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I’m sure we have all had experiences with P.I.T.A. clients before. These types of clients require lots of meetings, phone calls, emails, special attention and hand holding. If you aren’t prepared for the time commitment, these clients can blow through the alloted hours in a design budget faster than I can down a Red Bull. I’ve had some interesting experiences with these types of clients and have some tips and suggestions that will make the client designer relationship much smoother.

1. Explain your work process

Often times P.I.T.A. clients have never worked with designers. They are likely to be unfamiliar with the typical design workflow. Take the time to write out your work process and explain what happens when, so nothing comes out of the blue. This also helps preempt the millions of questions that are surely going to be flung at you at some point.

2. Set and Assign Project Milestones

Along with explaining your work process – its good to have project ‘milestones’. This way the client has some expectation of what will happen when, and who is responsible for it. These dates do not have to be set in stone. Having a plan for when things are going to happen is a good idea and reassures the client. Also assign responsibility for milestones so it is clear who is responsible for what.

Side-note: I use Basecamp for project management and setting project milestones are a great way to represent these deadlines visually.

Added bonus: Basecamp emails the person responsible for said milestones 48 hours before they are due. Just a handy little tool to nudge your client into getting that elusive web copy finished!

Common milestones (and responsibility) for my web design projects are:

• Client survey – client
• Initial call – designer
• Site-mapping & wireframing – designer
• Content creation – client/copywriter
• First Round Design – designer
• Initial Design Feedback – client
• Endless Rounds of Revisions – designer
• Coding – designer
• Testing – designer
• Soft Launch – designer
• Post Launch bug reporting/fixing – client & designer

3. Add Additional Hours to Your Budget

Time spent in meetings, talking on the phone and writing emails is time working on a project and should be billed for accordingly. I usually budget a certain amount of hours in a project to account for this. However, P.I.T.A. clients require more personal attention, more explanation and face to face meeting time.

Include these hours in your initial project estimate and be honest about what they are for. Explain to the client that these hours will only be billed for if the time is used. This lets the client know that your time is important and they are less likely to take advantage of it knowing that they are paying for it. Now this isn’t to say that you need to bill for every second talking to the client – I usually let small things slide, but I try to bill for planned meetings, conference calls etc.

4. Explain Technical Details in Writing

Often times clients are much less technical than designers and developers and thus have a hard time understanding the jargon we throw around. Its always a good idea to explain any technical details in writing. This can be an excellent reference for the client after your initial discussion. This should also prevent having to explain things over and over again because you can simply reference your written documentation.

5. Remember to Breathe

Dealing with P.I.T.A. clients can be REALLY frustrating at times. Its always good to step back from time to time and take a deep breath and take a break from the project. The same goes for the client. Sometimes postponing things for a day or two can help you perspective and clarity on a project.

6. Last Resort: Fire The Client

If things get REALLY bad there’s always the option of ending the project early and severing the client/designer business relationship.

This comes at a price. The client will probably want a part or all of their deposit back (depending on how much of the work has been done). It’s always good to be honest with clients when doing this. Let them know this isn’t working out, the project is requiring more hours than you have available or budgeted for, or the business relationship isn’t working. Nothing personal – wish them the best and recommend them to another designer or developer. Try to end things on a good note and avoid burning bridges.

*P.I.T.A. stands for pain in the ass. Don’t get me wrong – designers need clients and clients need designers. I respect all my clients, but sometimes you just have to have a funny term for annoying clients

How do you deal with P.I.T.A. clients?

Share your tips, suggestions, and/or horror stories in the comments or follow me on twitter and discuss!