31 Mar What Makes A Client Difficult To work with? Part 2
By Mike Gambino
Last week in part one of this two part blog series we discussed what makes a difficult landscape lighting client. This week’s blog article will focus on the specific attitudes and behaviors that make clients difficult to work with.
If you’re a small business owner or solo operator like many landscape lighting system designer builders are, there aren’t five layers of staff between you and your clients. You probably deal with your clients directly. Many are easy to work with, but others are…not so easy.
Why? What makes a client difficult to deal with?
Client Micromanagement
Nothing drives a hands on small business operator insane quicker than micromanagement from a client. Imagine trying to follow a systematic process that has been proven to be successful over a quarter of a century of developing and refining it to the point of where it is now. And the client who has never installed a system ever, has no idea what the capabilities (brightness level, width of light beam spread, etc.) of each fixture is yet they are going to tell you how many fixtures they “need” ( which is always less) to create a certain effect and they are going to tell you where to place them to achieve that optimum effect as well.
They choose the days you are doing the install to work in their garden so they can keep an eye on what is going on. Having a client available to answer questions is great. Having a client underfoot is not so great. Landscape Lighting is a creative process and can be labor intensive at times. Every worker needs their space to do their thing. Having to answer incessant questions during the build can be distracting.
If a client is calling, texting, emailing and Skyping constantly, it’s a problem. Interruptions can kill productivity and slow the project down.
No Guidance at all From Client
The flip side is a client who doesn’t provide enough guidance. What exactly do they want? When do they want it? Another problem is the unresponsive client who doesn’t return emails or phone calls, won’t commit to deadlines or benchmarks, and never is available when you have a question. Timeliness is often an issue with clients like this. We need requirements or information or access from them and they don’t come through, until it’s crunch time. Suddenly their lack of organization becomes our problem.
No Respect From The Client
Then you have the client that treats you like the son-in-law they were forced to hire. They don’t care about your opinion, don’t respect your expertise, and never seem to be in harmony with you. If you need surgery, you don’t watch a few YouTube videos and then try it yourself. You go to a surgeon. Constantly having to remind the client they came to you for your skills, and that you are an expert in your field is a real bummer and should not be necessary. If the client is abusive to the business owner or their team members or uncooperative, then it’s time to walk away. No one likes to lose money or clients, but life is too short to have to deal with that.
Money Issues
Contractors may tolerate all sorts of nonsense in a business relationship, right up until it hits them in the wallet. Money can be a deciding factor. Some clients may agree to a given amount based on fixture quantity and project scope, and then halfway through the job they begin complaining about the money and want to “re-negotiate.” and lessen the scope of the job to save money for whatever reason. This is where documentation like a clearly-worded contract is crucial.
Other clients agree to your terms, but when you send the invoice, you don’t receive your check. You call, and the client makes excuses–they lost the invoice, the Internet was down and they can’t get email, or the bank made a mistake. With all the stalling and excuses, you wonder if they’re going to pay you at all. And if so, when?
The other fun game they play is the sudden disappearing act when they know a milestone progress pay or final payment is due.
Clarity
Clarity can prevent most of these problems. If we urge our client to be clear about what they want and when they want it right from the start, we can save ourself a lot of trouble later. Clear, honest communication can turn a difficult customer into a valued, long-term client.
Luckily these types of clients are the exception and not the norm. However, no matter how well our screening process is geared, and now matter how in tune our radar is before accepting clients such as these, unfortunately at least one or more a year sneak through and can make for a very unpleasant experience. Some can be so extreme that when you are done with them they can make you wonder why you went into business for yourself.
This landscape lighting blog is published by Mike Gambino of Gambino landscape lighting inc. all rights reserved. Mike is a professional landscape lighting system designer/ builder and has been designing, installing and maintaining landscape lighting systems for more than 20 years. Mike resides in the Los Angeles area with his wife and 2 sons. To visit his website go to www.Gambinolighting.com . To inquire about hiring Mike please click here .
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