Managing Difficult Clients with Grace: A Freelancer's Holiday Survival Guide
How can ClickUp be used to help us wrangle in difficult clients during an already stressful time of year?
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Is there a busier time of year for freelance marketers than the holiday season? 😅
Layer on a couple already difficult clients and you're looking at the perfect storm. ⛈️
"Can we launch this campaign next week?"
"I need to meet with you ASAP"
"I have a post idea for tomorrow"
"Why aren't our ads doing better?"
Before you scream into a pillow or send a snippy email response, I've got 7 simple suggestions for how ClickUp can wrangle in those cowboy clients! 🤠
But first… what makes a client difficult? 🤔
They're unorganized and scattered 🤪
They may make last minute requests, or only provide half the information you need. They aren't very good at planning in advance which means they expect and need work to happen very quickly.
They are in constant contact with you 💬
Emails, instant messages, phone calls, meetings. Some clients have more questions and need more hand-holding, and that can feel really irritating very quickly.
So… how can ClickUp help you manage difficult clients? ⬇️
1. Create a request process they need to follow if they want to ask something of you ✅
So much overwhelm happens when we feel like information is scattered everywhere. 😅
When clients send us requests via email or DM, we need to take that information and put it somewhere to make it actionable.
This is one of the BEST PARTS OF CLICKUP!
Forms (a paid feature) allow you to create a real request process your client needs to follow if they want to ask something of you.
For example, a campaign request form that gathers all the necessary information you need to get started.
Or a social post request form, for those last-minute in-time requests.
Pro-tip: make certain fields required so the client has to properly brief you before they can hand off the work. This prevents clients from making requests without giving them a proper think.
2. Remind your clients how long the work takes ⏱️
The next best thing about using a form (after how much administrative work and stress it removes) is how it allows you to define expectations.
Right there in the form, reiterate how long they can expect it to take from the moment they submit their request.
POOF. No more "can we launch this campaign on Friday?" if your form states clearly that it takes 7-10 business days.
It's simple and yet so powerful. 👏🏻
Get all this ClickUp goodness right to your inbox 👇
3. Keep an eye on how much time those difficult clients are taking ⏲️
How can we know with certainty that a client is asking more than they're paying for? Track your time on everything!
ClickUp's time tracker is built right in, and allows you to track time for each client. Using a ClickUp dashboard, pull those numbers in and monitor them closely.
This isn't just something to do over the holiday season. Track your time year-round so you can identify when scope creep starts and nip it in the bud early.
Use the data to set clear expectations with the client:
"We're going over scope this month to meet all the holidays requirements, which means we have two options.
1, I can bill you for the additional scope or...
2, I can reduce the amount of scope from January to keep your monthly cost the same but that will entail X fewer posts/campaigns, etc"
4. Get ahead of client questions with a routine status update 💬
One of the easiest ways to manage a difficult client is by being proactive.
If you have a more hands-on client, create a recurring task (on whatever frequency makes sense for the client and how much they're paying you) to provide a simple status update.
I have found this alone can be the solution to wrangling in a difficult client, since your continuous reassurance shows them you have it under control.
I like to use a list called account management within each of my client folders, and setup a recurring task so that each time it's completed, it automatically recreates.
5. Create boundaries around meeting times with scheduled office hours 🕚
Some clients just need more face-time than others and that's okay!
What's not okay are spur of the moment phone calls or instant messages.
Try creating boundaries around your time by providing standing office hours, and automate the booking process using Calendly.
Chances are they won't need the time every single week, but they will feel comfortable knowing they can speak to you when they need to.
6. Eliminate their neediness with a personalized dashboard 🎛️
One of the best ways to manage a difficult client in ClickUp is by giving them a personalized dashboard.
In this dashboard, you can include your request forms, the calendly booking widget, and you could include a chat widget for the status updates you provide.
You can also choose to include a high-level look at the progress in their projects, with % completion and timelines.
This really eliminates almost all of the ways a client is difficult, since they have everything they need in one place.
7. Start proactively planning for the holidays 🗓️
I'm putting this one last in case you're well beyond the planning phase, and that's okay.
To eliminate the end-of-year chaos, try creating placeholder tasks for yourself to start planning in advance, or for your client to provide a timely holiday overview.
I would create another recurring task in the account management list for holiday campaign preparation, so it's there waiting every single year.
I also like to have a client tasks list and have recurring tasks for them as well to provide their input.
It may seem silly and unnecessary, but we tend to get so heads down in the day to day we can easily forget to look ahead. This makes sure there is no chance of that happening.
Bookmark these tips for next year 🎉
This is the most stressful time of year for marketers, so don't feel bad if you aren't able to even think about implementing the tips above. 🤯
Bookmark this blog, sign up for ClickUp and come back to it in the new year when you have more time and space to build a business that brings you joy. 🥰
