3 ms·

Also, I've found that there is very little similarity between what a client thinks is a large change and what actually is. That is, when a large client I work

by dkrich 13y ago

Also, I've found that there is very little similarity between what a client thinks is a large change and what actually is. That is, when a large client I work with called me with one-off requests, I usually just fulfilled them. It made me look helpful and not standoffish, helped our relationship, and the changes rarely took more than a few minutes to implement even though the client thought the changes were a huge deal. Obviously this can vary. In the cases where the changes were more involved, I simply told him so and told him that I would need to create a quote for the work. This never caused any problems.

zalew 13y ago
> That is, when a large client I work with called me with one-off requests, I usually just fulfilled them. It made me look helpful and not standoffish, helped our relationship Until it becomes a pain when your client stops recognizing it as favors and perceives it as your obligation. Being the nice guy can come back to bite you in the ass.
- PanickedOmlette 13y ago
  Absolutely! I've had a small client (2 business co-owners actually) become clients from hell only because I was a good guy and didn't charge for a few small changes. They felt that was a green light for free work and we even got to the point where one of the guys would tell me to make a change, I would do it, then a few hours later the other guy calls and tells me - "I don't like this, why did you change it, roll back!". Be sure to set boundaries early on in your freelancer-customer relationship. Otherwise you are going to regret taking the client.
- dkrich 13y ago
  Maybe, but I've never experienced it myself, which is why I still do it. It's worth pointing out that the work isn't really free. I still include the changes in future quotes and mark them as no charge to remind him what I did. This gives me leverage in negotiating fees on larger changes.
pjungwir 13y ago
I agree with you, but I've learned that most programmers don't. Many times I've taken over a client from someone else who warned me they were horrible to work with, and I found they just wanted fast turnaround (i.e. within a couple days) for very small changes (15 minutes to 2 hours), maybe 2-3 such changes a week. I did the work, billed them, and they paid. If it was a bigger change I'd tell them that up front, and they'd okay the work and accept a later delivery, or work with me to change the scope. It makes the client happy and wins you all kinds of good will. With a good relationship, these "unreasonable" clients were all quite reasonable if I occasionally had to tell them I was booked and needed an extra week or so to get to something. I've really only had one true problem client, and with him it was more because he wanted to change the project scope repeatedly without changing the cost. I think a lot of programmers in client-facing roles would benefit themselves (or their agencies) if they prioritized client satisfaction as highly as technical excellence.
- dkrich 13y ago
  Exactly. Treating every interaction as a business transaction is off-putting and can have negative effects with the only positive being that you might make a bit more cash for some small changes. The bonuses to agreeing to make smallish changes on the fly (for free or pay depending on your style) without acting like it's a pain in your ass are goodwill and a strong working relationship which results in a happy client which results in more work from that client as well as probable referrals to people that client knows. As the saying goes, you can sheer a sheep many times but skin it only once.

by dkrich 13y ago

zalew 13y ago

> That is, when a large client I work with called me with one-off requests, I usually just fulfilled them. It made me look helpful and not standoffish, helped our relationship Until it becomes a pain when your client stops recognizing it as favors and perceives it as your obligation. Being the nice guy can come back to bite you in the ass.

PanickedOmlette 13y ago
Absolutely! I've had a small client (2 business co-owners actually) become clients from hell only because I was a good guy and didn't charge for a few small changes. They felt that was a green light for free work and we even got to the point where one of the guys would tell me to make a change, I would do it, then a few hours later the other guy calls and tells me - "I don't like this, why did you change it, roll back!". Be sure to set boundaries early on in your freelancer-customer relationship. Otherwise you are going to regret taking the client.
dkrich 13y ago
Maybe, but I've never experienced it myself, which is why I still do it. It's worth pointing out that the work isn't really free. I still include the changes in future quotes and mark them as no charge to remind him what I did. This gives me leverage in negotiating fees on larger changes.

pjungwir 13y ago

I agree with you, but I've learned that most programmers don't. Many times I've taken over a client from someone else who warned me they were horrible to work with, and I found they just wanted fast turnaround (i.e. within a couple days) for very small changes (15 minutes to 2 hours), maybe 2-3 such changes a week. I did the work, billed them, and they paid. If it was a bigger change I'd tell them that up front, and they'd okay the work and accept a later delivery, or work with me to change the scope. It makes the client happy and wins you all kinds of good will. With a good relationship, these "unreasonable" clients were all quite reasonable if I occasionally had to tell them I was booked and needed an extra week or so to get to something. I've really only had one true problem client, and with him it was more because he wanted to change the project scope repeatedly without changing the cost. I think a lot of programmers in client-facing roles would benefit themselves (or their agencies) if they prioritized client satisfaction as highly as technical excellence.

dkrich 13y ago
Exactly. Treating every interaction as a business transaction is off-putting and can have negative effects with the only positive being that you might make a bit more cash for some small changes. The bonuses to agreeing to make smallish changes on the fly (for free or pay depending on your style) without acting like it's a pain in your ass are goodwill and a strong working relationship which results in a happy client which results in more work from that client as well as probable referrals to people that client knows. As the saying goes, you can sheer a sheep many times but skin it only once.