The way that you talk with your clients can heavily influence their attitude and respect towards you. If you use the right language and avoid talking yourself into a trap, it’s not too difficult to manage your clients.
It’s tempting to try to please potential clients by offering everything under the sun, but this rarely works out well. Chances are that your client will see right through the charade and lose trust in you.
Make a recommendation for another firm, or tell them you’ll see if you can find someone who can do it. It’s a win-win-win situation
Always specify your business hours. There will be times when a client needs to call you at night or on the weekend but try to keep it for emergencies only to avoid burnout or frustration.
It’s something about human nature — everyone wants to get the best deal. If you tell a client that you really need more work from them, they are probably going to exploit that fact and you’ll end up at the wrong end of a bad project.
As tempting as it is to remind people that they hired you, and you know you are the best, it simply isn’t good business practice. Instead of telling them they can’t have it their way, try to offer a new suggestion along with a reason why you think it is better.
Even if a client is at fault for a project getting derailed, don’t throw blame around. It’s much better to simply inform them that what’s done is done and on the next project you can both move things along faster.
Anything else you shouldn’t say?