How to Spot Client Red Flags

Most businesses now are online. Having an online business offers more opportunities for us as business owners to grow and scale our revenue.

But there’s always a chance of coming across clients who aren’t the right fit for our businesses.

This blog aims to share with you some of the things I and others I know have experienced, so you can see those red flags before they impact you or your business.

What are Red Flag Clients?

Red flag clients are those who for one reason or another, don’t align with us. You’ve probably come across some of these examples already.

Clients who when you tell them your price, want to beat you down to a lower price.

Clients who don’t want to sign a proper contract; or it may even be a client who is late giving you access to documents that enable to you do your job.

 Additionally, red flag clients may pay late or not pay at all, frequently change or add to the scope of projects without giving any solid reason, or behave rudely.

If you identify these signs early, it can save your precious time, resources, and save your sanity. We all want peace in our businesses. That’s why we freelance right?

 In the next sections of this blog, we go through the classic client red flags and how to deal with them confidently. By being aware of these things, you can begin to make empowered choices and work with clients who actually value your online business or services.

Classic Client Red Flags

The main thing to remember with these client red flags is to trust your gut. How do you feel inside? If it’s not a good feeling, then it could be time to cut a client loose. I’ve learned, particularly over the last quarter, that my gut never lies.

Poor Communication

Poor communication can be a sign that a client is not the correct fit for you. Red flag clients struggle hard to express their needs clearly and it can lead to confusion on both sides.

That said, if they improve, when you put boundaries in place – for example – when you are available to email, or chat online, it may be that they are new to business and need guidance.

However, some clients, despite you explaining your boundaries, will work in the same way as they always have, and there’s probably no way to change their patterns.

Examples of this include:

• Not answering questions regarding the project, leaving you with inadequate information to do your job.
• Answering questions late, meaning you have less time to do the work.
• Communicating late at night/early in the morning and expecting an instant reply.
• Saying one thing to you and another thing to another person involved in the project.

Going forward these tips can help clarify communication:

• Give your client a welcome packet, where you set your boundaries for how you want to communicate, so you balance your private life with your business hours.
• Set up an autoresponder for emails that come in out of hours, explaining to clients when you will get back to them.

Unrealistic Expectations

Amongst all the important red flags, be conscious of unrealistic expectations of clients.

Maybe you have agreed a timeline with a client, only for them to ask you to bring the deadline forward. If this happens, it can feel stressful to push back and remind them of the agreed schedule and deadline.

Maybe you’ve been caught up in their excitement to bring the deadline forward and agreed to it. You’ve run around, doing all the things and the result has been burnout and a poorer quality of work than you normally provide.

Going forward these tips can help with unrealistic expectations:

• Ensure you include specific details and deadlines in your contract. Then you can refer your client back to this. (You will get better at this over time, but it is worth the extra time to get this right!)

History of Disputes

Red flag clients can have a track record of multiple conflicts, controversies, or unresolved problems with previous service providers.

It can be worth getting in touch and finding out in basic terms. (Although be aware that service providers may not want to share details and you shouldn’t ask them – think client privacy on this one. A simple ‘don’t touch them’ phrase from a fellow service provider is enough to know).

 Trying to set clear expectations, drafting project deliverables, and signing a well-defined contract can actually help to reduce confusion and it’s possible that you will be a good fit with the client.

Again, go with your gut on this and it will never let you down.
 

Payment Issues

Issue with payment is another red flag to look out for.

Clients who repeatedly miss deadlines for payment or display reluctance to pay for your work can negatively affect your income flow and cause you to waste your time chasing payments.

Having to chase payments can also put a strain on your professional realationship. They may even ghost you and not pay.

One way of avoiding this kind of situation is to be super clear in the discovery call about your minimum prices, so you can determine whether your prospect has got the budget to hire you. If not, have a list of people who are more in their price range, so you can suggest they contact them for the work.

Pro-tip – Don’t let your discovery call rumble on too long.

One of the first questions you need to ask is about the client’s budget. If you do this at the beginning of the call, you can finish up politely as soon as you realise they are not your ideal client. Or you can even include this as a screening question in a lead capture quiz or an intake form, so you are not wasting time meeting with people who aren’t the correct fit.

And this moves me nicely on to my final point.

5. Constant Scope Creep

This is one of the easiest red flags to spot. Scope creep means that the client tries to add more and more on to the project, even though you have agreed on the project terms.

That’s not to say they do this on purpose or to be manipulative. But scope creep can have a big impact on your timeline, resources, and the way you feel.

These modifications can lead to extra workload, raised costs, and possible delays, eventually impacting the overall win of the project.

 It’s not easy but you need to set clear boundaries to minimise scope creep.

The client must have a clear understanding of the aims of the project as well as a timeline.

Whenever your client proposes scope changes, you need to explain to them that the extra work will mean an extra charge. Plus, it will take you more time to do extra things.

This is probably the number one thing you may experience and not all clients will realise they what they are doing.

Conclusion:

I hope these red flags have been useful for you so you have an idea of what to look out for, and so you can take action when red flags do happen. The important take from all this is that everyone will experience red flag clients from time to time. Try not to beat yourself up for it, but take the learnings and how you felt at the time, to adapt and improve your processes so that you avoid the stressors again.