T5 How do you deal with difficult clients?

Robert Young · February 7th, 2017, 09:35 AM

How do you as a digitizer or embroiderer deal with difficult clients?

Do you feel the money is worth the headache? Meaning as long as they pay you will just stay quiet and do what you are told?

Do you respond in kind and sometimes say or do things in hindsight you wish you had not?

Do you try to educate the client and try to come up with some common ground?

Do you fire them? Because your own piece of mind is worth more than dealing with them.

Please provide an example... good or bad... we can all learn from each other.

digidana · February 8th, 2017, 10:06 AM

i usually tell my customers what will or will not work and offer recommendations/suggestions before i start a design so there are no surprises when they get the design. i'm a big fan of getting it right the first time.

i've only had to "fire" two customers in 20 years. one was because their check bounced every time. the other was because i did a great jacket back design, but they would pick the design to death and kept wanting to make changes to the design that would make it worse. like, removing satin stitch detailing to have the fabric show through instead, etc. i did it for a while until it was obvious that the design was going to end up looking awful and he wasn't getting happier. i just finally told him that i was sorry, that i wasn't able to make him happy and didn't charge him for the design. it was a load off!

migdigitizing · February 8th, 2017, 07:10 PM

There are certain limitations for doing business , If he is paying you , you have to do your best to satisfy him . Yeah i remember i did ask my customer to go somewhere else in 2009 , it was a simple logo and he was keep asking for changes to change the width of the outline . then adding some shadows but in the end he came over chat and start abusing where i had to stop him and gently ask to create his account somewhere else . After that he felt sorry for it but never said and its been 7 years now .. getting order on a daily basis .

Robert Young · February 15th, 2017, 12:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by migdigitizing

There are certain limitations for doing business , If he is paying you , you have to do your best to satisfy him .

I disagree. You have to TRY to satisfy the client ... I agree with that.. but some clients do not know what they don't know... so you cannot help them! sorry

2 clients just this week.. and it is only Wed. wanted us to match EXACTLY lettering sewn in 60wt thread but they only use 40wt. how the heck is that possible?? I want you to recreate this lettering made with an ink pen but you can only use a magic marker? yeah.... ok.. .not going to happen

I want this design to be 5 inches wide on a fleece blanket..... but the lettering is only 3mm tall... ON FLEECE?? who is training these sales reps?

Anyone? WHY does it seem that people who sell embroidery dont seem to learn the limitations of embroidery? All they are doing as far as I think, is making themselves look bad when they have to go back to the client with changes. NO? they do not know WE exist as a digitizer, no matter whom they use. THEY are the ones that end up looking less than to their clients.

MattConner · February 16th, 2017, 04:05 AM

Ohh Good Sometime clients makes us for frustrated.
They often do not like to pay high prices but the way they make changes every now and then does not justify their low prices.

I mostly try to be nice with them and try to make changes when they needed but frankly this is not cool for any digitizer.

Matt Conner
Designer with Quality Punch
www.qualitypunch.com

digidana · February 16th, 2017, 08:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Robert Young

2 clients just this week.. and it is only Wed. wanted us to match EXACTLY lettering sewn in 60wt thread but they only use 40wt. how the heck is that possible?? I want you to recreate this lettering made with an ink pen but you can only use a magic marker? yeah.... ok.. .not going to happen

I want this design to be 5 inches wide on a fleece blanket..... but the lettering is only 3mm tall... ON FLEECE?? who is training these sales reps?

Anyone? WHY does it seem that people who sell embroidery dont seem to learn the limitations of embroidery? All they are doing as far as I think, is making themselves look bad when they have to go back to the client with changes. NO? they do not know WE exist as a digitizer, no matter whom they use. THEY are the ones that end up looking less than to their clients.

i'd tell them that if they want it exact, they're going to have to put out the $ for the 60 weight thread....and fleece-boy i'd probably tell him no. it depends on the design and if there are other options and how much "artistic license" they will allow...but if they didn't go for other options, i would say "ok...i'lll do the 3mm lettering for fleece, but since you didn't take my advice there will be an editing fee when you want me to change it because you didn't take my advice that it would SUCK."

i don't think the comment about embroiderers knowing the limitations is fair. i have a lot of customers that send just a couple of designs a year because they're doing stuff for family members, or they're just starting up, or for whatever reason...they don't get it. not yet. i love helping these people out...for the same reason i love helping out people on these boards. i remember, 20.5 years ago, when i was brand new and depended on people like us for advice. i tried to do one of my first designs for my mother (an embroiderer of 100 years who talked me into digitizing). it was the letters SP in a box. i edited that design to death, and she stitched it out probably 30 times. it was awful....and we still laugh about it. i still have it...digitized 5/19/97. i'd post a picture but its too embarassing!

Robert Young · February 16th, 2017, 08:54 PM

Ha! I get where you are coming from! But I still think if you are going to sell something you should know the medium. just sayin! or at least be open to learning , I guess that is my issue, being open to learning and taking professional advice.

that being said I just referred two people to you on this forum today. I am not here to ask for work, just to lend my 28 yrs of limited embroidery / digitizing knowledge and I am still learning!

digidana · February 17th, 2017, 08:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Robert Young

Ha! I get where you are coming from! But I still think if you are going to sell something you should know the medium. just sayin! or at least be open to learning , I guess that is my issue, being open to learning and taking professional advice.

that being said I just referred two people to you on this forum today. I am not here to ask for work, just to lend my 28 yrs of limited embroidery / digitizing knowledge and I am still learning!

yeah...you've gotta start somewhere! i think one of the first big lessons for embroiderer to learn is that great digitizing can make or break a company. not only that, but it can make what is supposed to be a fun adventure into a new business a major headache. if they're just learning embroidery, and have a terrible design, they'll stitch it out, it will look like hell, and they'll have a hard time figuring out what they're doing wrong....when it may not be their fault at all. its hard enough to learn embroidery...much less trying to do it was bad designs. that's why my motto is 'not even the best embroiderer can make a bad design look good'

a customer of mine in KY that i've been working with since 1997 told me a story yesterday. a guy brought in a horribly embroidered shirt. not only was the digitizing awful, but they didn't bother trimming it up and left a huge thing of backing on the inside. he laughed at it and asked where it had come from. his customer told him that he had it done at the embroidery shop on the other side of town. that's now closed.

appreciate the referrals! you heading out for another vacation?

Robert Young · February 18th, 2017, 10:37 AM

Yes, sometimes we just Assume the client has years of experience... not cool. (and you know about that word!) More often than not they just Wanted the Sale so took the order without understanding what is possible.

That, OR the client is showing them a sample that is embroidered with thinner threads, etc, yet the guy now holding the order wont use thinner thread.

Planning to fly up to Louisville in a week or so and meet up with my Dad where he and I will drive down to Miami to see a car show.. then drive back up while stopping every 10 miles to see another family member, HA! Not quite that bad but you get the idea.

digidana · February 18th, 2017, 11:49 AM

sounds like fun! i love road trips. we always try to find weird (cool) unique roadside attractions along the way. jungle jim's grocery store outside of cincinnati is fun. seen a tunnel maze made out of weeping willow branches, a miniature village, etc. check out: http://www.roadsideamerica.com/

sorry...not embroidery related.