Should I stay or should I go?

September 28, 2007 4:41 PM

Should I fire my freelance client? If so, how?

I've maintained a client's web site under the same contract for about five years. Basically I get a $300/month retainer for up to 10 hours of work (my client and I are both based in the Bay Area), including CSS, HTML, JavaScript, and PHP/MySQL coding.

I set up the site in Movable Type in 2002. The client's needs outgrew Movable Type's capabilities (at the time) so I did a lot of complementary ad hoc PHP coding, so managing the site involves a confusing mix of Movable Type and a custom Admin section.

That combination soon got unmanageable and limited, so I proposed replacing it with a CMS (pMachine) over four years ago. They're basically too cheap to pay for the additional hours or buy CMS software, so nothing's ever happened.

Their communication style makes it difficult to do quality work. Every request is last-minute ASAP! and every e-mail is marked urgent and has "URGENT" in the subject line, so I do things the quick way, not the right way. When I told them this made mistakes more likely and made it difficult to do good work they understood but didn't change their behavior. (They complain about the hours if I try to redo the work correctly later.) They don't review my work, which is especially helpful when you're working under emergency conditions, and they recently complained about something I missed two years ago which they hadn't caught.

Early this year they said they wanted to a redesign in Spring 2007 and convert to a CMS (great idea, boss!). I recommended ExpressionEngine and I offered to spread the work out over several months so there wouldn't be additional cost for my time and to let them use a license I'm not using so there wouldn't be an additional cost for the software. A month or so later they said they wanted to use Mambo, so I did some research and said ExpressionEngine or Drupal would be a better fit for them. No response. (I don't have to have people do what I say, but what's the point in having a consultant when you don't use their consultation or even respond to it?)

Guess what? Still no redesign or CMS. When I asked for an update in June they said they were expecting to make a decision in July.

I'm thinking about telling them I'm canceling the maintenance agreement effective the end of 2007 because I can't provide them with the quality of work they need under these conditions and offering to set up ExpressionEngine before then. It sucks because I've put a lot of time into their site but I'm ashamed of the quality of work I've been able to do under the circumstances and I don't list them in my portfolio.

Is it time to cut them loose? How do I do it?
(I tried to keep this relatively short so I left out the many examples where I've disappointed them.)

p.s. Movable Type is great for a lot of people, but it's not a good fit for me and this client, so please refrain from recommendations on how to make it work.

p.p.s. I wouldn't be surprised if they're already working with another developer because they recently added some new pages to the site that I didn't work on.

posted by anonymous to work & money (19 comments total)

Unless you're desperate for their retainer, find another client. Go freelance some myspace profiles or the like for a while, better than 300 bucks a month and under 10 hours as well.
posted by iamabot at 4:45 PM on September 28, 2007

It sounds like cutting them loose without transitioning them to a more orthodox platform would really leave them high and dry. Anyone else they might hire would need to make sense of the work you've done, which would be very expensive for them.

If you've got enough other work to keep you busy, and you like that better, tell them "look, you've been a good client, but my business is changing and I can't continue working for you. I strongly encourage you to make a transition to $platform by $deadline; after that date I will not accept more work on this. I'll help you make that transition, and line up a new consultant who knows that CMS. If we don't accomplish that transition, you'll need to find someone who can untangle all the spaghetti code I wrote in emergency mode for you. That could get very expensive."
posted by adamrice at 4:56 PM on September 28, 2007 [2 favorites has favorites]

Man, do I feel for you. I am in the same position, nearly, except I have an exit plan: Raise my rates, drastically. $30/hr is not nearly enough for what you're doing. Tell them it's $60/hr henceforward. Either they will pass, or you will feel a lot better about putting up with their stuff.
posted by bricoleur at 5:34 PM on September 28, 2007

Are they disrespectful, or just crazy?

When I have a crazy client that I'm fed up with, I ask myself, "Okay, how much money would it take for you to happily put up with the aggravation?" Then I quote that price. They either run away or I make a lot of money.

When I have a disrespectful client, I give them one chance to improve. I tell them I'm not happy working with them, I feel they're disrespectful of me in x, y and z ways and they're going to lose me unless they change in x, y and z ways. I don't do this in anger, but I am direct and professional. Either they get in line or they run away (or I fire them).

...and then I charge them the crazy client rate just for good measure.

