Disclaimer: In Real Life is a platform for everyday people to share their experiences and voices. All articles are personal stories and do not necessarily echo In Real Life’s sentiments.
Everyone knows a client whose life’s purpose is to make your weekdays a living hell. They make the most ridiculous demands. They bother you after working hours. Then, they email you in caps to remind you who’s boss.
Despite how annoying they can be, dealing with clients is the part and parcel of our jobs. But if there’s one thing you can take comfort in, it’s that you’re not alone.
Here are 4 of the most stressful behaviors from Malaysian clients – and how you can resolve them with both your mental health intact:
#1. The client who calls during odd hours
There are always clients who don’t understand the definition of working hours. To them, their waking hours are your working hours.
Replying late-night emails are annoying to many people, and that includes accounts manager Justin. His daily routine includes managing requests and replying to emails from different clients.
“I had a client who called me numerous times at ungodly hours, even though all the issues could have been resolved in the day,” Justin lamented. He wished clients would respect his working hours.
Nowadays, Justin is more upfront when dealing with demanding clients. “I would remind them in black and white and hope it will never be repeated again,” he said.
Unfortunately, it had to be done for the sake of professionalism, because he cherishes his leisure hours more than anything.
#2. The client who asks for the moon
Accounts director Sheila secures advertorials for a magazine, and she constantly deals with clients who have over-the-top advertorial demands.
One time, she worked with a client who paid peanuts but asked for the moon.
“My client requested for many advertorials and demanded to be mentioned in all articles. Plus, they wanted their listing to appear first,” she shared.
“If they could, they would love to have the entire magazine dedicated to them,” she added.
When things took a turn for the worse, Sheila confronted her client with the help of her editor. After making things very clear about what is on the table, they stopped bugging her for additional favors.
“Now, I learned not to comply with my client’s demand for the sake of closing a sale.”
#3. The client who ran away without paying
Freelance writer Judith was hired to write product descriptions for a paper manufacturing company.
When she emailed her client about the product specifications, her client said to just use ChatGPT to help her write the product descriptions.
“You can’t BS about product specifications. Are their paper rolls thermal or carbonised? Are their photo papers water resistant or quick drying?” She asked them.
Instead of giving her more details, the client sent it back and demanded her to add selling points and benefits – all without paying for any additional writing fee.
After a few revisions, her client remained unhappy. This time, they wanted to change the format from paragraphs to bullet points.
“Why didn’t they tell me in the first place?” she asked rhetorically. “I felt cheated at that point, but I sucked it up and completed it anyway.”
Despite the miscommunication, she finished everything and submitted an invoice.
That’s when things ended badly.
“My client promised to get back to me but completely disappeared with my completed work. I was so mad!” she expressed when she realized she had been cheated of her labor.
If she can learn one thing from this experience, it would be to never do anything without upfront payment.
“Now, I always prepare a contract to protect myself from dodgy and demanding clients. I’m never going to put myself in that situation again.”
#4. The client who demands constant attention
Juggling between motherhood and work is tough, and supermom Nasuha knows it well.
A graphic designer by day and a full-time mother by night, she takes her working hours seriously, which are on weekdays between 9:30 AM until 5:30 PM.
However, not every client is considerate of her working hours.
“It happened on a Saturday. I was attending a wedding and had no time to reply to my messages. My daughter loves playing with other kids, so I need to keep an eye on her,” she began.
“I heard my phone buzzing non-stop, but I was too distracted by my daughter to pick it up. Also, I thought those were messages from my WhatsApp groups.”
After the wedding ended, she looked through the messages and sensed trouble.
“My client was so angry for not replying to any of her messages. The thing is, I was only away for three hours,” she said.
“The client even demanded a refund, which was ridiculous since I’ve completed her work. I was only waiting for her feedback.”
Nasuha explained about being at a wedding. However, her client got defensive and said she should at least inform her.
“It wasn’t a big deal. I could amend the design for her, but she made a huge fuss about it,” she elaborated.
The argument continued until Nasuha got fed up by the ridiculousness of it all.
“I just refunded her money and blocked her number. Seriously, I can’t deal with a client like that.”
Not every bad experience is designed to hurt us.
Behind every hellish client experience, there are life lessons to learn. We learn to stand on our grounds. We understand the need to communicate better. We pick up tricks on dealing with difficult people in our lives.
When you’re dealing with a client from hell, remember that this too shall pass. If that doesn’t work, give Daniel Powter’s Bad Day another unapologetic spin.
What are your worst client experiences?
Share your story with us!
Drop an email at hello@inreallife.my and you may be featured on In Real Life Malaysia.
Read also: My Boss Replaced Me Then Begged Me To Come Back And Save The Company
My Boss Replaced Me Then Begged Me To Come Back And Save The Company
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