Have you ever worked with a client who demands so much at the beginning of the project, only to change it DURING the project?
Or a client who doesn’t seem to know what they want in the first place?
Some clients can be a pain. However, clients are the lifeblood of a business. So regardless of how difficult they can be, it is your duty as a professional to provide them with the best service you can give.
So how should you deal with these clients who can’t seem to make up their minds? Here are some tips to help you ‘keep your cool’ and when facing with such clients.
1. Make Use of the Contract
A contract might be troublesome to create that you might just not want to do one at all.
But a contract is not there just to show the client that you are a legit and professional business. It’s there to serve as your protections from clients who might want to take advantage of you.
You can ask help from a contract attorney in drafting your contract. Make sure that it includes the scope of work, the payment fees and schedules, and how you would go about resolving disputes and claims.
2. Be Clear
In relation to making use of the contract, you have to be clear with both the scope of work and the extra work beyond that.
Complaints often come from working overtime and clients think that it is included within the quote.
In your contract, you should include how you would handle unexpected overtime work or rush jobs. Make sure that both you and the client understands this.
If you don’t have proof that any extra work, or additional changes will require additional pay, then the client might use this against you.
3. Educate
You can easily explain something if you have vast knowledge about it.
As the builder, you should know the ‘twists and turns’ of doing a building project. That way, you can easily explain to the client what you can do about their demand, or if it isn’t possible with their given budget or land size, etc.
4. Claim As You Go
Let’s accept it. It’s easy to forget.
If a client has an out-of-scope work done, and you wait until the end of the project to claim it, tendency is that the client would forget.
They probably think that it was part of the whole package.
In order to prevent this from happening, you can claim for the extra work as you go about it. Write down the changes done, include the receipts, and let the client sign it off right then and there.
5. Build Trust
Even if a certain client can be quite a handful, it is always better to know them in order to build trust.
Understand what’s causing them to change their minds often.
Could it possibly be because they don’t trust your judgement? Have they had a bad experience in the past?
Talk to them, ask them questions, answer their questions, be friendly and professional.
No matter how indecisive a client can be, you need to be the bigger person and understand them while at the same time patiently explaining to them the things that you can and cannot possibly do.
