Your Clients Problems Are NOT Your Problems
A number of years ago I designed a web site for a client that was both with her and her customers – everyone was happy, but this wasn’t one of those, “Everyone lived happily ever after” stories. As time went by the client would periodically call me for advice and the rare, very small freelancing project.
Since I’ve known this client for years on both a personal and professional level I did stretch the rules for her a little in regards to billing – I’d often hook her up with a free consultation or whatever, you know…I tried to help out where I could (as long as it wasn’t a big deal). Perhaps you’ve worked for people that you considered friends and you’ve bent the rules a little for them as well. This is a nice gesture but it can often backfire on you, as it did me in this situation…more on that in a bit.
When you make yourself available to help the client when they have “no one else to turn to” you’ll find this quickly leads to clients thinking that they can call you for anything affecting their business, whether it relates to your area of specialty or not (graphic and or web design).
Going back to my example with this client, while the actual design of the web site has never been an issue, the web hosting, domain name registration and a few other IT issues have been a source of constant aggravation.
The root of all of these problems started because the client, (we’ll call her Marge) did not take my advice and work with a reputable, reliable web host. Instead she stubbornly went out on her own and got a second-rate web hosting company that has poor support and documentation. For her efforts she’s saving $5/year…wow.
Even though I politely told her this was a mistake, she resolutely went forward with her decision and hired a poor web host. What can I say? I can only advise, right?
In any case, it was around a year ago (3 years after the site was built) on a random Saturday…yes I said Saturday (clients aren’t supposed to call on the weekends); the client called me to complain that her email account was being hit by too much spam.
Even though I didn’t set up her email account and I don’t really offer IT support, I spoke with her for about 1/2 hour because we’re friends. I suggested that she set up a master email account but give out and use forwarding email accounts so if they get overrun with spam she can delete them and her master account would still be spared. I informed her that her web host would easily be able to walk her though this (at least the web host that I recommended that she use in the first place can). Anyway, she thanked me for the free advice and went on her way.
By the way, it’s important to note that I also told her that I could address the problem, it would take me 30-60 minutes and that I’d bill for the time. She didn’t take me up on that offer, which is fine, she wanted to go with the “free” solution and contact her web host herself.
Anyway, some time passed and I thought the problem was solved – I was wrong. About a week later this email found its way into my inbox, “Hey ! I know I mentioned this to you before but I need to change my e-mail. Do I just go into Microsoft Outlook, delete the old account and create a new one? I’m not sure how all of this works but I need to do this soon because receiving over 400 emails a day is driving me crazy!! Thanks for your help.”
Hmm, didn’t I already talk to her about this? Why is she asking me about it again?
Answer: She didn’t want to call the web host, instead she wants me to “fix” the problem…fix the problem for free – and that isn’t going to happen.
Ignoring my gut reaction to let her know what I really thought about how she’s handled this, I responded, “Pretty easy and free solution here, Marge. Whoever hosts your web site will be able to help you with this. You’ll need to set up a new account (which they’ll be able to walk you through for free, rather than hiring someone like me to do it). Contact their tech support; explain your issue and they’ll probably walk you through it. There are a couple of different ways you can go to eliminate this problem in the future, the tech support folks will have better knowledge about this than I do – give them a shout, it’ll probably take about 15-20 minutes.”
A few hours later I received this from Marge, “See this is the problem. I called my web host and they told me they couldn’t help me with this?!? This is why I contacted you; I’m a little irritated and need to have this problem fixed ASAP, not good for business. I will try them again, thanks for your help.”
A couple of thoughts here:
- If Marge had listened to me and went with the web host I suggested this would all be solved by now. Not listening to her designer got her in trouble and now she’s pissed.
- Marge says, “That’s why I contacted you…” No, you contacted me so I can solve your problem for free.
- Despite wasting loads of time and energy, Marge is unwilling to pay anyone to fix the problem. She feels since it’s such an easy thing to do, it should be free…but if it was that easy why can’t she do it?
- Marge feels I should provide FREE tech support on a web site that was build over 4 years ago!
