One of my “favorite” HOLY COW clients was incredibly slow to pay, although she kept insisting she paid every invoice on time.
It didn’t matter that I had to call and email her repeatedly after sending each invoice, requesting payment. It didn’t matter that at one point I refused to continue working until she wired all the overdue payments into my account. It didn’t even matter that I finally “fired” her and told her I would not turn over the remaining work in progress until I was paid in full. She kept insisting that she was absolutely honest and always paid on time. And, she added, I would not succeed in business until I learned how to trust people.
I had similar payment difficulties with another client, whom I also fired. This client was absolutely furious when I told him that I no longer trusted him to pay me. How dare I suggest he was untrustworthy, he practically shouted through the phone line. “Just look at my website,” he demanded. “You’ll see how trustworthy I am!”
I’m not sure how looking at someone’s website can prove he is trustworthy. After all, he created the website, so it probably wouldn’t contain anything that makes him look bad. (And besides, this very same client had tried to get me to stretch the truth about the benefits of his products in the copy I was creating for his new website.) Like the woman above, this client told me I wouldn’t succeed unless I learned to trust clients, with “trust” apparently meaning agreeing not to be paid for my work on time, if at all.
I’ve found that the clients who do their best not to pay you, who prod you to twist the truth on their behalf and otherwise misbehave are the most likely to tell you you’re a bad businessperson when you object.
Do they believe it, or is it just a tactic? And if it’s a tactic, does it work with most writers?
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