Many freelancers end up working with clients who are not an ideal fit for them especially at the beginning of their business, but bad clients and even toxic clients can still land in your lap as your business grows, and as you get savvier. Understanding what makes a toxic client is critical for helping you to determine how to avoid them, how to spot them in an onboarding call or intake call, and how to respond and terminate the relationship if necessary.
What is a Toxic Client?
We’ve all had our share of less-than-ideal clients, but a toxic client goes beyond that.
A toxic client, simply put, is someone who drains your energy and treats you poorly. You begin to develop a sense of dread or frustration in dealing with them. Toxic clients are typically overwhelming, overbearing, cross communication boundaries and have numerous extra requests for you and most of the time they want these done without any additional pay.
Toxic clients tend to generate an emotional response in the freelancers they work with and it’s common to feel things like anger or frustration, but in the worst-case scenario, they cause you to feel entirely burned out. If you work with clients, you generally enjoy working for, it’s a little bit easier to identify toxic clients because your feelings about these people are so much different than your other clients. Recognizing some of the patterns for what can develop into a toxic client is critical for helping you stop this situation before it escalates.
While it’s important to do everything you can to possibly identify a toxic freelance client, you cannot always identify them in advance. Sometimes these people sneak up on you and come out of nowhere. They seem fine in the intake call or don’t give you information that would indicate their true nature. If one slips through the cracks, however, try to notice the signs of their behavior sooner rather than later.
Here are four signs to keep in mind when identifying toxic clients.
#1: Mismatched Expectations
If your freelance client is pushing you to be available around the clock, or expects you to answer text messages, phone calls or emails overnight or over the weekends, this is an early sign that they may need their boundaries adjusted. In some cases, with a normal client, you’re able to walk this back and explain your business office hours and why you won’t be able to respond during these times.
You may even be able to redirect them into a weekly or biweekly call to avoid all of these issues stacking up in your email inbox. With a toxic client, however, they will refuse to adjust their behavior and leave you suffering the consequences. They may even argue that you’re being unreasonable.
Likewise, if they ask for five rounds of revision on a smaller project or bombard your first submitted piece with far too many comments and change requests, beware.
#2: Badmouthing Past Freelancers
How a client talks about their past freelancers tells you a lot about their experience in this field and whether or not they understand how to interact with freelance professionals appropriately. If they mentioned in a call that their previous five editors or writers all failed or were difficult to work with, the odds are there’s a problem with the client, not the freelancers.
It’s normal for some of your clients to come in with bad experiences with a handful of past freelancers, especially if the client was new to things and perhaps hired the wrong person but listen to the way they talk about their freelancers. If they’re using strong language like this person was an idiot or this person almost destroyed my business, be aware that they may have unrealistic expectations and are likely to blame you for problems that probably weren’t your fault.
I like to ask clients, “tell me about your experience working with freelancers in the past”, as an open-ended question and see how they respond.
#3: Demanding That You Prove Your Worth
Toxic clients tend to want you to prove your worth or talk about things like ROI or how your work will transform their life or business immediately. Toxic clients might push you to prove your worth as early as the initial phone call. They may not be willing to sign a contract for longer than a month or do anything other than a sample project because they don’t trust you.
They may be comparing you against five or six other freelancers to see who will allow them to push the boundaries. Toxic clients may try to pay you 10% upfront and then claim they’ll pay the rest when they are satisfied with the completed project. Be aware, this is a potential trap and a major red flag as they may never actually be “satisfied” enough to send the remaining funds owed.
#4: Refusal to Pay on Your Terms
Each freelancer comes to the table with their own requests about payment, be it late payment fees, deposits that are due or regular payment schedule. If your client is requesting that every aspect of your contract be updated to adhere to their terms or pushes back when their invoice is due and they’re not making the payment, this is an early sign you may be involved with a toxic client.
In general, it’s a good idea to have some measure of good faith, such as a significant deposit or full payment upfront to ensure that the client has the means to pay you. This keeps you from chasing after the client for weeks or months, especially if you have the client who says they’re not satisfied with the final product and refuses to release that money until you are finished with a version they appear to be happy with.
What To Do If You Think a Client Might Be Toxic
Not every client is a full bad apple. Some of them may have no idea how their behavior is affecting you and I always suggest trying to walk it back unless the client has crossed some major line already. Here are a few tips for how to handle clients who are pushing the boundaries:
- Call the situation out early and address it.
- Example: “I’ve noticed we’ve had a lot of back and forth on the first draft. Here are some ideas I have to streamline that process.”
- Example: “In the future, please direct all communication to the Google Doc/Email/Trello board. I’m not available to answer texts or Facebook Messenger, especially after hours.”
- If the client speaks to you unprofessionally, reference it in the moment and explain why it’s a problem. You can say phrases such as, “I don’t know if you mean to come across this way”, or, “I want to make sure I understand what you just said because it feels inappropriate”.
- If you are in a relationship with a toxic client, decide if you can part ways. Regardless of the value of the total project, it can be detrimental to the rest of your business to continue working with a toxic client. Think about the actual amount of time you’re putting in with this client and you can probably figure out pretty quickly that you’re not getting what you’re worth. They may also be causing a physical, mental or emotional toll and these clients can push you to burnout.
One of the biggest problems with working with someone who is extremely difficult is that these negative aspects tend to bleed over to your other clients even if you don’t intend them to. You may be showing up frustrated or less able to focus for your other clients.
Over time, you might determine red flags specific to you. As a business owner, remember that you’re in the driver’s seat to determine whether or not you want to work with someone.