- If Marge’s web host told her that they couldn’t help her, why would she say, “I will try them again”? If they can’t help her on the first try, what’s going to change if she calls them again? Hmm, do you get the impression that Marge didn’t actually call the web host but assumed I would fix it or contact them for her? I do.
I like Marge but in this instance she’s so focused on her own frustrating situation that she’s become a jerk. And yes, I know first-hand how technology can make people crazy (sometimes I get really ticked off at it), but railing against me in her frustration isn’t exactly helpful or fair.
My wife summed it all up by saying, “The issue here is that Marge is trying to make HER problems YOUR problems.” Yep, she’s right – and I’ve seen this so often with clients – frustrated people just trying to get someone to help them…HELP THEM FOR FREE.
Don’t get sucked into this.
Remember there’s a difference between wanting to be helpful & going the extra mile, and letting clients walk all over you. Where that line is you have to decide. In this example this client has a long history of asking for free help, and heck, she hasn’t hired me in a couple of years. I would have been happy to help her, but I was going to account for my time and expertise…what a crazy concept huh?
Jeremy Tuber is the author of two break-through books, “Being a Starving Artist Sucks” and “Verbal Kung Fu for Freelancers”, which have sold in over 25 countries around the world (they are available on Amazon, iTunes and at on his website/blog www.beingastarvingartistsucks.com).
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The smaller the client, the more I’ll insist that their site is hosted with me and charge them for that service and the relevant support package on an ongoing basis.
One way of doing it is that if I charge “x” to host with me then I charge “2x” to the client to host with someone else (on top of which they’ll pay fees to the host directly) to cover the cost of the additional runaround needed to deal with an unfamiliar and quite probably bad hosting setup.
This appears to be unreasonable at first sight but it’s a good way of getting into a sensible discussion about the real cost of things while leaving the ultimate choice with the client.
You have to be tough in business sometimes. You’re not doing it for a hobby, and time spent is time charged. I can understand a call like this if the client was on a retainer and or you were busy on a larger project for them, but after *years* of nothing, it’s certainly something you pay for or find someone else to do it free.
Also, good point about hosting. I make it 100% clear in my contract that I highly recommend such-and-such hosting and that they are likely to experience problems when choosing based on price.
Thanks for the article. I run into this issue as well, especially with smaller clients. Sometimes they ask me to come to their office and help them set up their email accounts, if I’ve set them up as part of their hosting package. I don’t resell hosting (mainly for this reason!) and try to make it clear that I recommend a certain host and will set things up for them, but everything is in their name, their own account and billed directly to them (and thus try to remove myself from the tech support issues as much as possible).
I’m thinking about an FAQ page on my website, or creating a couple of different PDFs that cover topics like this and can be handy to refer clients to the appropriate ones as we begin a project. Maybe being proactive about it (and still do it in a very nice way of course) in the beginning can help prevent any misunderstandings later.
Happens all the time. I hate being email tech support!
The article’s title needs an apostrophe!
that’s the type of client I never want to have (again)
As a new designer, I frequently get his this. Most of my clients are friends or friends of friends. Which I am grateful for the business. But, if I took each one of my clients 15 minute email/hosting problems, I would not have a day left. There seems to be a correlation between the amount paid and the amount that they are a pain. The less they pay, the more they want! I have struggled with this for the last year. I use a contract with every design I do, but I haven’t been able to fully express in it that I am not their ongoing tech support for any computer problems that they may have. Does anyone have a good boiler plate to cover this in their own contract? Any help would be appreciated.
It used to happen much more frequently, but I would get the help-me-with-my-Outlook question all the time in the early days. I felt obligated to help, since I could, if I wanted to keep the client. I don’t do that any more. I say “You’ll have to get an IT person” and say it’s not my area of expertise in a firm way. In the end, it creates a more professional aura for yourself. You wouldn’t ask your lawyer to fix your sink drain and expect him to consult with you or do the work! Why should graphic designers be email support techs in the same manner? Politely decline non-design work all the time and be a pro with a spine!
