How to Survive Saying No to a Client

Author

When you’re working with clients, it’s important to have boundaries based on clear communication and mutual respect. Then, when you have established your boundaries comes the difficult task of enforcing them.

What happens when enforcing policies means saying no? In many cases, you may run the risk of losing an ally in the other party once the word “no” leaves your mouth. This is why it’s so important to figure out a way to honor your boundaries while making connections and developing relationships — even when you need to say no.

Here are a few situations when you may need to say no to a client with examples of gentler ways to do it.

A Non-Ideal Client Wants to Hire You

The Situation:

You’ve been communicating with a potential client and through your communication you are certain that this client is not an ideal client for you. The client, however, thinks you’re perfect and wants to get started ASAP.

The Gentler No:

“I’m flattered that you think I’m up to the task, but I have to be honest. I don’t think I’m the best match for you and your project [you can elaborate here on why, if you choose]. I’d love to send your information to a colleague who may be a better fit for your specific needs [assuming you've given your colleague the rundown and have gotten his/her okay].”

A Client has Unrealistic Deliverables and Deadlines

The Situation:

You’ve been working on a project, and the client revises your proposed timeline with overly aggressive milestones and unrealistic deliverables.

The Gentler No:

“Wow, I love your optimism on the project plan revisions! I think we can meet[compromise on one or two points, if possible], but let’s rework the rest of the estimates so we’re closer to what we originally discussed when we scoped out the project. If all goes well, we might hit those optimistic milestones anyway.”

A Client’s Idea Isn’t Doable/Relevant/Appropriate

The Situation:

The client takes your mockup and cuts and pastes it into a new design that isn’t feasible, isn’t aligned with what they initially wanted and/or lacks a professional appeal.

The Gentler No:

“I see you have some new ideas for the design. I think I have a better idea of what you’re looking for now. Let me take another stab at the design based on what we talked about and the feedback you’re providing [ideally, you'll be able to extract one or two of the changes they really want and work it into a new design that solves the other problems].”

A Client Requests Last-Minute Work

The Situation:

A client emails you at 2:00 pm on a Friday afternoon with an emergency project he/she wants completed by Monday. It is not urgent from business standpoint, but the client just wants it done and off his/her plate as soon as possible (waiting would not have a direct impact on the business).

A Gentler No:

“I’m not working this weekend, but I’d love to tackle this next week. Let’s touch base on Monday to discuss the project and a timeline.”

A Common Thread…

All of these examples have one thing in common – the gentler no focuses on respecting the client, compromising and offering an alternative whenever possible. Ultimately, if your goal is to give the client what they need to feel valued, appreciated and listened to, you can’t lose.

Have you ever been in any of these situations? Did you try a gentler no? Did you get the result you wanted?

http://www.sitepoint.com/blogs/2010/07/20/how-to-say-no-to-a-client/

PHOTOGRAPHY & Its Types... !

Portrait photography Photographing people is the most popular form of photography today. Everyone takes shots of family and friends, but the majority of portraits end up poorly exposed, out of focus, and in the trash can...

Landscape photography We don't have to stick to many rules to produce great landscape images, but knowing what they are will make your pictures more successful. There are two salient points in landscape photography: how to compose your image, and how to use available natural light in any given situation.

Travel photography - Travel photography is a great hobby for any holiday maker, and with a few helpful tips you can bring home some great images that you can enjoy forever. If your images are better than normal you may be able to make some cash from them.

Amateur photography tips - taking the jump from amateur photography to professional or semi-professional photography isn’t easy and will seem like a daunting task at the best of times. The following is a guide to help you if you are ready to take the jump.

Female photography - Female photographers are fortunate. Unlike other titles, photographer has no gender.

Wildlife photography - Know your subject, especially when shooting wildlife. Don't be fooled into thinking all elements of an image must be sharp to be considered a good photo.

Macro photography - Exploring the world of miniature objects with a macro lens is a special and exciting area of photography, and once you start, you will quickly become addicted. The world of macro photography holds many delights and is an area that cannot be appreciated with the human eye.

Abstract photography - is unlike most other types of photography - rules, such as composition and accurate focusing hold no values. The abstract photographer uses his creative imagination to create stunning works of art.

Fashion photography - is an extremely tough market to break into, but if you are willing to work hard, have a good imagination and hold the ability to take perfect images you are off to a good start.

Baby photography - One of the most important factors in photographing babies is patience and the way you apply child psychology when relating to the baby. Babies over six months may be shy and won't react well to a complete stranger.

Photography competitions Entering photo competitions is a great way to practise and improve your photography and have some fun in the process. One of the greatest morale boosters a photographer can get is to win or even be placed in a highly regarded competition.

Garden photography As the seasons change the colour of your garden will change with it. Most gardens are a rich source of great colours, patterns and vivid textures and can make for a perfect setting to practice all different kinds of photography - especially close-up nature photography.Your garden can be one of the most wonderful places to take images of flowers, insects and a variety of small birds - and if you are lucky, occasionally other types of wildlife might wander into your garden.

Glamour photography tips Glamour photography remains one of the most lucrative areas of freelance photography. For a student trying to break into the glamour photography market, he would be well advised to use a film camera over digital. Film will give you warmer skin tones and give you a greater chance of being published.

Fine art photography - Though most quality prints are printed on Archival papers, such as Fuji Crystal Archive Papers or Kodak Endura Professional Papers, it is essential to consider a few important aspects to maximize the life of any print you are planning to display.

Nature photography tips Nature photography is in great demand among publishers, artists, graphic and web designers, book publishers, greeting card companies and others for web design and publishing their websites, books and greeting cards. Nature stock photographers can earn good money selling nature stock photographs, as some of them fetch a very high price.

Pet photography - An area of photography that is becoming extremely popular, pet photography makes for a particularly tough challenge to any new comer to photography, but if mastered successfully will be very rewarding for you and your customers.

Digital photography - Digital photography has been a breath of fresh air for most photographers. Photographers now have the added advantage of instantly viewing their images on site. This is a massive boost for digital photographers and having the option of editing them in your own digital darkroom is certainly a great source of joy.

Decision-Making Models In Web Development - Smashing Magazine

Decision-Making Models In Web Development - Smashing Magazine: "When was the last time you made a decision? A big one. What was the outcome? Was it good, and how did you get to that outcome? Every day we all make plenty of decisions without a thought to how we structure them or the basis on which we make them. We simply make them. We’re lucky that we work in an industry in which erroneous decisions may have serious financial consequences but rarely, if ever, costs lives.

In fields such as aviation and health care, bad decisions can have massive repercussions. As a result, a lot of cash has been spent studying the human factor and developing methods of reducing error. After all, you’d like to think that the person in the cockpit is fully capable of caring for an expensive jet and its passengers.

These studies have led to many conclusions and insights on human behavior, and they have also helped to develop formal decision-making and error-checking processes for people involved in making big decisions. These are models we can learn from and apply to our everyday choices, big and small."

CSS-Based Tables: Modern Solutions - Smashing Magazine

CSS-Based Tables: Modern Solutions - Smashing Magazine