Good Client Checklist - Why Freelancers Need One, plus TEMPLATE

We all want good clients, but what does “good” mean? Defining good for yourself and making a Good Clients Checklist will help you make better decisions about who to work with or not.

Before I explain three several common traits of good clients, I’ll tell you about two clients I was pleased to never work with again.

She didn’t recognize my expertise.

I once worked with a VP of something at a local bank. The project was going fine until I received an email attachment. The VP had printed out a hard copy of my draft, marked it up by hand, scanned the paper, and emailed the scan to me.

That was puzzling enough. Why not leave comments in the doc itself? She would have saved both of us some time, not to mention the poor, innocent tree.

Whatever. I tried to unfurrow my brow and reset my attitude before reviewing her requested edits to the press release.

That reset didn’t last long because I soon discovered that I was being asked to correct mistakes that weren’t mistakes.

“Change ‘embody’ to ‘exemplify.’” Okay, that’s fine. Six of one, half dozen of the other.

Then, “Fix split infinitive.” Split infinitive? It’s a double infinitive and grammatically correct.

After quickly scanning the rest of her comments in the margins, I had a decision to make:

1. Deliver a series of unsolicited English prose style and grammar lessons to a lady who, judging by her level of involvement with the project, was something of a micromanager and probably not receptive to a very junior person knowing more than her.
2. Make her requested edits and thereby introduce mistakes to my mistake-free draft.

I let out a big sigh, besmirched my beautiful press release with her edits, and lobbed that dirty diaper back over the fence.

To be clear, the VP didn’t bite off my pinky finger or threaten my mother. Requesting stupid edits is undeniably on the milder end of the bad client scale.

So it wasn’t really what she was asking, but my recognition that I was acting as a glorified pencil for someone who seemed to be unaware of gaps in her own about grammar, diction, syntax, and other writing mechanics.

Making her recognize might expertise might have been possible, but that prospect sounded exhausted. Perhaps I was being a little unfair to her? Regardless, I wasn’t willing to put forth the effort.

He didn’t respect my time.

A nonprofit president who I worked with several years later did recognize my writing expertise, which is why I won the project in the first place. However, he didn’t respect my time.

Anytime he had edits, he wanted to meet face to face and explain them line by line.

Hey, buddy, I understand that when you cross out a sentence that means you want to remove it. Who’s confused? I’m not confused.

The time spent driving to and from his office, not to mention the pointless meetings, drove my effective hourly rate into the ground. Who knew that I had it so good with the VP’s scanned hard copy?!

I could have had more backbone and refused the meetings, but we all know that client work involves making certain bets: I’ll continue with this laughably inefficient process because I think that will take less time and emotional effort, with less risk of relational fallout, than convincing the client to switch to a better process.

Oops. I was wrong.

What traits make a good client “good”?

Both clients gave me precious insight into the types of relationships I want.

Satisfying, long-lasting client relationships are built on mutual respect, respect that isn’t touted like some flimsy corporate value discarded at bonus time but that manifests in tangible ways:

• Respect for your talent and expertise. The client gives your ideas, recommendations, and work careful consideration because they came from you and often lets your ideas and recommendations override their preferences.
• Respect for your time. The client doesn’t treat any active project as though you’ve handed them a stack of checks for your availability, checks that can be cashed for unlimited emails, meetings, questions, edits, and deliverables. You don’t have to constantly enforce the agreed-upon scope because the client gets it.

Barrel-proof, full flavored respect. Pull out the bung, take a big gulp, and let’s party.

What traits make bad clients “bad”?

Speaking of parties, perhaps you’ve been to one where the host skimped on food and drinks and bustled around infecting guests with fretful energy.

“Hey, could you use these tiny, flimsy disposable cups instead of the glass ones? Those belonged to my grandmother. I don’t want them to get broken.”

Oh, uh, okay, I didn’t realize I was walking into Rule-O-Rama. I know somebody who’s going home early.

The quickest way for a host to ruin the fun is to tell guests what they can’t do, and bad clients have a similar knack for killing the vibe. Most of them aren’t bad people, as in evil, dangerous, diabolical predator types who eat freelancers and consultants for a morning snack; they’re just a bad fit, especially for you.