What did you do to handle the issue? do you deal with still with Marge?
Wow. This really hits the nail on the head for me.
I have a client/acquaintance who does very similar things. She’ll call and leave an urgent message or she’ll send an e-mail written in ALL CAPS with lots of exclamation points!!!!
And when it comes to payment? She insists on doing everything on trade or barter, since their cash flow is so low.
Part of the problem here is that I agreed to help her company get off the ground by doing some work on barter. Now, everything she wants is on barter. I’ve done a total of about $3,000 worth of work, and gotten about $500 in cash.
The trick will be exiting this relationship without burning a bridge because they are well-connected in town, and I don’t want to damage my reputation. Make sense?
Thanks for your article, Jeremy!
I’m sure your lesson resonates well with the community, particularly in situations where a web designer is either in business for themselves, or working in a small company and wearing multiple hats.
Because web projects have several facets (some of which are hidden from the client), we’re finding out that being clear on what you *don’t* do upfront is imperative to preventing both scope creep and the ‘this-site-is-down-and-it’s-your-problem’ client crisis.
A possible solution to these situations plays out in the proposal stages of a project, when the designer and client delineate project goals. Even when there’s a more relaxed or informal relationship, writing and email or contract that discusses project expectations makes it easier to say ‘this is what we agreed to’. From there, it’s less stressful to say “I’ll take care of this, but we’ll need to talk about cost”, pointing out where it stretches outside of the initial project agreement.
All too painfully familiar. This sort of support is why I refuse to resell hosting… it’s simply not worth it when you have to function as IT for a small business. It’s a real challenge to satisfy the really small client to whom what is a small project for the developer is possibly the lion’s share if not all their marketing budget.
We run into this all the time, it very frustrating!
One way we try to combat this is to produce a ’support document’ for every site. The doc will detail advice we have given that has not been adhered to, and reminds the client that we will not support issues that arise as a result.
Then, when things go pear shaped as a result of not taking our advice, refer them to the ‘tech doc’ and then charge them! Works like a charm!
I do sometimes wonder why some clients get us involved in the first place when clearly they know more than we do about hosting, designing for the web etc!!! HA!
Yep, very good points. Especially in regard to web hosting — you need to be careful with the cheap ones. A few Google searches usually gives you an idea of how good a web host is, though some reviews are false.
When one goes into business with a personal friend this happens more often it seems. Although it seems a little stiff at first referring friends to other professionals in your field can often be a great idea.
People really don’t value– or should I say understand the value– of good graphic design and web design/development work. They think that we just open up MS Word or FrontPage or [insert other asinine, useless design tool here] and get to work.
This is why people sign up for crappy hosting, fuss about design costs, and typically have no idea/understanding of a GOOD product and services. It’s so frustrating!
Yeah I had a client like this once. Although I clearly explained I couldn’t work on his website for him he persisted and asked me multiple times for advice and for me to modify the website. Although at first I kindly told him that wasn’t my area of expertise eventually I caved in and volunteered to add a widget to his site for videos. A few days later the host ran into some problems and his site was down for two days, he consulted a friend (not an expert) and the two agreed I was at fault for messing with his site. He threatened to charge me for lost business even after we got the host’s IT service to say it was an error on their part.
I do a lot of tech support. There are some clients who seem to have a tendency to be cheap, to try to get things for free. But it always turns out that these clients are so lost with tech stuff that they don’t know who or what to trust — and they don’t want to pay for things that they don’t understand. This is why they try to get a “friendly fix” — it takes some of their anxiety away!! They feel less at-sea, less ignorant. Techs, friends and designers need to go into teaching mode with these clients, friends and relatives. Emphasize clearly the long-term negative effects of doing things too informally, too cheaply. A bit of lecturing really works. And take the position — and stick with it — of offering a solution for proper pay only. Using this approach, over time, such clients really do get the picture. In the process, they build up their understanding and trust of what’s going on, and are very willing to pay for good work. What was originally a potentially shaky situation turns into a connection that’s satisfying for everyone.
