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- A developer spends time and experience on creating something for a client.
- The client now owes the developer for this time and experience.
- The client pays the developer what was agreed.
You would assume that this would conclude the transaction.
Please explain to me why some clients assume that the developer now owes them something just because they paid with (somebody else's) money and the developer paid with his or her time.
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The value was created and was traded for agreed units of value. If more value is owed then maybe this should have been made clear from the beginning.
I think that, in this case, it has more to do with an unequal business relationship.
I strongly believe that the relationship between you and your customers should be based on equality. Customers who feel superior for no other reason than the fact that they pay in money and you pay in time are a problem to me. They are a problem because this inevitably leads to a condescending attitude.
Such an attitude is bad when it only concerns you, but when you are working with a team it is far worse. It sucks all the passion and creativity from your team.
I am not a big fan of elaborate "Rules of Conduct" as these always strike me as Maoism and result in the same problem, but since this particular customer I do have a strict rule about customers who feel this way.
I do not want them or their business because there is not enough money in the world to compensate me for the damage they cause.
Unfortunately, I also see a lot of young people who are just starting out fall victem to this type of customer. I always advice them to invest their time in customers who they actually want to work with. It is a simple rule that will save you more than they could ever spend.
You can say "no" to customers (it makes business sense to do so and feels great).
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CLIENT: "It irritates me that you have this 9-5 mentality"
YOU: "Well, we really don't. We have a lot of customers that we will go the extra mile for. You are just not one of them. That is because you are not a very likable person. In fact, you are one of the least likable persons I know. This undoubtedly hurts your business in many ways and this is one of them."
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You can say "no" to customers (it makes business sense to do so and feels great).
Well said
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