I've piqued your curiosity with suggestions of blog entries such as:
Alana's Font Rant
Ambigram Candygram!
MORE Logomania
Wedding Invitation BLISS
Nerdy Valentines
And MORE! (And they're coming! I promise!)
I've teased you with wonderful posts, only to disappear for two weeks with no explanation, and no cool posts like Michelle Wieler's post about her travel contest.
SHAMELESS PLUG - go visit her blog and then go VOTE for goodness sake!
And yes, I've been doing a great number of wedding invitations, which have all turned out fantastically. I've taken pictures of all of them, and they WILL be ready to blog about soon. But a few brides have left me in tears. I'm on redesign #3 with one bride. I'm ready for desperate measures on this one. Any ideas on how to deal with difficult clients?
But with a
ll that going on, and things at the shop going quite mental (or they're making me mentally exhausted at least). We actually have customers hanging out at the shop A FULL HOUR before we open and TWO HOURS after we close - all expecting service! They've apparently been stalking us and know when we come and go. Hey people! I love you all, but do you know the reason we're here two hours after closing time? Because we need to get stuff DONE!I know I'm sounding like a five year old again - I warned you about that earlier. But rather than continuing this wonderful (and much needed rant) I wanna know what YOU think:
How do you deal with a difficult client? Ones that pushes the boundaries of respect. Ones that expect return emails past eleven o'clock at night. Ones that come in hours before open, and hours after closing. Customers that give impossible direction for an impossible job, or completely redesign the whole entire thing eight times before cancelling the job altogether. TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK!
Write to me your favorite work related disaster story, or how you dealt wonderfully with a really difficult client and how it turned out fabulously in the end. I'm tired of hearing myself whine, and goodness knows you need a rant once in a while!
The BEST story or incident to be posted here will receive:
- My most sincere condolences and or congratulations
- A deep understanding of where you're coming from
- A drink-date with ME! Live and in person! (Or if you're far away, I'll courier you out your most favorite vice, be it candy, chocolate, coffee etc)
- The glorious prize of having your own personal rant on my blog for all to see (okay, everyone will have that, but it's still special, right?)
Entries will close whenever I do my next post. Good luck to all, and rant away!
5 comments:
My rants would likely be your rants currently so I respectfully stay out of this one!
Oh you can post something! You don't even have to rant about your current job. Something in a previous job, or a previous life. Just don't bitch about your existing boss. Or you can, but just SAY it's an old boss. I'm not likely to see any similarities. You know you wanna win a date with me!
Umm... you don't really want to know how I handle customers like that... or how I'd LIKE to, anyways. I typically have to turn to my suave, snake-like manager to avoid doing something that will result in a lost customer. If he's not here? Well... I respond a bit too honestly, get a flustered/pissed off customer & end up having to grovel. *sigh* Well, not normally, but that DID happen recently, anyways. It's a customer that we actually lose money on some of their orders & yet they STILL try to demand cheaper pricing. So I asked them straight up "what price are you fishing for?" cause I might be able to change their order to be less costly to my company & thus cheaper. Followed up by TELLING them that my company losts money on some of their orders & that we can't compete with overseas cause we ain't overseas. Our labor costs more & our quality is higher. Well... that didn't go over so well. "What are you implying?!" they demanded. If it was up to me, I'd tell them to go & good riddance. And actually, I think ONE of the powers that be agrees with me. But my manager... alas, he does not, so I grovelled & hoped he wouldn't hear about it. They put through another order, so apparently I succeeded. *sigh*
So yes, I grit my teeth & try to keep my cool. I try to get more levelheaded folks than I to help me. And in some cases... I actually get to stand my ground. "What do you MEAN you don't want to pay for this design we've already completed for you?! You'll bloody well pay... I don't CARE if you don't like it! Payment for services rendered even if you now suddenly don't want it. Not my problem."
The stalking is less applicable due to the joys of customers that I never see in person. I'm here strictly during business hours & unaccessible otherwise. Those chasing me via email when I'm not in get gently reminded of my work hours.
Oh, and impossible jobs? I say it's impossible & stick with it. If they insist, then I do the best I can with an impossible job with the warning that I can't be held responsible if they are unsatisfied in the end. I'm not a miracle worker despite the fact that many customers think I am (and in some cases it is a very sweet gesture).
I'm hopeful that all of that was nicely coherent... and that I remain nicely incognito. You don't know me! Any of you! I'm like the wind or something!
Ooooooh! I had a customer tell me he could get his job cheaper in China. Know what I told him? Then GO to China!! He responded by saying he didn't WANT to go to China, so I retorted by saying Then DON'T go to China!
He eventually did get his job done in China. And two months later came to us with the same job. Guess what? China screwed up. *FACEPALM*
And as much as I rant and rave, I usually "kill them with kindness". I figure the best I can do is keep my cool while they are losing theirs and I will always look like a winner.
Or so I tell myself.
Hence the ranting. heh.
Go to www.notalwaysright.com
GOLDEN STUFF.
Zing!
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