Killing An Obnoxious Client

Businesses hire marketing professionals for their experience, creativity, and results.

Equal partnerships generate successful efforts. Clients who think creativity’s a commodity can’t take advantage of expertise, insight and value from communications solution providers.

This virtually guarantees mediocre results.

Realistically, every idea won’t be amazing. But motivated communications professionals continue spitballing ideas in hopes of generating something huge.

Most clients recognize this process, layered atop their own strategic guidance, leads to business growth opportunities.

Creatives and strategists feeling respected and fairly compensated will willingly toil days, nights, and weekends to accomplish great things for the client.  

But what if your client is arrogant, rude, and insulting? Who insists that though she lacks adequate perspective, her ideas are always better than anyone with significantly more marketing experience?

Fire her!

My (now) former client learned this lesson after spending months whining about everything our team proposed. Rock-solid concepts suiting her audience, objectives, budget and timeline were consistently ignored because they weren’t her ideas.

Increasingly disheartened, we reluctantly implemented her every request. Her website and brand consistency became a mishmash.

She also destroyed the assignment’s “fun quotient.”

When it comes to creativity, the customer’s not always right. Hiring decades of expertise, then ignoring everything you’re told, is just dumb. If you believe you’re always right, hire a recent graduate to implement your instructions and you’ll get no pushback, with significantly lower costs.

My job’s to solve communications challenges while spotting new business opportunities and partnerships. I ask numerous questions, do significant independent research, then connect the dots in sometimes unexpected ways.

This formula has delivered a string of unique marketing solutions and profitable results to hundreds of clients over 40 years.

When we’re all pulling in the same direction, and my ideas at least get a fair hearing, there’s a good chance of a few laughs…and success.

But when I knew I’d be declared wrong before I’d said a word, this client removed my motivation to work harder and longer. Her being overly demanding, obnoxious, and fussing about paying anything, while demanding loads of additional services, didn’t help.

So rather than let her drain us all, creatively and emotionally, or risk having our other clients suffer, we walked away. Because if you’re not having fun doing something, why bother doing it?

With that said, I wish you a week of profitable marketing.

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Learn more about working with creative folks. www.marketbuilding.com.