Hi everyone! I am a recent member so this is partially an introduction (it is great to be here!). I also wanted to ask if anyone has experienced client dissatisfaction before and am curious how you have dealt with this? I have been in the PR and communications field for the last seven years and have recently opened my own writing business. I recently have been experiencing a really difficult client who feels we do not 'have the same style' and will be writing his own content himself from here. He also feels I should ask my clients more questions in the future...I am taking offence to this because we did discuss his requirements over the phone and I have been sending my work as I go along...with no response...until now. Yes, I have been sending him content and he has not been responding until now! I have been trying to communicate but with no avail. I am unsure of how to take this and am wondering if anyone has ever gone through something similar?

Thanks,

Caroline

Greetings Caroline:

I've not been through exactly what you have but I've also had disagreements and fallouts. One way to deal with these type of situations is to take proactive action.

Set up a website or blog with a good FAQ section where you spell out how you work. One benefit of this is that you shift the burden of question asking to the client.

Chuck it up as a learning experience.

Cheers.

Caroline,

I am sorry to hear about this. Although I am very new to copy writing, I have dealt with clients for years.

The most important factor for me was having a contract and a schedule. So, the client knows exactly when the work will be done and exactly how long they have to review it. I usually allowed seven calendar days for review. If they did not get get back with me, the contract states that portion of the work is deemed as accepted.

In my line of work, this allows for several customer "happiness checks." When I hear of events like yours, I cannot help but think they want you to do all of the work and complain only to keep from paying you. I am not saying that is the case in your situation. But, it makes me wonder.


All the Best,

Rich