1. The Frustrated Artist The Frustrated Artist thinks he is creative and will attempt the initial design himself. After realizing his skills fall a bit short he will turn to you, the design professional, to salvage the project. The problem with this client is that he already has an idea of the outcome in mind and his ego won't allow for anything else, which means very little room for creative exploration. You'll end up doing what the client wants in order to please him, but you won't feel satisfied with the final product as you had no control over it.
2. The Know-It-All Similar to the Frustrated Artist, the Know-It-All is an egomaniac who thinks he knows everything about design. His pride won't allow him to lose face so you can forget about him admitting to mistakes or acknowledging that your suggestions are indeed better. Though he'll talk a big game, the Know-It-All client ironically does not know it all and will proceed to request a 30-minute task to be turned around in 5. Sorry, but it's not a simple drag and drop!
3. The Clueless client On the opposite end of the spectrum, you have the Clueless client who has no idea what he wants or what the project requires. The good thing is that he won't pretend to know it all, but this won't prevent him from doing the following:
- Schedule meetings without having an agenda, resulting in extremely long and pointless discussions
- Provide vague deadlines since setting one would mean he is accountable for meeting the deadline as well
- Change the project brief and job scope constantly. He will keep adding requests expecting there to be no "hidden" costs
The list goes on! You basically need to rule with an iron first and babysit the Clueless client; otherwise, there will be no progress. If you don't take control, the Clueless client will change his mind freely without concern, leading to an endless loop of revisions and putting you way over budget and way past the deadline.
4. The M.I.A. client You'll probably ask yourself why the M.I.A. client even hired you because it doesn't seem like he even cares about the project. He's always traveling so a face-to-face meeting or even a conference call is out of the question. He'll only reply to emails intermittently, but usually the responses don't shed light on anything you asked in the first place. You can forget about getting content on time - it's just not going to happen! These are warning signs that the project is low on his priority list and that his focus is elsewhere, resulting in a project that seems to drag on and on.
5. The Penny Pincher "Can you do it for cheaper?" is the Penny Pincher's favourite phrase. He doesn't understand or refuses to believe that, in general, you have to fork out money for quality creative work. The concept of "spending money to make money" doesn't make any sense the him. If he doesn't see an immediate, measurable return on investment he won't think it's worth the money. The Penny Pincher is also infamous for not understanding the 3 golden rules for designers and will do anything in his power to have his cake and eat it too!
6. The Over-Enthusiastic client The Over-Enthusiastic client seems great at first because he has extravagant plans for his company and wants you along for the ride. However, before you get too excited you have to understand that this client speaks highly of his business because he often budgets with money he doesn't have, relying on future revenue to pay your bill. He will usually ask for discounts up front, dangling a carrot of big budgets down the road in a "you scratch my back, i'll scratch yours" psychological battle. Don't get lured by false promises - this client most likely hasn't planned his business out very well, overlooking many potential obstacles.
Conclusion It's inevitable that you'll encounter problem clients, but it's what you learn from the project and how you go about it the next time around that really matters. Don't let these clients get you down! Chalk it up to experience and make note of what happened during the project, how you can improve on the process next time, or how you can avoid the problem altogether. Always be wary of red flags so you know what to expect; this way you can at least mentally prepare yourself for it. Good luck!
Adrian_Ma
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