Jon,
While your quote of $6k in lost income is correct for THAT customer in reality the loss is more like $12k!
$6k in lost billing to Boopsie and $6k in lost "opportunity" billing that could have been done for another client.
GiGi,
This is a VERY expensive client in dollars and emotional energy. Ask yourself how many Billable Hours have you spent just on this post? The fact that they cannot make decisions nor run a profitable business is NOT YOUR PROBLEM! Give them the files in any format you deem appropriate and send them on their way with no regrets.
Jack
Jack, yes I've spent a ridiculous amount of time on these folks, reviewing my records, communicating with clients who only hear what they want, no matter what I tell or write them... and even more so... the stress and worry of handling this properly. With finality!
So, yes yes yes, billable and personal hours just lost, with no financial pay-off.
However, the process of dealing with this is not entirely without pay-off. Not only was posting here a HUGE outlet for my stress, but to have a place to come, unload and then be the recipient of advice that I wouldn't otherwise had access to..... PRICELESS!!!!!
I was actually worried many times as I posted that, this is not the place to be venting, worried about the whole "soap opera" or "drama queen" was so unprofessional. And yes, at some point you read this thread as say to yourself ENOUGH ALREADY! But the fact remains, this is real! Real in it's drama, humor, ridiculousness and the time I spent dealing with it.
Could I have put this to rest more quickly as suggested by many? No, I don't think I could have. There were lessons to be learned, policies to reconsider and realization that needed to be addressed. And as much as I wanted to be hard-nosed, stop flip-flopping and just put my foot down... I can't just change my personality. That's where the flip-flopping came into play.
In the end I took the word of wisdom from so many here... incorporated the direct, logical and concise approach to the part of me that wanted be nice. Nice to a fault initially. Much as I try, I can't set my personality aside even if it would sever me well in business. But the beauty in this whole process was to see that I could do both, be kind and direct and in the end get what I want. Which was, to be fair, be nice (without being a doormat) and be rid of them!
Big big lesson for me..... nice doesn't mean doormat!!!!
I think you guys are better at not letting that happen. But I know for a fact, from pm's received since starting this thread, there are other struggling with the same issues. So if some were bored with this thread and moved on... that's fine. Hopefully they derived a little humor/entertainment and surely some in-site from other posters.
I think if I was to say: It was good for me, was it good for you? There might be a few yes'.
Gypsy you need to start a new thread "How to fire a client"
Dice, should I post here how it ended or does the how it ended not matter.... just that it worked.
After this thread... do you really think anyone wants MY advice on how to fire a client? ME... the person who thought "if I only could look like that cool cookie, tough baby in your avatar."
Just a side note: that gansta hat I mention, the one I wear in the shop and sometimes on installs... that I thought makes me look tough... had it on yesterday... told some one over the phone "you don't wanna mess with me today, I got my gangsta hat on today." I conveniently forgot to mention that fact that I was sporting pig-tails under my gangsta hat.
See... nice & tough!
works for me
