It brings to mind a job we went to quote on a while back. The client had just had her house remodeled and was now looking to get the landscape done. She offered to tour us through her newly remodeled home. In every room she had complaints about how the work was done and described in detail how she had refused to pay one contractor and demanded that another rip out cabinets that weren't straight (in a 125 yr old farmhouse that didn't have a straight wall in it.) Then she showed us her dining room and apologised for the poor wallpaper job (it looked almost perfect to me). She explained that her children had done it as a Mother's day gift but they did a poor job. We knew right then to decline the job as anyone so spiteful as to berate a gift from her children would never be pleased.

Lesson learned - Spend some time talking to the client to get a feel for their personality and psychology and decide if you really want to enter into any kind of relationship with them. Some jobs just aren't worth it.

Ah yes, the psychotic client. I have at least a couple every year...and you know what, with each one I got a freakish, bad vibe off of them at the initial meeting. But I lacked good judgement and didn't listen to my gut with the freakish vibe. I took them on anyway and the project always turned into the design process from hell. This year...if the freak radar needle starts to budge at a meeting, you can be darn sure I'm listening.

The one thing I am still learning is everyone wants everything done yesterday. God forbid they should have to wait for you to finish projects with clients who have signed on with you before they did. When I try to explain to them I can't start their design tomorrow...oh boy.

Thanks for the warnings! I'm still learning a lot with each design I do. I treasure every tip I can get. I'm so lucky to work part time for an established designer. She gives me tips like this often. And I can run a design problem by her every now and then.

I'd agree that learning to trust your gut instincts is a hard concept to hold fast to. Even after many years in this business, I still make mistakes in this regard and there is at least one client a season (often more) that I should never have considered just for the headache factor alone. Unfortunately, I tend to get more excited about the projects (don't you just love a new design challenge?) and not spend as much time as I should evaluating or researching the clients themselves. Thankfully the PITA clients are few and far between but they still appear with regularity.

I can appreciate getting excited about new projects and overlooking the fact the client may be a head case. I'm totally guilty of that. I have found if the client is a complete head case, they could have the coolest project in the universe but the craziness will morph it into the suckiest project ever.

So far I have been pretty fortunate that this year has brought me fairly reasonable people. But...the season is still young! LOL

Yeah, I think every design professional who has an ounce of creative flair and vision can be glazed over by the 'coolness' of a project , which has a tendency to blur their 'sucky client' radar.

Another lesson that I try to keep ontop of my radar screen when interviewing a client is to understand their expectation of TIME.
If they are unrealistic about the amount of time that it takes to push a project through or have an unrealistic deadline due to a party or some other stressful event that they are trying to pull off so that they can impress their peers, then that sends major red blinking lights and fire house sirens blaring on my radar screen.

Just one client like this can negatively infect your work life for the duration of their angst, causing you to angst right along with them.

( can you tell that I recently let my radar down and am living to regret it ? ) :-(

"can you tell that I recently let my radar down and am living to regret it ?" Infect is a great word for those type of clients...you dread calling them, seeing their emails makes your finger twitch over the delete button, and Caller ID makes you sick to your stomach.

The unrealistic expectations about parties and such, I have learned to say no. I did that last year with someone who needed something sizable designed and installed by Memorial Day. I got the inital call in April. I knew that there was absolutely no way I could make it happen with the projects I has committed to. I was so proud of myself that I said no. That was a train wreck in the making and I don't regret it at all for saying no.

So...just say no! It can be very liberating when it pops out of your mouth.

Liberating for the psyche, but when you're starting out...cash in the pocket is worth a lot of stress...........

I was recently contacted by clients to design the landscaping for their new home. (which they are building next door to their existing home...go figure) I did some work for them on the previous home and they were pleased with the plan, paid me for my work, but not were not happy with the installation. (They claimed that an irrigation leak caused thousands of gallons of water to puddle under the house, damaging hardwood floors and the integrity of the foundation) They ended up sueing (sp?) the landscape contractor as well as several other contractors involved in the house project. Despite expert witnesses testifying the leak was caused by a plumbing problem and not the irrigation system, the contractor lost the suit to the tune of $13,000. Needless to say, I'm a bit skittish about taking on this project.

Lovely, all very lovely. Think I'll spend tomorrow looking at trees.

>We knew right then to decline the job as anyone so spiteful as to berate a gift from her children would never be pleased.What? This is abnormal? We're not supposed to have hypercritical parents, friends and employers/customers? Wow! I've got to start living.

We occasionaly get this type of customer in our nursery. The stress factor may be less, but the potential damage to our reputation can be enormous. My wife refused to sell a shrub to someone yesterday after they gave a whole catalogue of stuff that had died in their garden that they had bought from somewhere else, most of it planted in conditions totally unsuitable for the plants, and then said they wanted to plant this shrub in a similarly unsuitable location. The customer was a little taken aback but at least it wont be "our fault" that she has another clump of dead sticks in the garden!

Back when I was coming along the rule was supposedly that a satisfied customer tells one other person, a dissatisfied one tells twelve.

Vouts: a pre-active strike!

