It’s 11:30 pm. My wife has already gone to bed. I was cramming to get an ad done for the paper the next morning. The phone rings. It’s the client’s assistant.
“So? Is it okay?” I ask.
“She hates it,” she replies.
“Did she say why?”
“No.”
Frustrated silence. After a fruitless exchange of profanity and exasperation we get off the phone. My wife is exhausted and livid at this ungodly hour. So I turn off the ringer and go to bed, knowing full well that the assistant is still furiously trying to get through to me and leaving messages on my voice mail. I have a choice here between my wife and my client. I choose my wife.
Needless to say, I lost the client, including payment for several unpaid invoices totaling in the hundreds of dollars, not to mention a great deal of lucrative future work. That money is gone.
The next day I sent an email apologizing for dropping the project right before the deadline. I swallow my pride and try to explain my actions without placing blame on their boss. I was cornered and had to choose between my wife’s well being and stretching to accommodate what most people may consider an unreasonable expectation without any kind of guidance or support. In retrospect, I do not regret losing this particular client. I simply regret the way in which it happened.
The business mantra of client service is that ‘the customer is always right’. And customer satisfaction will always trump price and product at every turn.It is what distinguishes one business in a sea of intense competition and gives individual small businesses an edge over more established organizations. Serving
the client should be priority one for any successful freelancer. But, as in life, there are no absolutes.
Freelancers choose to freelance because they are afforded freedoms and choices their workaday colleagues lack, including whether the next project is worth taking on. I’ve had to learn the hard way that it’s perfectly okay to feel free to say ‘no’.
This is difficult, especially when you’re just starting out and building a client base or when your funds are running low. But in today’s more robust economy, we are afforded a greater degree of economic stability and safeguarding than our predecessors had in the time of the Great Depression.
As such, we are more free to make better choices for ourselves.
Here are three common instances when it’s okay to turn down a customer.
The Work Compromises Your Values
You’re offered a contract that helps promote a corporation that uses third world slave labor or pollutes the environment or exploits workers without due compensation. Perhaps you belong to a faith group and the
work could violate your beliefs. You have every right to turn down work that bothers your spiritual or social conscience. You will sleep better at night and possess a clear mind to better focus on your work.
The Work Compromises Your Life Balance
Sometimes, too much work is a good sign that your business is growing by leaps and bounds. But if you’re like most freelancers, you probably work alone. You run the hazard of taking on too much and something will give,either in the quality of your work suffering or making a late submission past the agreed deadline, or even worse, neglecting the most important aspects of your life such as getting enough rest or spending time with loved ones.
No amount of prosperity is worth jeopardizing your own health or valued personal relationships.
The Work Compromises Your Professional Worth
The mantra must be repeated: never do work on spec. It’s fine to volunteer your skills to a charitable organization. You may even be able to get a charitable donation tax receipt in lieu of your time. But never dedicate your valuable time to be compensated at slave wages or way below your pay grade. Your rate
reflects your worth and if you value your highly-skilled work, you will charge accordingly. By low balling your billing, you not only undervalue yourself, but you undermine the worth of your profession and of all your peers in the same discipline. If a client is looking for a deal, tread carefully, but don’t sell the store. It’s
better to lose him or her as a client and take that time to serve another customer who respects your value as a professional.
Again, the client’s satisfaction is paramount to any competitive business. But it’s your business and you reserve the right to protect your worth and integrity. By politely refusing the occasional instance where
a project or client keeps you from maintaining your high standards or living a balanced lifestyle, you leave room for success that’s more than just monetary.
译文:
客户不一定都是对的三个原因
晚上11：30，我妻子已经上床睡觉了。我正赶着做第二天早上要交的一份广告。这时候电话响了。是客户经纪人打来的。
“客户满意吗？”我问。
“不满意。”她回答。
“她有说为什么吗？”
“没。”
一阵沮丧的沉默。经过一阵没有意义的交流和愤慨，我们挂了电话。我妻子对于这种时刻显得越发的疲惫和愤怒。所以我把电话线拔了，跟着上了床，尽管我知道经纪人正在想方设法打电话给我，留口信给我。在我的妻子和客户之间我必须得选一个人。而我选择了我的妻子。
不用说，我失去了这个客户，还包括一些尚未付款的发票，大概有好几百美元吧。更不必说以后工作所带来的金钱。总之，钱都飞了。
第二天我写了一封关于在截止日期前放弃该项目的道歉信。我藏起我的骄傲，试图在不把责任推卸推给他们老板的情况下解释我的行为。我被逼到了角落，并不得不在我妻子和工作间选择一个，以顺应大多数人想的没有任何理由的过分期望。回顾过去，我不会因为失去这么个特殊的客户而懊悔。我只是后悔它发生的方式而已。
生意上的至理名言：客户永远是对的。客户的满意远胜于产品的价格和产品本身。这是在众多竞争者中却别一个一个企业的方法，并在各种商业组织中给个别小企业以优势。任何一个成功的自由职业者都应优先考虑服务客户。但在生活中，世事无绝对。
自由作家选择当自由职业者是因为他们能有自由和选择他们的同伴，包括下一个项目是否值得接。我不得不学习随时说“不”，即使这条路很难。
这很难，特别是当你刚刚开始起步，建立客户基础或是当你发现你山穷水尽的时候。但在今天这个经济更加健全的时代，我们拥有了相比前辈经济大萧条时期更大程度上的经济稳定和保护。因此，我们拥有了更自由的自主选择权利。
下面是3个关于何时拒绝客户才好的普通例子。
这份工作损害到你的价值观
你得到了一份合同，用第三世界的苦役或污染环境或剥削工人的方法促进公司的发展。也许你有某种信仰，而这份工作违背了你的信仰。你完全有权拒绝这份困扰你良知和社会意识的工作。这样一来你晚上可以睡得更好，并且让你拥有清醒的头脑，更好的专注于自己的工作。
这份工作打破你的平衡生活
有时候，太多的工作是一个良好的迹象，那表示您的业务得到飞跃发展。但如果你像大多数自由职业者一样，你可能会单独工作。接太多的工作是一种冒险，不管是忙于工作还是推迟上交工作，这都会使你忽略了生活中很多重要的方面，比如说充足的休息或者和爱的人在一起。再怎么多的幸运也不能尾号到你的健康和你重视的人际关系。
这份工作损害了你的专业价值。
为慈善机构提供免费服务是好事。你甚至可以得到慈善捐款收据。但不要把你的宝贵时间用力浪费在低额报酬或低于您的支付等级上。你的价格反映了你的价值，如果你重视你的高技能的工作，那么您将收取相应的报酬。降低酬金，不仅是在低估自己，还破坏了自己的职业价值，甚至是整个行规。如果一个客户在寻找生意，要谨慎对待，别因小失大。宁愿失去这么个客户，把时间用在那些尊重你专业价值的客人身上。
再次声明，在竞争激烈的商业中，客户的满意是最重要的。但这是你个人的事，并且你知道如何去保护自己的价值观和诚实。偶尔情况下礼貌的拒绝或客户使你保持高标准和平衡的生活方式，给你成功留下了空间，那比金钱更重要。