5 Tips for When Good Jobs Turn Bad
Sometimes it's good to get rid of the problem and enjoy life.
Sometimes when you’re working freelance, a job goes bad. It happens rarely. Maybe 1 in 100 jobs, but it does happen. We never hear about bad jobs as they are awkward. A bad job might reflect on our business practice or our personality in some way. We might get a bad reputation / name if someone finds out. The bad job may not be your fault . . . or it may be and you don’t want to talk about it. You might be sub-contracting some work out or your client might be a micro-manager, wanting too many changes for too little money.
You get to a certain point. Half the bills are paid. Half the work is done. But the job stagnates. Over time, it starts to smell like a stinky fish. You loathe the idea of communicating with that particular client. You may even avoid phone calls from that person.
Either way, something has to be done about stagnating bad air. The government isn’t going to bail you out of this one like it did with the banks because you’re a small business. So it’s up to you . . .
Blame is not the way through a bad job. Blame is pointless. Lawyers are the only people in society who directly benefit from it, so it’s not good for most people. Blame arises when a client wants X and feels like she got Y. Or you expected X and only got Y for the work you did.
Either way, blame gets you both to court which is expensive. The simple fact is this : You aren’t ever going to work with that particular client again. It was probably a personality clash. Not all people get along and . . . that’s life. In order to move forward, we need to put all bad jobs to bed. Here are five ways to do just that.
1. Repay the client all fees
2. Call the client and try to make amends
3. Write off the loss
4. Pass the job on to someone who gets along with the client
5. Send all materials back to the client with a with compliments slip
As with all things medical, prevention is the best cure. But here you will need to use your instincts. Think with your heart, not your head. You’re going to be with this client for years. Do you want that? It pays to choose your clients carefully in the first place.
Don’t EVER let a client choose you.
But the cause of a bad job is almost always a differnce between what your client wants and what you can deliver. Choose your client, don’t let the client choose you.
2 Comments
Came across your site from your comment on Flying Solo (I’m so glad I’m not the only one in Aust that dislikes the E-myth crap).
Anyway this is very poignant for me at the moment. I’m an Environement Consultant/Contractor, that has to compete with govt and some very very large firms. I love operating as a one-man-band in a rural setting.
I’ve been in operation for 5 years and have just completed project number 84. While there has been a few ” issues” that I’ve had to deal with in the past, its all been part of the normal work process when your dealing with differnt personalities and viewpoints. All easy enought to deal with and get on with things.
Project No 85 is a killer. The client is nice enough, but fluffy, unable to articulate what it is they want (I get this sometimes, but make sure my project brief is fully nutted down in specifics). Followed my agreed process and passed on some near final products for comment – Well they are devistated, its nothing like they wanted, initaited crisis meetings etc..etc. ..When I dont get feedback on process, i put things in writing and send it to the client for comments (as i did in this case) it gives me “signposts” on where the cleints mind is and directions on where to go to make them happy. This approach caused teh cleints some angst (a and me sleepness nights!!). Still dealing with it and as you say, I’ll never work with them again, but I just now have to put my head down and finish what I can. I have suggested to teh client that we are on different wavelenghts and that it might be better for them to withhold the final payment that I would normally claim and seek someone with simialry views/approach to finish / ammend my final drafts. They ahve agreed. its going to cost me quite a bit of money, but an invalable amount of piece of mind. I have gone through teh self analysis (What am I doing wrong, etc.) but have come to the conclusion that a successful batting average of 1 in 85 is bloody good.
I’ve also just learnt to not let the client choose me – very sage advice.
Thanks again for you blog (now I have that off my chest, I had better finish their bloody report!!!).
Cheers
Gary
Hi Gary. Firstly. Let me say, thank you for your post!
Ugh! The E-Myth was written in 1985. When there was no internet! Well, not strictly true. In fact, unsurprisingly, people were already speculating on its impending popularity by buying up domain names. Probably people who read the stupid E-Myth. But I digress.
It’s just my opinion, but you definately did the right thing. What did you lose? Your credibility? No. Your health? No. Did you lose hair? I bet you didn’t.
You lost money. And nobody works for money. People might work to pay off a mortgage, or to put their kids through school, or even for a nice car. But nobody works for money. You probably actually slept better that night. You probably woke in the morning thinking “Gee, I could’ve had the kitchen re-fitted for that money,” but then afterwards you would have had your egg, smiled at the sunny day outside and read your newspaper. It was OVER!
I had a wonderful morning with my programmer friend and a lovely client. We all enjoyed spending time together – working on fixing our website and making some changes. I work from home. It was raining outside, so I made everyone a lovely cup of expensive coffee. We had fun. we laughed. We were people having a good time and we were happy to be in the same room together.
But I’ve had clients like yours. Clients who were unhappy with a job – or clients who wanted to micro-manage every – little – bloody thing. Clients who threaten to take legal action if they don’t get their way.
Some people are (actually) crazy. Or they have social issues, such as bi-polarism, or they’re introverts and don’t know how to be with other people. Or they simply think differently to us. Sometimes people are so different to each of our very unique 9and special) personalities that it becomes a chore just to be in the same room with them. It’s nobody’s fault. It’s just people. As one might separate from a spouse, separate from your client. Life is just too short. I want to mix with nice, reasonable people who enjoy each other’s company. I want to make a living with those people. And there are plenty of them.
Identifying crazy-makers (as one of my associates calls them) is difficult. It often means spending a bit of time researching them from the beginning. Not spying, just gentle queries to others who have worked with the client, people who maybe know the client personally. I guess we need this info to make a judgement call.
Money is money. Losing a bit of money for peace of mind and (actually if you go by stress statistics) a slightly longer life on Earth – isn’t a loss – it’s actually a gain IMHO.
Now back to my report. This world runs on “reports!”