A friend of mine used to work at a large department store in the credit department. Some lady complained about the service and went into a huff and said she would never shop there again. After she left he noted her file and promptly cancelled her store credit card. A couple days later a clerk rang to get approval on the a sale. The same lady was going through a check out but her card showed 'cancelled'. They put her through to the credit department and my friend was quite pleased to advise they had taken the effort to cancel her card because of her desire never to shop there again... therefore why wouldn't she want her card cancelled? He even read back her exact words to her.

I just don't need the headache of aggravating clients. Why bother? The litmus test is: do you dread making a phone call or knocking on the door and discussing some minor issue? As a business owner it's also important not to make your workers absorb any of the tension. You should deal directly with a 'pain-in-the-butt' client yourself and make it clear to your workers that they don't have to take abuse or make apologies. They can just refer any issues to you if the client starts moaning and groaning.

>>We knew right then to decline the job as anyone so spiteful as to berate a gift from her children would never be pleased.>What? This is abnormal? We're not supposed to have hypercritical parents, friends and employers/customers? Wow! I've got to start living.

No doubt these difficult people exist in all our lives. The point being made is that if we can somehow pre-screen our clients for these traits, then we can decide if it is worth the aggravation to deal with them. In my case.. I would say NOT!!

I'm curious, what defines a 'psychotic' customer. I am one that does want to know the full details of the plan, including how many inches of underlayment etc. I will call if no one shows up and the weather is good and do go out and watch the work from time to time. I stay out of the way, but will question something if I don't like the way say a curve looks.
Would these things make me a less desirable client? Its OK I can take it. : )

You are describing yourself as being reasonable. A 'psychotic' customer would be described by the victim as unreasonable. No doubt part of the problem is people in a position to commission major projects having been born with silver spoons in their mouths, having had limited experience in being denied their whims. Others may have made their money - or THINK they have made their money - by being overbearing and aggressive.

What qualifies a client as a psycho-client ques que se ?
Well there are many different varieties that make up this pernicious genus, but my least favorite is the " MicroManager" variety.

This Psycho client wants to redesign and micro manage the project after it has been approved and permitted with little or no understanding of code compliance or construction techniques.

As an example I will use a email that I just recieved from a client moments ago ( I'm fresh with sarcasm so bear with me ) ;

She writes, " I would like to change the stair layout. I now want a riser that is 8.5 inches high and a tread that is 12 inches wide and only want 4 steps instead of the 6 that you designed. "

I feel like replying, Ok - you resubmit the plans with your new layout to the Planning and Building department, and wait another 4 weeks for them to come back to you with a big fat red NO PASS marked across the plans.
Then when you are told that your layout does not meet code compliance or that your layout leaves you half a foot floating in dead air space, you can then ask me to go back to the old plans but I am going to have to bill you my time to add your unworkable , unpassable, unsafe design addendum to the plan package.

But I will restrain myself, will be nice, and explain to her why her layout will not work out and then will bill her for our phone meeting, which usually last no shorter than an hour.

Oh to be in a service oriented business.
the joys.

What many MicroManager Psycho Consumers do not understand , that they are their own worse enemy and drive the cost of their projects up ... big time.

If you want to Micro Manage, be prepared for a Macro bill.
That's Micro Economics 101.

Hmm, I might be a little psychotic. I can see myself making "suggestions". If I am willing to pay for the changes can I be upgraded from psychotic to just a pain in the butt? : )

Chapter 1--'We loved your display garden. We want something similar in our back yard.' Make appointment.
Chapter 2--Spend 1 hour w/client and 20' x 30' backyard with mature Acer palmatum and other issues--such as maxed out lot coverage and nasty neighbors.
Chapter 2 1/2--Client has very tight budget.
Chapter 3--Get deposit and gather site data. Draw plan that will address dreams and dollars.
Chapter 4--Present plan--they love it. Get paid for plan.
Chapter 5--Have phone call asking for changes by the time I get home. I explain economic impact.
Chapter 6--Have email and phone changes that will increase cost and completely change the design which will cost the even client more money.
Chapter 7--to be continued....Is she a psycho or just indecisive?

The chapter that you really have to look out for is " Chapter 11".

That's when you know that they are both pshyco , indecisive and don't know how to handle their finances.

Hope you don't get to that chapter Ms. R.

: ~ )

Miss R

If they pay, they are indecisive, if they don't pay, they are pshycotic. And if they don't think they should have to pay at all, they are just insane! I think we have all met these clients.

Kirk

Try telling a nutcase customer "they're fired" and simply walk to truck and drive away.

What i wouldnt give for a pic of the expression on her face.
priceless.

Don't forget that D. Trump hand gesture.

wish id'a thought of the Trump gesture at the time. i'll drop customers if they become problematic compared to revenue generated but this was the first id ever used the phrase "youre fired". i dont have the patience for stupidity that i used to... especially during my busy season.
talking to other contractors post facto i learned no one else in town will work for them either.
indeed crazy as an outhouse mouse.

I don't have a television,
what is the Trump hand gesture ?

does it have anything to do with a birdie ?

Not really the flippin bird...more of an index finger cobra strike w/the strike emphasis on the word fired!...

As I remember it, the hand is held up somewhat like when making a serpent's or bird's head shadow in front of a slide projector, dipped forward during "You're", pulled back toward the body with "Fired". Also looks a little like the recipient is being waived off or pushed away.