Best way to understand a client’s apparently inexplicable anger.

 

If an internet service provider company agrees to arrive on a specific day agreed two weeks ahead to fix your broadband then fails to turn up and doesn’t even have the courtesy to apologise, that would drive almost anybody up the wall.

In the same way, if a client has agreed to pay you thousands for important work and you assure them that it will be with them by the end of next week/month/year, haven’t they every right to call you to demand an explanation for delays?

You don’t need to be a genius to understand that hitting deadlines should be a standard procedure, not a rarity that becomes the cause of celebration.

What to do: Rather than setting a ridiculously tight deadline without even discussing it with those who are going to carry out the work, find out how long it will take to do the job and then promise completion with, wherever possible, at least a 10% margin for error.

Secondly, if you can see a delay in the offing, tell the client immediately and agree a revised, deferred deadline. This isn’t a perfect solution but will generally assuage the annoyance for a while.