra work…whereas the actively counterproductive client (endless revisions, last-minute changes, grinding for lower fees, etc.) is surely a candidate for the “gee, my calendar is packed” brushoff.
It may sound simplistic, but it also comes down to whether I *like* the person.