Hey thanks for the great feedback on this guys, I am glad you enjoyed the post. Sounds like this situation is one that all freelancers seem to run into. Just understand that most clients are out for their best interests, not yours, even though they might be nice people). Most freelancers find that if they continue to offer to help for free, clients will never stop them and say, “Hey, I really should pay you for that.”
In answer to your question Chris, yes, I still occasionally do work with Marge, but she knows she’s going to get billed for putting me to work – I’ve trained her to understand that :)
If you guys are struggling in this area, first of all don’t feel badly, I got so upset I felt like tearing my hair out. In fact, I got so upset at not only experiencing this first-hand but hearing other freelancers be taken advantage of I wrote “Verbal Kung Fu for Freelancers”. If you guys read this post and would like to pick up the hard copy off of Amazon.com or the eBook off of my site, I’ll throw in the eBook version of “Being a Starving Artist Sucks” for free….a special freebie for Fuel Your Creativity readers.
Just shoot me an email at jeremy@beingastarvingartistsucks.com with your order number and I’ll hook you up, thanks for the great feedback…thanks again to Rob and Angie for allowing me to post.
I had a client call me over to their office last week to discuss some “urgent” updates to their websites. They mentioned they might need my help installing some antivirus and I mentioned immediately that I no longer do any kind of tech support for free, and they’d have to pay me $80/hr for any time spent doing tech support during the meeting. They said that was fine.
We went through the website stuff and then I fixed his antivirus (uninstalled Norton, hooked him up with Avast!). Then I thought I’d be out of there, but no, he had a fucking PIRATED version of Office that he wanted me to install rather than pay for the activation of his 60 day trial. I told him sorry pal, not only am I not a tech support, but I’m not in business to help you steal from Microsoft. What’s more, using pirated software for business critical things is a REALLY BAD IDEA if you want reliable operation.
So I left him hanging and am now thinking of asking him to find another web designer. I figure if he’s so eager to avoid paying Microsoft, he’s going to give me a hard time about my hard-earned web design fees. Along with his request to “not make me pay too much” I think he can stick the whole deal up his ass.
Excellent post – I have experienced most of the issues above in my 3 years as a freelance web designer and have also found 2 things really work for me:
1) Educating the client, as mentioned by ‘Heath’ – most clients are nervous of being sold something expensive they don’t need, they really feel lost when it comes to tech stuff – that’s why they call us to help. As soon as you start to explain the nitty gritty of how things work and why they are important – the trust begins to grow and they understand why we have to charge for our time just as they charge for theirs.
2) Referring them to a good IT person for any ‘non web design’ tech issues. Team up with a local tech support person. Clients usualy just want their problem solved – so if you can point them to someone else – it also passes on the charging for tech support issue to an expert in that area!
there always an entropy in a system.. and professional should ask for $ .
But the above scenario happens as part of a human being helping some one… but we need to draw the life between free service and professional service. Client will always ask for more.. no matter what pain you need to do take all.
Thanks for sharing your experience in the post.
Thanks a lot !
Email problems are just the start of it. People think just because I can make websites I can solve all their PC woes, urm… I work on a Mac.
Great advice, thanks!
This is not an issue only experienced by freelancers, but with designers working for bosses as well – and can become quite challenging at times as you can’t always tell the client that it’s not your job description – even though you want to – especially in small agencies.
Strange how clients always do that.
what a great topic! i have this same issue with a “Marge” of my own. Friends first, helped her with 4 or 5 sites, and now, every time there is a hosting or email problem, I get an email from her. Luckily, she generally says “bill me for this”, but it’s piddly stuff that I don’t want to deal with (I’m a designer, not an IT guy), and like you, I did this website 4+ years ago. Thanks for your view on this. At least I know I’m not alone :)
This is really good advice, for your personal life as well as for business.
We all seem to have our own “Marge” tales of woe. Mine fall more into my personal life, but it is still great advice not to let yourself become downtrodden by absorbing someone else’s problems. We all like to help, but we shouldn’t let others play helpless just so we can feel good about being helpful.
