Freelance Writing Blog

5 Ways to Increase (or Get) Writing Referrals

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What’s on the iPod: Song for Someone by U2 I love slow weeks after a long, busy spurt. With a project coming in next week, I’m enjoying the break. The madness should start up again soon. Until then, I’m marketing a little, writing a lot, and getting administrative stuff ticked off my list. I’m also…

Knowing When to Drop a Client

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What’s on the iPod: Lego House by Ed Sheeran It’s been a fantastic week. I finished all my projects by late Tuesday, had one small revision Wednesday morning, and I’ve spent two solid days doing what I damn well please. That included working on two longer-term projects and some poetry. But that’s not what made…

When Unwanted Advice is Warranted

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What’s on the iPod: The Sky is Crying by Stevie Ray Vaughan It’s been a nicely paced week so far. After a ridiculously busy first week of October, I have been able to take on two larger projects and get them done almost at leisure. At least, it feels leisurely to have a full day…

Writers Worth Tip: Avoiding Empty Promises from Clients

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What’s on the iPod: You’re No Good by Linda Ronstadt Did you have a nice weekend? We were treated to a jazz concert at the Kimmel Center by my step-daughter in honor of my husband’s upcoming birthday. And what a treat it was! We prepared for, and received, our first frost of the season — saw…

6 Things Freelance Writers Can Learn from a Kardashian

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What’s on the iPod: Got to Give it Up by Marvin Gaye So far, great week. One blip in the client projects from last week, but I got the green light to go forward, hoping we’ll work it out in revisions. I’m okay with that — I have two more projects this week, one starting…

Avoiding the Freelance Writing Burnout

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What’s on the iPod: Glorious by MaMuse It’s Monday — do you know where your weekend went? It was a good weekend. The only damper in it was my son was on his way when his car started making grinding noises. That’s never good. He had to turn around and head back. However, it was…

Writing Schedules and No Damn Time

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What’s on the iPod: Hell and Back by The Airborne Toxic Event It’s Thursday already? If I could shove two more days into this week, I would I’ve been working at full throttle since Monday morning, and I’m finally making a dent in the workload. If only the need-it-now stuff would just stop coming in…

Monthly Assessment: September 2015

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What’s on the iPod: Timeless by The Airborne Toxic Event What a weekend. Cape May, New Jersey in October is usually sunny, warm and busy. This year, skip the first two qualifiers. Imagine howling winds and driving rain in nonstop, multiple-day fashion. It was wet — inches of rain three days out of the four…

Writers Guide to Choosing a Trade Show

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What’s on the iPod: The Wrestle by Frightened Rabbit It’s been a nice, short week for me. I was off on Monday, and now I’m in Cape May enjoying some time off. Okay, as a hurricane bears down, but it’s an adventure, and it means I’m not in front of a project. It’s been a…

5 Ways to Manage Client Upset

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What’s on the iPod: Free Fallin’ by Tom Petty Busy week, albeit a short one since my husband and I are finally going to take that vacation we’ve been putting off. Sadly, it’s just four days, but it’s four I don’t have to think about projects or money or anything beyond relaxing. After the weekend…

6 responses to “5 Ways to Manage Client Upset”

Anne Wayman

September 30, 2015

Good suggestions – particularly not talking or saying anything too quickly – often folks just need to spit out what's bothering them before you can have a conversation with them.
Lori Widmer

September 30, 2015

True, Anne. I think sometimes we're so damn eager to please we get in our own way.

I remember a kitchen contractor coming here a year or so ago. He was so damn busy trying to talk fast and tell us what we wanted he never heard what we actually wanted. He had a date with his wife (their anniversary) and his head was not on the job. So why accept an appointment for that afternoon, I wonder?

Had he slowed down, he'd have gotten out of here in ample time AND he'd have known what it was we wanted. We might have hired him. But he was so hyper and inattentive, we weren't sure he'd do the job we wanted.
Paula Hendrickson

September 30, 2015

Anne nailed it – some people just need to spew out everything. They think it's their right to vent. The rare times I feel a need to vent I call my sister or a friend and say, "I just need to vent a bit." My sister does the same with me. Then we commiserate a bit, feel better, and laugh about how stupid it is to get worked up about little things.

I'm good at biting my tongue, yet know a lot of people – young and old – who seem to thinking having an opinion means they need to share it with the world. I think I mentioned my aunt said some rude things and defended herself by saying at her age (early 70s) she'd "earned the right" to say what she wanted. My response (but not to her, LOL): "You can never earn the right to be rude."

I've gotten pretty good at dealing with difficult people. It started as a kid. We had a couple of relatives who loved embarrassing people (not the aunt mentioned above – she was often a target from her sister-in-law), so I made a game of predicting what they would say and do anytime we had to see them. It was simple since they were so darn predictable. They had no idea how to react when I only laughed at comments I saw coming a mile away.

Sometimes it gets tiring walking on all those eggshells — especially 10 miles in one day, huh, Lori?
Lori Widmer

September 30, 2015

Paula, after the weekend I had, I agree — there is no excuse for being rude. My mother's friend is lovely, but wow. I was shocked to hear some of the things she said. I expect that from my mother, but not a stranger!

LOL! You've got it about the eggshells.They were crunching most of the weekend!
Melanie Kissell

October 4, 2015

Always remember …

Clients are people, too. (Unfortunately) 😉

Working in medicine for four decades taught me EVERYTHING I ever need to know about dealing with difficult people, Lori. SHEESH! When we humans aren't feeling chipper, peppy, and perky (and our bodies are giving us grief)is when we're at our crankiest. LOL!

I've found the #1 approach to putting out the fire of furry and frustration is to validate/acknowledge the other person's feelings. Let them blow off some steam and then reply, "I understand how you feel." Or "I can hear the disappointment/frustration/anger in your voice and I want to help." You get the picture. Just reassure them they're being "heard".

Don't get me started on the "mother" thing. I love my mum to pieces but she's a piece of work! And if I have to hear how "wonderful" her friends' daughters are and how much they "care" about their mothers, blah, blah, blah, I'm going to implode and explode, simultaneously. 🙁
Lori Widmer

October 5, 2015

So very true, Melanie! We want to be heard. Period.

I hear you on the mom thing, too. My mom doesn't do the comparison thing, amen. She "fixes" and I've learned to divert her attention. 🙂 However, her friend was "fixing" things too, and in one case, her comment was so outside of what we were talking about (and inappropriate) that I nearly said something I'd have regretted.

Better to just let the comment pass without warranting it with a response. But like you, implosion was a real threat. LOL