I sat there yesterday morning avoiding email. I’ll be honest – I was a bit terrified to see who was bitching about what given the last few weeks I’d had. I thought I’d exorcised the agony twice, but when the agony returned three times, the temptation was to throw up the hands, wave the white flag, and apply at Starbucks.
I’ve been having quite a run of “What the hell were you thinking?” notes – some justified, many not. In one case, a dude was livid because the project I wrote for him, as he put it, was very similar to what he’d provided. I panicked thinking I’d sent the wrong file. No. I pored through the one I’d written, comparing it with his – I resorted to keyword searches in each document. No. Very much different. Then it hit me. He was reacting to the format. The format I used was a more polished version of what he’d provided. But this set him off so much that he called my client’s client and bitched. Easy fix for me, but now I have to wow him in order to calm him. It was a pile of unnecessary stress on top of client notes questioning my skill level. I sucked it up, loaded up on caffeine, and pressed on.
I don’t mind someone pointing out that there’s a problem. Oddly, the ones who go ballistic are usually reacting to smallish, fixable things. But ballistic isn’t something I can filter easily. Worse is when it comes after I attempt the impossible after informing the client full score that it’s impossible. I had one of those last week, and let’s just say the client’s response confirmed what I tried to convey. No one can rewrite two large pieces complete with new interviews in two hours. Something will, and did, get overlooked.
But when it comes to it, we are the last link on the food chain, the bottom wrung of a shaky ladder. If something at the top goes wrong, it’s all spilling down on us. It’s why I document and make sure I communicate my express concerns the minute they crop up. I’ve had my backside singed far too many times by people pinning blame and yanking payment for situations far beyond my control. I won’t have my income suffer for someone else’s wild notions or misguided expectations.
I’ve also been known to press back. Think of a cornered animal – yes, just like that. I take it when I have to, but when it’s clear that it will jeopardize my reputation, I pull out the ammo (documentation).
So how to you overcome lousy runs of luck, client complaints, and unjust blame?
I send you the peace of God and the universe… take deep breaths and get on with the business of being the amazing person you are!
Nice post 🙂
Thanks, Ruthibelle. 🙂
Lori, I have SO been there! It especially kills me when a client flips out but they can't (or won't) articulate why they're unhappy. Like you should just automatically know why. Then when you start asking questions and dissecting their reasons, it turns out be something small and trivial. Why not just say "I don't like this font?" or "I prefer not to use that verb?"
I change my target client 🙂
Susan, exactly. Tell me WHY you're unhappy. I can fix that. His general "It looks similar to the original" made no sense given that I'm a WORDSMITH not a designer.
Yo, totally agree. When the fussing outweighs the pay, wave buh-bye.
Keep your head up. You're not alone here. It reminds me of a particular nasty email a client sent that sent me into a tizzy. I bore the brunt of his anger toward a missed deadline.
My first reaction was to blame myself and I went nuts trying to figure out how I could've missed it. After spending time looking back through previous emails and contracts; I realized that I didn't get the project done because I was never contracted to do it. I responded to him and let him know that. A few days later, I got an apology and an explanation that it was someone else who was supposed to do it- not me.
Sometimes clients have their atrocious weeks. I do wish, however, that we weren't always the ones to be on the receiving end of their frustrations.
I have to say that some do tend to have a conniption over what they perceive to be incorrect grammar, punctuation or the like. They seem to think they know more about our craft than we, the professionals, do.
Either that, or their many co-horts are planting thoughts in their mind at how our projects could have been better. Because, as you know, they're more intelligent than we are. *snort*
LOL! Wendy, I love it. 🙂
I get a lot of clients finding real issue with using a preposition at the end of a sentence. Really? Has anyone since Churchill not seen the reason for it in some cases? While I remember being taught to end with something other than a preposition, I think popular use has altered that rule to some extent. Also, I get grief for using "And" and "But" to start sentences. Again, popular use has changed the rules somewhat.
It all boils down to which style guide you follow and how much of a stickler you are, in my humble opinion.
One more thought – these grammar sticklers are the same folks who have split infinitives numerous times, which to me is the greater sin.
I know. Preaching to the choir, aren't I?
My theory is that the grammar sticklers know it all because they read it somewhere on the internet.