The amount of times these situations arise. You can go the entire length of a project with no negative outcomes from decisions made by yourself, the client or together. 2 months down the line something which you have no control over is deemed your issue?
if you have a healthy relationship and think to your self, “well theres an excellent chance of repeat business” then you tend to give them a helping hand. What’s 10 minutes of your time?
Make out everything you do is breaking your balls and your going 500 miles out of your way to help them. The second you say “that was nothing” , “no problems at all, that was easy” you are doomed.
Great article, Brilliant!
piss on that..
i get this all the time…. most times the client doesnt even want to call support or write out a ticket on thier system to handle the situation. and wants me to do it with no pay. … no way.. there you go..
“No Pay. No Way” WOOT WOOT!
i have alot of clients in LA and im on the east coast.. they expect me to be awake at 4am to answer phone calls and fix thier problems…they mostly just come off as demanding and overly inconsiderate.
they are in a city Full of creative professionals so it shows how cheap they are.
I think Marge actually called hosting company but she just looks like a person who will try several times to get what she have on mind so she will try to call them again.
This is why we NEVER get involved with tech/development side of web. Purely design, creative and strategy only. The tech stuff will haunt you. Like a bad burrito.
@ justin lol ‘ Like a bad burrito.’
Feeling your pain and have lived through it myself. Usually telling the client that there will be a charge works to get rid of them for me. I have had call backs after telling them there is a charge, and I don’t even inform them the second time. I just send the bill. Most of the time it even gets paid, but it usually ends those calls from that person.
Sounds like the kind of client I don’t want to have again but the ones I most often got before, until I decided to do outsourcing jobs which makes my job simpler and much more defined and my clients are from outside the country so it already filters out a few other issues that a nearby client might throw at you! hehe ;-) Nice post.
I’ve even worked with clients who read and understand contracts and are told out loud by me certain terms, but continue asking for things not documented or even discussed. One of my clients even said “Certain aspects of development are self-evident and don’t belong in a contract.”
That’s absolutely priceless. Obviously, if you have to tell me, then it’s not self-evident. That’s what contracts are for.
I used to work for an online poker website. I made just under £1000 a week. I was constantly getting asked to do freelance work so I decided to quit my job and go freelance. Now I work twice as many hours for not much more money, for exactly this reason.
Why do so many people think professional web services should be free? Despite what some people in the industry say, you absolutely have to charge by the hour. Let your clients know how many hours it will take to do the work they have requested, and that you will be billing them for any additional hours that result from services you didn’t initially agree to.
You MUST stick to your hourly rate. Discard any ‘more work will come from this’ pitches. If you are good you will get the work, there is lots of it out there.
Clients. Can’t live with them; can’t live without them! So stop complaining and keep working folks. Nuff said.
I totally agree with you. I have been through such kind of clients.
We all have the same pain…. :)
Oh man I am at the tail end of a projects where a nightmare hosting scenario fell right on our lap… Without “solving it” myself, the project would have stalled so naturally we handled it but none of it was billable and all of it was pure aggravation…
Something I’ve learned along the way is that not everyone is clear of the delineation of web professionals areas of expertise and simply assume that if you can build a website then you obviously know everything about hosting, email and ay related issues… Which might be true in some cases but regardless we are only “paid” for what we were hired to do which is develop the best website we can for the individuals business…
In these situations we handle it just like above (depending on the client) and then set the expectation where past a certain threshold the meter starts running again… If your lucky, you have a great client who appreciates the hoops you jumped through to help them out and has a clearer understanding of the different rolls web professionals play…
Hi Jeremy,
This is a wonderful read, couldn’t agree more with your points!
Particularly, the point “See this is the problem.” struck me hard as it’s the most common but intriguing problem faced by all of us.
I’ve collated some of my experiences on what makes freelancing one of the hardest jobs in the world, http://tiny.cc/ta21jw. Hope it will be beneficial to all.
Thanks for sharing this article !
Regards,
Mike Vincent