The point is: You're freelance. You have no boss but yourself. If a client is making you miserable, cut them loose. It's a beautiful thing.
posted by SampleSize at 6:27 PM on September 28, 2007 [4 favorites has favorites]

while i think adamrice's advice is probably the best, samplesize's suggestion gives me a thought: charge a higher rush rate. tell them your business is expanding and that if they need you to drop everything rightnow!!!! to work on their thing, they'll have to pay more for your time.
posted by thinkingwoman at 6:33 PM on September 28, 2007

You need to have a multiple tier pricing structure. Here's the problem, why should they change the behavior? Wanting things ASAP and giving you notice are both $X/hr. You say you do thing quick, but not right ... why should they care? If it works they don't care what the back-end or what your coding looks like (they should, but they don't). So you need to provide them incentives:

Urgent work, $X+10, work we talk about and outline in our monthly meetings (migrating to more orthodox platform) -- $X-5.

When negotiating you need to find out what it will take for them to work with you, and not against you. This may need changing the contract, but it is a good place to start.
posted by geoff. at 6:37 PM on September 28, 2007

OK, so I spent some time composing a response in a browser window that crashed. Oh well.

Here were the two suggestins I offered:

1) Create a real plan for the transition to a new CMS. You shouldn't try to do this in the context of your retainer, because it will be a money loser for them and you will not do your best work. Think about it: you work on it on and off for several months, forgetting what you have learned in the meantime, and they continue to pay you for the "emergency" work that would have been better handled through the CMS. Quote them a real price using real hours and tell them how quickly you could do it, considering the needs of your other clients.

Be prepared for them to fire you right there. Problem solved, but you would have done the right thing.

2) Up your rates and take geoff.'s suggestion, but take it further. The idea of rush rates, in my mind, is not so much to make a few more bucks when you have to spend a long day, but to make the client think about the fact that they are paying nearly double (or whatever) regular rates because of their own poor planning. The idea being to make everyone's work habits better and their days easier, or at the very least to give you a really significant bonus for those extra hours. But of course be fair and consistent in how you apply it and lay it out beforehand.

Be aware that the fact that you have (apparently) not raised you rates in five years means that you are not even keeping up with inflation, never mind your increasing experience and familiarity with your tools (thus your value).

DISCLAIMER: I am a Web content guy who works out of NYC and is now full time. I am not familiar with SF rates but it sounds to me like you're too cheap. I spent three years as a freelancer and charged a lot more for less technical, if skilled, work.
posted by lackutrol at 8:02 PM on September 28, 2007 [1 favorite has favorites]

Ahem, *suggestions*. Content guy, yeah.
posted by lackutrol at 8:04 PM on September 28, 2007

Sounds like they view you as a vendor, not a consultant. Your rate is much too low for the Bay Area, plus you do whatever they say.

For you to grow as a consultant you need to regularly let go of your lower tier clients. Pass them along to someone you trust who's just starting out as a consultant. Whether the company takes your recommendation is up to them but you shouldn't continue to work for them.
posted by Jeff Howard at 8:35 PM on September 28, 2007 [1 favorite has favorites]

If you are asking the question, you know the answer. You still need to figure out a good way to ease out of the relationship.

Burning bridges is bad unless it is absolutely necessary, but it doesn't sound like you are at that point. Increasing your rates, like bricoleur said, is usually the easiest way. Considering the rate increase (30->60/hr) it's not a big jump in this market, depending on the company's budget.

A rule of thumb to live by while freelancing is:

Good. Fast. Cheap. Pick two.

If you want to get rid of the client (and you do) raise the cheap rate (alot).

Jeff Howard also makes a very good point of passing the client off. That way you can hand it off to someone else and there are no hard feelings. You win by getting rid of the client. The new person wins by getting an established client. And the client wins by getting the work done. No harm, no foul and your networking is still intact.
posted by ryoshu at 8:58 PM on September 28, 2007 [1 favorite has favorites]

Whether or not you fire them, you need to stop responding to those URGENT!! emails in a way that makes you do shoddy work. You pull the strings here, not them, and certainly not them sending you emails like that. I like the idea of charging more for rush work, but really, you're the pro, they are paying YOU, you tell them when something will be done, and then allow yourself the time to do it properly and charge them for it. If you want referrals, better to have people saying that you're a little slow but do good work, rather than you're quick, but you're work isn't good.

Jacking your prices up is a very easy way to fire clients, or to feel like you're getting compensated for the headache.
posted by oneirodynia at 9:17 PM on September 28, 2007

Increase your rate. You should be charging 2-3x what you'd get in a salaried job. You should also tack on rush fees -- as part of the agreement. You might actually find that the clients are willing to agree to all this.

