The overused ”individual approach” is promised by businesses to every client. Indeed, each person is unique in essence but once people become clients, they attain certain traits and show certain behavior that can be roughly categorized. Depending on their ‘category’ (which can be a mix of them as well), you’ll know how to deal with them efficiently and keep them satisfied. Most of your clients, whatever your business is about, may be as follows:

Rainbow Chaser

The dreams (read: ideas) of such clients may often lack substance and details behind them. They have extremely high expectations, but see yourself whether you are able to impress such a client. It’s rather rewarding – and it may be possible to bring a rainbow chaser back to the reality.

Let’s include here people who are rather unclear about what they want. The common thing is that they are unprepared and you’ll have lots of work to do. They may change their mind now and then, so be patient and get the ideas approved in a precise way.

The idea may be weird or not, but if it can work, together you may turn it into something viable. To make it possible, be very straightforward and rational with budget and deadlines. When clarifying all the details, which isn’t very common with rainbow chasers, be prepared to make lots of suggestions.

Non-Decisionmaker

These are people who speak on behalf of bigger authorities and themselves need approvals for decisions. Such people can easily be unprepared for the questions you ask. Thus the key is understanding what their superiors want and need. To achieve that, questions should not come from you gradually one by one, there has to be a stack of questions, so that none of them gets missing.

Be sure that things will take more time with questions moving up and answers coming down. Be one step ahead and ask important things beforehand to be prepared to the next stage of providing your client with products and/or services.

Fast Runner

Deadlines are natural but some clients always need to hasten things up, be it their personal wish or a movement influenced by some external force. What matters to them is time, time, and time. What can make things worse, this haste can mean these people are very busy – and may as well have little time for you.

If a project can be done in three months, such people may want you to finish it all in two – make sure they understand it’s next to impossible. Be very cautious about expectations. If you accept the unrealistic deadlines bound by a contract, poor quality of the outcome will be your responsibility. If the deadlines cannot compromise quality, you only have to figure out what’s needed, stay flexible, and proceed with focus, planning, and breaks to gather breath.

Do-It-Cheaper

These are people searching for a cheaper price. It’s not easy – being on a limited budget and looking for someone who can make a working product. Sometimes such clients are willing to forgo the top quality you offer just to get a low cost. Such a person can be sincerely impressed by your professionalism, but the goal is still saving money.

If you decide to make a contract with a do-it-cheaper, plan everything to fit into the budget. You are enabled to do your job quickly and choose work tools yourself. Let your client know that some money is saved here, and some money is saved there. You can do that by starting with higher estimates and lowering them in case of need.

Delegator

Such a person knows your professional approach to your duties; knows your skills enough to say ”Here is what I want, so do it” without long meetings and discussions of tiniest details. Quite often they are either your loyal clients who already trust you; or the project handed to you is a smaller wheel in a large mechanism. They need no explanations of the technologies you’ll use. What they want is a working product ready within a well-reasoned amount of time.

They need no extra conversations, so you need to value their time and be prepared to solve any arisen issues. They have little time, so written documentation and reports value over communication. But be aware that you provide them with exactly what they need.

Active Helper

This is an enthusiastic person who wants to be a part of the process – but you cannot allow the situation to get in your way. If it can be useful, practical assistance from a professional, then why not? The main thing is keeping such a client busy with simpler tasks or specialized ones (according to the client’s skills). That’s how you can stay focused on what you do for them.

Do not confuse them with Know-It-All’s who seem to know what you should do better than you. Here we talk about positive attitude and willingness to solve problems together (instead of creating them) and go for fruitful results.

Control-Over-Everything

You have surely encountered such clients who just need to know and micro-manage everything. You basically have no choice but to let them have what they demand: control and respect for their ideas. Therefore they will be more inclined to accept yours, and it will be easier to achieve mutual understanding.

Let’s include here the clients who tend to ask too many questions. Way more than necessary. It’s very important to set limits for communication to make it effective. For example, not more than one hour a week – thus you’ll be able to stick to the things of utmost importance during conversations and meetings. As you know, too many meetings kill productivity.

All in all, struggling for the right to make minor decisions is tiring and wastes time. Maybe it hides in the fact that such a client is not sure of your approach and your dedication, and there’s no firm confidence yet. However, in the better case the milestones of the project will ease down the situation.

Friend

The one you know personally – a friend, an acquaintance, a family member, a friend of a friend and so on. On one hand, such a relationship eliminates to a certain degree the problem of trust. On the other hand many relationships eroded because of misunderstandings, too high expectations, and taking your efforts for granted. That’s why we always tend to separate ‘business’ and ‘personal’.

For example, a ”special price” is not appropriate at times, because things may not solely depend on you: there are your employees who want to be paid accordingly. Be honest and professional, don’t let the relationship intrude here, and chances to prevent conflicts and succeed will grow.

All clients are different – but that’s what we love them for. You have often had mixed types of these, haven’t you? Which ones are most common among your clients – or maybe you can outline a special type yourself?