Thankfully, Clients Can Be Difficult

What?  Did I say, “Thankfully, clients can be difficult?” 

Bet you thought, “Why should I be thankful for that ! ? ! ?”

Well, let’s look at this from a distance for a moment.  If all clients were smart, resourceful, educated, logical, connected and cooperative as you and your company…. why would they need you?  Or if they did need you, would you be valuable and, in turn, compensated the same?

Okay, let’s consider that even if the clients are all of the above, they may still need consulting about technology trends, market trends, processes, documentation requirements, compliance, contracts, negotiations, etc… or MAYBE NOT.  And the latter is why we should be thankful.

You see, in all our efforts in my business ventures, we see the difficult folks as the people that ultimately create the real value for our services and efforts.

I bring this up because I see many people discussing, in dismay or disgust, the challenges that clients create.  What???  Does it create more effort for you to resolve?  Sure.  But this is that golden, wonderful opportunity to bring value to the table and bringing value is why we all ultimately get paid.

Do difficult folks sometimes makes deals or projects come apart or fail?  Sure!  But if you know when to end a bad deal, you can limit your loss.  More importantly, it is these bad behaviors (and real-life horror stories) that lead the smart folks to find you and your expertise.

You see, it is not the time we get paid for, it is the value we bring to that time.  And if this were all as easy as we want our clients to see it is, then what would be our value?  It might be some value, but not what it is when we help folks navigate difficult waters. 

Sometimes we all get smart, informed clients that are easy to work with and that is great.  But it is the challenging situations that allow us to show we are true professionals that can address the tough problems and really bring value to the table to benefit all.