11–20 of 24 posts
Make your lawyer review the paperwork you already have signed, and cancel the contract.
(Alternative: Make your lawyer review the paperwork and raise your price 10 fold.)
> We are in no way dependent on this client for our survival and what will be the best way to escape from such a mess? Make your lawyer review the paperwork you already have signed, and cancel the contract. (Alternative: Make your lawyer review the paperwork and raise your price 10 fold.)
Some people like special treatment. Is there anyone on your team wiling to act as a buffer to soak in the bile? Have them be the point of contact and have them say whatever will appease this person’s ego, e.g ‘Yeah, you are 100% right, you know if you want my opinion I think this stuff should be done, I will try to go to bat for you’ and just have this person regularly communicate and provide special treatment to thi…
> We are in no way dependent on this client for our survival and what will be the best way to escape from such a mess? Make your lawyer review the paperwork you already have signed, and cancel the contract. (Alternative: Make your lawyer review the paperwork and raise your price 10 fold.)
"In no way dependent" means we are not absolutely depending on this one. This will have an impact on us for a short time for sure as we have acquired new resources and have blocked existing resources. We need to explore the options. If there is no middle ground, obviously, we need to get rid of this client. I am not getting the alternative you have put forth, out of curiosity, on what ground we will be asking; for he…
"In no way dependent" actually does mean _absolutely not dependent_. How often do you conflate meanings when dealing with this client? Are you/your company offshore? from another culture(Asia) perhaps? Some people have no patience for soft lies.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
"In no way dependent" means we are not absolutely depending on this one. This will have an impact on us for a short time for sure as we have acquired new resources and have blocked existing resources. We need to explore the options. If there is no middle ground, obviously, we need to get rid of this client. I am not getting the alternative you have put forth, out of curiosity, on what ground we will be asking; for he…
I am starting to understand your client a bit. "In no way dependent" actually does mean _absolutely not dependent_. How often do you conflate meanings when dealing with this client? Are you/your company offshore? from another culture(Asia) perhaps? Some people have no patience for soft lies.
> We are in no way dependent on this client for our survival and what will be the best way to escape from such a mess? Make your lawyer review the paperwork you already have signed, and cancel the contract. (Alternative: Make your lawyer review the paperwork and raise your price 10 fold.)
"In no way dependent" means we are not absolutely depending on this one. This will have an impact on us for a short time for sure as we have acquired new resources and have blocked existing resources. We need to explore the options. If there is no middle ground, obviously, we need to get rid of this client. I am not getting the alternative you have put forth, out of curiosity, on what ground we will be asking; for he…
Then charge 100x :)
You can charge whatever you want, if there is someone that is willing to pay it. You can charge a different rate to each client. (Check what have you signed.)
Take a look at these old posts of patio11. It's about a single person consulting, but I think they can be extended to a small group. https://training.kalzumeus.com/newsletters/archive/consultin... and https://www.kalzumeus.com/2012/09/21/ramit-sethi-and-patrick...
Some people like special treatment. Is there anyone on your team wiling to act as a buffer to soak in the bile? Have them be the point of contact and have them say whatever will appease this person’s ego, e.g ‘Yeah, you are 100% right, you know if you want my opinion I think this stuff should be done, I will try to go to bat for you’ and just have this person regularly communicate and provide special treatment to thi…
Yes, this makes perfect sense. If we get a middle ground solution, it will be good. De-escalating looks good on paper, but we are dealing a monster here; When i say abusive, it is not like martin scorese or tarantino films level. It is beyond that. I like your idea about "nanny" but withstanding this person might be asking for lot from a nanny.
You have a few options:
1. Do nothing. Your most employable staff will leave to escape the abuse.
2. Try to manage the relationship. For instance have all communication go through one person who is empowered to terminate the contract. Set boundaries that if they behave abusively you will terminate the contract. If the client is heavily reliant on you, consider raising your price immediately as you're going to be doing a lot more work than you'd expected.
3. Dump the client immediately. Your staff will thank you but may worry about the company's viability.
4. Keep the client for now (maybe do #2), very actively look for alternate work, and bring the contract to a close once you have new clients.
Whatever you do, express clearly to your staff that this behaviour is not OK, and share what you can about how you are going to shield them from it.
I would rather have no business than one that needs abusive clients. Luckily we’re blessed in this field with many employment options.