Grinding back when good clients start to Grind

[Patrick Ortman]

True, yes- it’s easy to assume a client is an evil troll when they pay slowly or stop paying, especially with today’s economy. Sadly, pretty much 80% of the clients who seem like trolls turned out to be, in fact, trolls :-). Still, vital to get the real story whenever possible.

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http://www.patrickortman.com
Web and Video Design

[Craig Seeman]

You can only hope you’re getting the real story. Sometimes they drop strong clues.
I’ve had good clients send checks that were lost in the mail so I never assume they’re ducking.

In the above case the client told me they would not pay until after delivery so it was clear they were changing payment method. They had previously expanded their business into another market and told me that their potential customers were fighting with them on price unlike their other market.

Given the small size of the bill and the change in payment method I had no confidence that they would be able to afford our more expensive services. That’s when you know it’s time to get the money under your, not their, terms. I can understand breaking a big bill into smaller payment bites for a good client but when they start fighting over pennies you know their business is in trouble. That’s the time to cut bait and run.