Stop Letting Clients Treat You Like a Necessary Evil

One aspect of being a digital project manager that’s both frustrating and oddly satisfying is The Problem Client. You know the one. They approve the design with no changes, only to come back a week later with a laundry list of nit-picky non-issues. They agree to a set of in-scope requirements, only to start sneaking in small requests here and there that end up blowing your budgets. They sit on content revisions and then can’t fathom why the beta delivery date shifted.

Clearly it can be frustrating. But it’s also satisfying because you can take pride in finding the key to gaining trust and taking charge with a difficult client. I’ve been working with clients long enough to spot the signals well in advance and adjust my approach to keep the waters calm.

But there’s one kind of client that always throws me for a loop, because my typical tactics don’t cut it. I made the connection when reading this Slate.com article about customer service scores for the most hated industries: airlines, cable companies, phone providers.

It dawned on me: just as author Jim Saksa identifies in the article, some of our clients see us as a Necessary Evil, and it can be next to impossible to be successful with them.

What are some of the warning signs of a Necessary Evil Client?

1. They have no clear objectives. If a client doesn’t know what they want their site to do, then how will they ever be happy with what you give them? How invested are they if they haven’t even thought about this yet?
2. They balk at weekly status calls. If they’re not interested to hear about the progress of THEIR website, let’s be honest, how excited can you be?
3. They don’t have a dedicated point of contact on their end. If your client is playing an endless game of hot potato with you, they don’t value the project a whole.
4. They constantly reference the contract. Instead of being glad you nailed the design on the first round, they feel stiffed because they didn’t get their two rounds of revisions. Their goal is not a successful project, it is To Get Their Money’s Worth.
5. They constantly question why features take the time you say they’ll take. That signals a huge lack of trust, which probably existed long before you ever came on the scene.

This is what it boils down to: if your client isn’t excited about creating something new and awesome with you, then they’re going to see you as a Necessary Evil. You are no longer a partner, a trusted ally. You are yet another vendor they are forced to deal with. You can dazzle them with your beautiful designs, impeccable code, and amazing PM skills all you want, but they’ll never be happy. That’s because they wish they weren’t working with you in the first place.

Identifying the Necessary Evil Client up front is the key. You might be able to help them identify the objectives of their site, and translate the project into something they really can get excited about. Maybe they could care less about a new website, but they sure do want to sell more widgets. You can work with that! You’re no longer building a new website, you’re building a widget promotion platform. Frame it in terms that connect with them and you can see a complete turnaround in your relationship.

But sometimes a client puts out an RFP for work that they deep down do not value or even want. In that case, it’s in everyone’s best interest to not pursue the work in the first place. You and your team need to be able to focus your full energy on clients that see a new website as an opportunity, not a nuisance.