How to Deal with Your Clients

Whether you are a freelancer or work for a major company, youhave a client to please. Here are a few simple rules to help make yourworking relationships more productive.

I have recently received a Zip drive's worth of emails from videofolks seeking advice on dealing with clients. Let's face it, everyonehas clients, even if you consider yourself “the boss.” Eventop-level executives must answer to someone else, albeit only a spousedemanding that the trash be taken out.

Yet so many who have risen to the top quickly forget the ranksthrough which they rose and become demons for those working under themor working for them. So how do we as vendors make our clients treat usas humanely as we would like? (Perhaps we could form a nationalorganization — SPCV — Society for the Prevention of Crueltyto Videographers. Let me be the first to submit my dues.)

Clients come in many forms: the vice president of marketing for yourcompany, the suit in the corner office, the ad agency that throwsscraps of work your way, the politician begging for a free campaignvideo. Who knows? You may be in a position of power yourself someday.So here are some ideas to improve your working relationships:

• Set goals and limits for any project you undertake. Wheneverpossible, these should be in writing. A simple one-paragraph summarymay suffice, or you may need a formal contract.

• Determine at the outset what you are and are not responsiblefor.

• Prepare and stick to a budget, even if it's internal accounting.This will determine realistically what you can achieve and will providea yardstick for measuring how effective you were in achieving your goal— provided, of course, that you've satisfied the creative needsof the project. Don't advance the project money out of your pocket,unless it's just a couple of bucks for coffee and doughnuts.

• Make it known to all that your time is as valuable as theirs. Forfreelancers, this cannot be overstated. After all, the only thing wefreelancers have to sell is our time. And all too often when somethinggoes awry, clients will take advantage of the fact that all afreelancer may have lost is time. But for us this translates into lostrevenue, and for inhouse workers, perhaps it's time that could havebeen spent playing soccer with the kids.

• Let the people you work for know they can't call you at the lastminute to cancel a job or put it off for a day or two without notice. Arule of thumb I like to employ is noon the preceding day for cancelinga shoot, edit, or even a meeting. I could have, should have, would havebooked another client into that time slot.

• Insist on being paid in a timely fashion. If you work within anorganization, you can skip this paragraph, unless you've run into theproblem of the boss not wanting to pay you overtime for Saturdays orfor using your own car. At one job I had years ago, I racked up 17weeks of overtime thinking the company would later compensate with daysoff. What a fool I was! Know what the company policy is and insist thatyour boss (the client) stick to it. For the rest of you, let the clientknow you need the money within a reasonable amount of time — nomore than 30 days.

• And finally, give the project your best effort. Bring added value tothe set every day you're there. You are a professional; you areexpected to do a first-rate job. Have a positive attitude. It will makethe job, and your life, more satisfying.

• Pause tape.