Independent Consulting: Clients from Hell
Most of my many consulting clients have been easy to work with. A few, though, have been more trouble than they’re worth. Here’s why.
I have worked with about 140 clients in nearly 30 years as an independent software development consultant and trainer. Almost all have been easy to work with, but a few have given me headaches. This article relates problems I’ve encountered so you can be alert for those in your own work. On the plus side, I’ve also had a few dream clients.
Getting Stiffed on Payment
Several consultants I know were never paid for certain services rendered. This has happened to me just once. I’ve come close a couple of other times, though. A software tool vendor sponsored a two-week European seminar tour in which I taught six one-day courses in three countries. Afterward, I simply could not get the company to pay me for the presentations or my travel expenses. It wasn’t a trivial amount of money.
After multiple requests, I finally received payment. The check required the signatures of two company officers, yet no one at all had signed it! In a sour mood, I called the company’s president. A signed check for the full amount arrived the next day. Amazing, eh? It just shouldn’t be…