I have a friend who's an accountant that gets clients, once in awhile that want to make outrageous deductions on their taxes that they, technically, can't make. Their intelligent reasoning is that they read it on the internet (on a site that is not affiliated with the IRS), so they don't see why they can't make those deductions.
I have also been questioned on my use of And and But to start sentences. They don't feel that it's proper, but yet, they specify that the article should be written in conversational style. Silly me, I thought using those words was considered conversational style.
Do we have a prize o give Wendy for being chewed out for failing to complete a project she'd never been assigned? At least the guy apologized.
I love e-mail, since it can track everything. I don't like dealing with people on the phone when discussing project details, since you have no documentation of what's been said. Get it in writing.
Last week one of my editors was accused of leaving a key person out of some major coverage. Every one of his co-workers had been mentioned, but not him. The publicist wasn't pleased, but my editor kept all of their correspondence and was able to re-send him the e-mails where he named who should be included and approved the magazine's final list. He admitted it was his oversight, and I got a rush assignment out of it!
"So how to you overcome lousy runs of luck, client complaints, and unjust blame?"
Chocolate. Sweet, delicious chocolate. Preferably by the case.
Followed by a Guinness or two (or 11).
Works like a charm.
Oh, Wendy gets top honors for Stupid Client Trick of the Year! We all mess up, but to chew out the wrong writer for missing the deadline she was never assigned? That's the best!
Paula, emails are like gold sometimes, aren't they? Good thing you had that! I bet you never got an apology, either. I had one dude scream bloody murder and accuse me of lying to him when I superimposed the numbers when giving him a to-date word count. Seriously, he went to the moon and beyond. When I wrote back and apologized for my typing mistake, complete with the file showing exactly what the word count was, he said this: "Yes, I thought maybe that happened. No worries." Ah, excuse me? You called me a liar and acted like a classic heel and that's all you have to say? We didn't work together again – MY choice.
Chocolate and Guinness do sound like the ideal mix, though I reserve the Guinness for my Irish stew recipe, Hugh. Here's a better combo – chocolate and raspberry wine. Oh my word!
Ok here is how I deal with them. I flush…whopps they got a stuck…I plunge. I flush and then flush again just to make sure. Time to move on. Time is money- and they are wasting my time and hence my income. I don't through money out the car window and so I don't spend time letting them suck my time and money from me. Flush, flush, flush!
There you go, John. A new mantra – flush away! 🙂
Just in case you are desperate … I have heard rumors of the existence chocolate wine. I'm told it's quite good.
All kidding aside, the worst part is not so much getting blamed for something I had nothing to do with; it's the fact that the client could have tarnished my name as a Freelancer for being untrustworthy to make deadlines.
This is definitely something that happens to me as well. And usually my reaction is the same as yours–they flip out, I flip out. But that's no way to live and sometimes when you get a run of these it can wreck your week.
So what I do is take a deep breath, take a walk, have a glass of wine, do something to calm down. Later I take a look at what they're REALLY upset about (I generally don't see it at first because I'm just reacting to their reaction). Usually it's something TINY and totally flxable. In rare cases it's a bigger problem, usually having to do with some sort of misunderstanding between what the client said they wanted and what they actually wanted, or between what the client thought he was getting and what he got. Then the key is to explain–don't be afraid to defend your choices. Usually, once they hear your defense, they'll back down and even come to agree with you–I've been surprised at how often just being SLIGHTLY willing to defend myself has gotten people to come around.
This is a matter of life and death. Every year over 1 million innocent Americans die as a result of medical blunders. Each year over 2 million Americans contract a hospital acquired infection and 70K will die.
Please visit my blog Medical Holocaust and pass it onto others. People are DYING!
http://medicalholocaust.blogspot.com/
US health care is is the leading cause of death and injury. Please help stop it.
Thank you, CG Brady AKA Fat Bastard.
Eileen, don't tease me! Find it and call me. We'll discuss its healing properties over a few glasses….
Wendy, that's a real threat. I'm very glad you were able to convince him he'd never hired you (I think he's the fool for not realizing that, but I digress).
Jen, I've had that work for me a few times. I agree. The one time my explanation didn't wash was on a job in which three other writers had failed before me. It was clear the issue wasn't with my work but their own clarity.
Fat Bastard, I'm leaving your post up, but next time try interacting, not just self-promotion.
FYI, heart disease is the leading cause of death – not US healthcare. Get it right.