10 years ago, I was paying $50 to $75 an hour for services like yours -- from an indie guy in Vancouver, Canada. Surely you could charge something in that range now, if not more.
posted by acoutu at 9:58 PM on September 28, 2007

"URGENT!!!" things need to be more expensive.

a) $60/hr for normal work is market rate, if you like them (you don't) or they're long term customers (they are) you could charge less if that bugs you, but definitely consider it.

b) $90/hr for urgent work is quite reasonable. Let them know that it's how it will be in the future, and also point out that it'll be way easier to schedule, to plan, and to implement, if you start doing things with more lead time. You can give them quotes, etc.

When things are URGENT!!! don't give quotes, say, "shit, okay, I'm going to try to get this done in time, I will have it for you by [time], but I'm not sure how many hours this is going to take." Charge them well.
posted by blacklite at 11:34 PM on September 28, 2007 [1 favorite has favorites]

Lot's of good suggestions, but I think samplesize hits the nail on the head. You need to take control of the relationship and make it go where you want.
posted by doctor_negative at 1:05 AM on September 29, 2007

Raise your rates -- double them, at the very least, for basic work. Double that again for rush work. Send out a properly-written, printed sheet to your clients -- something they can pin up and see.

Here's a good article on firing unruly clients, including type of clients and the best ways to ditch each type.

Getting rid of your lowest clients is what pros do. You have to make room for better clients and better money. I found that raising my rates got me more and better clients almost immediately.
posted by mdiskin at 3:10 AM on September 29, 2007

I was just thinking you also appear to find joy in taking pride in your work.

On top of any 'urgent' work costing a buttload, but if they ask you to patch it up... fine. And when will they be paying you to go back and do it properly?

Hopefully for them they would see the cost of being irresponsible and mend their ways. But your job satisfaction will remain intact and their stupidity will suddenly become a huge bonus you will look forward to.
posted by mu~ha~ha~ha~har at 4:09 AM on September 29, 2007

Stop responding so quickly to all these "emergency" requests. They keep sending them because it works -- you do the "emergency" work. Explain that your business is changing, and the way you work now, you are no longer able to be available for last-minute changes (except in true emergencies, such as the site being down). Set up terms for how changes will be delivered and set their expectations for when they will be implemented. For instance, you could explain that need the changes delivered in a weekly email due end-of-day Monday (or however you want them delivered) and they will be done by the following Monday (or whatever schedule is realistic for you). You can also say you are expanding and this change is reflective of your new business model, or something like that. Frame this explanation using objective business needs, rather than through your anger and frustration at them.

They will either accommodate this change, or find someone else. If they decide to continue with you, make sure to live up to this promise!

But overall, you're the boss, and you get to decide what clients are worth your time and what clients are not. It sounds like this client is not providing a return commensurate with your effort, so it may be in your interest to fiire them. Should you choose this route, do it professionally. Help them transition to another company by doing thins such as making referrals to others who can work with them, providing documentation on how things are set up, and giving them enough notice to find someone else.
posted by lsemel at 7:13 AM on September 29, 2007

I think you can tackle and solve this problem with a two-prong approach that will require some assertiveness on your part, but this assertiveness will possibly salvage your relationship with this client:

First, schedule a meeting with them and explain exactly what you have told us. "I appreciate your patronage, but your way of giving me assignments makes it difficult or impossible to do the kind of high-quality work that I prefer to do. Constant 'urgent' assignments result, necessarily, in slipshod work; but when I go back and attempt to correct the slipshod things you have had me do, you complain about my hours. Because I think it's necessary for our compensation agreement to reflect the nature of the work you give me, I am going to charge a higher rate for urgent work. Plus, I am increasing my base hourly rate."

Second, go ahead and increase your rate to whatever it would take to keep you happy --- and when they send you urgent assignments, bill them accordingly. If they do not pay up, fire them.

As an attorney, I used to undervalue my services (I was embarrassed to quote really high fees), no matter how distasteful the work to me. I.e., as a commenter advised above, I quoted a price that would make me happy to do something distasteful, but that was also calculated to run off all the clients who were not able to foot the bill. I figured my prices would run off every one of those clients --- and I'll be damned if some of them didn't hire me! It was a win-win situation. Incidentally, I have also found that the clients who are willing to pay big money are, paradoxically, the easiest to work with and the more willing to listen to your counsel. The cheapskate clients tend to be crazier, more demanding, and more difficult.
posted by jayder at 10:02 AM on September 29, 2007

(Just before the i.e., I meant to put something like, "Now I make my fees commensurate with how much I don't want to do that type of work.")
posted by jayder at 10:04 AM on September 29, 2007