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 w

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.