WHEN CLIENTS BECOME ABUSIVE
Have you ever been abused by a client? No, I don't mean do clients punch you or slap you << ugh, at least I hope that never happens!!! I'm referring to 'bullying' or 'threats' or 'tone in general' ... an overall sense that if you don't over-succeed to their every demand they are going to DESTROY YOU and everything you've worked for. Has that happened to you?? It happened to me ... it has been happening to me for months and this morning I finally:
PUT A STOP TO IT
I will put up with quite a lot from clients ... and it only happens about 2% of the time ... I am generally very lucky with the type of clients who hire me ... but when I do get a client who is just mean through and through it sucks me dry ... and it blows, right?? Because on one hand they are paying you for your time ... so it almost makes you feel like you are supposed to put up with their abusive behavior ...
ARE THREATS, NASTY EMAILS, AND FEAR-INDUCING COMMENTS JUST PART OF THE GIG??
For instance, this client who was doing all of the above to me emailed me that they are going to comment in FB pages about me and already have ... uhhh, thanks?? But complaining in a FB group isn't really fair, is it? It's very one-sided ... not much I can do about it though! Not much any of us can do about it ... so we live in fear. We sit there and think: Ok, on one hand if I keep them happy and do everything they say I should be safe from them blasting me all over the internet ... but on the other hand, it's not our job to put up with their sh*t beyond what our job is.
I don't know if I really have any point to this blog post TBH ... but it's something business owners go through and I'm guessing a lot of us (me included) aren't sure what the heck we're supposed to do about it ... each client is like a gold coin that we have to treasure ... but there comes a point when you have to stop abusive behavior and risk what will happen after. If you have a client who is taking their measures beyond what is 'client - service provider acceptable' then you have to decide how much you can take and then you need to decide whether terminating your contract with them is worth it or not.
Oh, and wanna know something else awesome about right now??? Mercury is currently in retrograde (eye-roll, eye-roll, eye-roll) ... fun times, yes??
XO~ Heather