Bad parties and bad clients really come down to a misalignment of values. For example, my bank VP client valued very granular control over the writing. My nonprofit president client valued collaborating in the way that was most convenient to him.

Neither of them was wrong. In fact, both of them were in the right, in the sense that they had the authority and budget and therefore their values took precendence.

Once solo service providers understand this, each of us has a decision to make: Am I willing to submit to these values and the work environment they create?

Most of my own dissatisfaction has come not from small budgets, tight deadlines, or even miscommunication. All of those I can put up with if the client and I share the same fundamental values and beliefs.

I believe people should be treated a certain way. I believe the best work product and results happen a certain way. You more or less align? Cool. Let’s party.

On the other hand, if your beliefs and values and theirs go together like kids and gasoline, then a big budget, generous deadline, and excellent communication aren’t going to fix the relationship.

Learn the tell-tale signs—yours, not mine.

Let me be clear: I’m a sensitive person. I simply don’t enjoy working with some personality types. Some folks who I find crass and abrasive, you may find entertaining. Some quirks and idiosyncrasies I find irritating, you may find endearing.

So learn what makes a client good or not for you.

Here are signals that tell me to steer clear:

• Unfairness / Double Standards – Would the client be pissed if I showed up late or missed deadlines, yet keep me waiting on Zoom and pay late?
• Condescending – Would the client talk down to me or his assistant or her waiter at the restaurant? If the client is a man, will he talk to a woman on the team in a way he wouldn’t talk to me?
• Egotistical – Is the client a cowboy? Does he have a swaggering “my way or the highway” attitude? Does she imply often that everything would be better if everyone just did what she said?
• Stingy – Try to squeeze every last drop of value they believe they’re owed out of me with no recognition of how I’ve already been generous
• Disorganized / Chaotic – Their lack of planning and clearly defined process creates avoidable urgency, stress, and messes
• Bureaucracy – The red tape, institutionalized mediocrity, and inefficiency makes timely, excellent work nearly impossible.

I could go on, and were you and I to confer, we could no doubt find other things to gripe about. Griping isn’t the point.

The point is becoming more and more adept at picking up these signals and pulling back from certain relationships. Pattern recognition.

One of my marketing mentors likes to say, “People show you who they are. They keep showing you who they are. You should let them.”

What are the stakes?

We can all survive an obnoxious or straight-up abusive client for a while. We can even convince ourselves that we would benefit from sticking around.

This isn’t true, of course, but human beings are nothing if not adaptable.

So you have to understand something about each client and the environment they create through their beliefs and values: If your best work is neither expected, appreciated, or even possible for long enough, you start to lose your touch. You become the dull knife.

I, you, we must pursue interesting projects that demand something of us creatively and intellectually.

We need to be roused from creative slumber and shout, “Whuh? Who deh? Fllrmubegibbit!!!” We need clients who want our best effort, even if that means a 10-mile trail run in galoshes. We won’t like it, but by jove, after the throbbing subsides, we feel pride, and a storm surge of confidence. “Did I really just do that?!”

Beware clients who lull you into mediocrity. Beware those who act as though fairness is a favor. Beware those who trade in disrespect.

Better yet, know good clients on sight by keeping your Good Client Checklist handy.

Drop in your email address and download mine for free. Use it as a template. Let it save you some time and inspire you to expect more from clients.

When you’re ready, here are ways I can help you:

1. Free Money. A pricing and money mindset guide for freelance creatives. If you’re unsure about your freelance pricing, this is the book for you.
2. Morning Marketing Habit. This course will help you build an “always be marketing” practice, become less dependent on referrals, and proactively build the business you want with the clients you want. My own morning marketing habit has enabled me to consistently make  6 figures as a freelancer.
3. Custom Business Roadmap. Gain clarity, confidence, and momentum in your freelance or consulting business.
4. Business Redesign. Raise your effective hourly rate, delegate with confidence, and free up 40 hours a month.
5. Clarity Session. It’s hard to read the label when you’re inside the bottle. I've done well over 100 of these 1:1 sessions with founders, solopreneurs, and freelancers who wanted guidance, a second opinion, or help creating a plan.‍
6. How I Build Digital Products. In an effort to build in public, I’m writing down my process for launching a new product that’s been on my mind for some time: a library of SOPs and other tools for freelancers and consultants.