It’s the Ethics, Stupid! Saying No to Client Work.
By Roberta Rosenberg on Jun 2, 2009 in Just Thinking, Working with Clients
photo credit: Lili Vieira de Carvalho
Last week, I turned a client down because, in my deepest heart of hearts, I believed his business plan was flawed and I saw no way I could help him meet his sales goals for his new product and web business.
I turned down what could have been a nice lump o’ dough.
I did try to find a way to work with him. I asked him to think about reframing his goals in light of the economy and the difficulty in selling consumer web apps that are replicated free elsewhere — porn and IPhone apps aside. I asked him to consider a different way of looking at this assets and consider additional ways of monetizing them.
Thanks, but no, thanks, Roberta.
I turned him down because I didn’t see how I could be successful on the path presented. I turned him down because I didn’t want to burn through his dough and then shrug at him, “Oh, well…”, and move blithely on to my next marketing adventure.
I’m not a risk-taker, despite my entrepreneurial instincts. I always play the short odds for my own businesses and when evaluating taking on a new client. I have to believe in the project’s potential for success. Sort of like any important relationship really. I have to be able to see a happy, fulfilling future ahead or not engage at all.
Maybe it’s a girl thing, but at the end of the day, I want the client to like me, feeling well-served, and I want to feel like the smartest smarty in class. When my clients are successful, I happy. When a client isn’t successful, I sad. In both cases, I take responsibility.
(Hmm, maybe I have boundary issues.)
Ultimately, though, I believe it would be unethical of me to take this guy’s money. I’m not a believer. If I’m not a believer then there’s no way I can be a genuine, passionate, enthusiastic advocate for the product — and that’s key.
Saying no doesn’t make me a saint, mind you. (Believe me, I was tempted. Afterall, I have a daughter looking to start college in Fall 2010.) It’s the height of selfishness really. I only want to garden where I have a solid chance of reaping a decent harvest, for me and my client.
Why? Because I’m also incredibly lazy and hate moving a single mental muscle unless it’s gonna get me somewhere good.
What about you? Have you turned down work, too, or would you? Or have you just smiled and said, “Oky Doky!” (No judgement from me. We’re all friends here. 
Jada Bradley | Jun 2, 2009 | Reply
I just did something similar, although the circumstances were different and the chunk of change was not so very nice. It is very hard when you know that you are capable of doing the work, but concerned about the long-run implications of doing that work. The client doesn’t necessarily have to be warm and fuzzy towards me, but I do have to respect them and what they are trying to do.
TC/Copywriter Underground | Jun 2, 2009 | Reply
The sleazy scam artists aren’t hard to turn down, but it’s excruciating to say “no” to someone nice because you don’t want to be the one to pour their life savings (or investment capital) down the drain.
TC/Copywriter Underground’s last blog post..The Harmonic Convergence of Overwork (or, Overload in the Age of Overload)
Lorraine | Jun 2, 2009 | Reply
Hi Roberta,
I stopped writing catalog copy for a client when I could no longer ignore their pesticide sales.
Pretty clear cut.
Your situation is more difficult. Congrats on taking the ethical high road.
I’m not as strong and often accept work that is tactical but fails to fit into a larger strategy.
Many of my clients cling to a fantasy that a particular marcom tool–website, brochure, direct mail–is their co’s silver bullet. Despite effort, I can’t get them to implement more integrated, dynamic, long term strategy.
Great post and food for thought, as always.
Anna | Jun 2, 2009 | Reply
I had a client who is a professional Fitness Trainer and wanted a CMS website on Fitness. We created a full website with all kinds of extra features, bonuses, and backend setups, social networking setups, etc. The client expressed that he understood that he would have to use what we created but that it was being set up so that he could make the best of it.
He then refused to follow even basic instructions on his next steps. He added one or two posts to his blog in the next 3 months. He did not read the emails I sent him and then asked questions that I had already answered. He did not read or follow the instructional PDF I sent him on how to get started on driving traffic to his site. He demanded that I spend hours on the phone explaining things to him verbally (instead of reading or responding to emails) and then did not follow my advice. After 3 months of doing nothing, he wrote to me demanding that I get his website ranked highly (for a competitive field like ‘Fitness’) and said that I didn’t help him enough to get his website going.
My response is simply that I will never work with the client again. It wasn’t because gave him a lot of extra free services that I wasn’t paid for. It wasn’t about the money. It was that it was a waste of time – why build an oven for someone if they are never going to turn it on? In the long run you feel you wasted your time. Even if he had paid the full price, I would feel I had wasted my time.
So yes – I COMPLETELY understand.
Anna’s last blog post..My Favorite Since 2006 – Personal Review
Roberta Rosenberg | Jun 2, 2009 | Reply
@Jada – Client doesn’t have to love me (well, maybe just a little), but respect the work, expertise.
@Tom – Maybe I’m lucky. Not too many sleazoids come a calling, but I’m always agonizing the “No, I’m sorry. I don’t believe I can help you.” with the good guyz & galz.
@Lorraine – When a start-up comes to me with nothing – or worse, a site already done & paid for that’s not producing – I have to get strategic. “I need 100 paid subs in 30 days.” “Sorry, I can’t help you. I need 3 months to rebuild your product and site from scratch.”
I want some of current clients to rethink DM. With so little mail in folks’ mailboxes, it would definitely get noticed.
@Anna – I feel your pain. TRULY. When I tell clients they’ll need to keep tending to their sites, blogs, etc. they’re always astounded. “I thought we were done!” “No babe, we just got started.”
Marketing. It isn’t a project. It’s a process.
NatalieGreen | Jun 3, 2009 | Reply
This past year I have made it a practice to get rid of any work that isn’t working for me in any capacity.
I am finding that when you take a deep breathe, be true to yourself and move on from the negative clients, you open yourself up to those that are a better fit.
I know that sounds very new-agey but it’s only when I ignore that and stay with someone for the $$$ it’s a recipe for mediocrity, stress and a dollop of irritation on the side.
NatalieGreen’s last blog post..MISTAKES and REPURCUSSIONS
Terri | Jun 3, 2009 | Reply
This past year I made a big mistake in taking on a client even though I had a bad feeling about it from the start.
I was suggesting we do an eCommerce website that would bring in more business for her little flower shop than she ever imagined possible, but the sales process itself was GRUELING. I could see how good the business and marketing strategy was for her, but she just didn’t get it. She needed so much convincing that I should have just stopped pursuing her, but it was hard because I knew it would benefit her if she would just trust us.
So she did, eventually, but she never stopped being difficult. She was the most needy, uncooperative, and time-consuming client I had ever had. I should have taken a clue from how much hand-holding she needed just to sign the contract.
That client ended up cancelling her contract with our firm because she claimed “my son designed a site for me for FREE that I like better” AFTER we had done 2 months of eCommerce construction, graphics and SEO. She also demanded a FULL refund of the deposit. *sigh* but you live and learn right?
Please take the advice in the above article, choose your clients wisely.
It’s in EVERYONE’S best interest.
Jendi | Jun 4, 2009 | Reply
I’d like the client to like me also.
I want to know I can accomplish something.
I hope that I’d do what you did.
Jendi’s last blog post..Win A Ticket To The Hot Summer Seminar Series