*Please pardon the un-styled mess why I am rethinking and re-designing my blog!*
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.
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.
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:
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.
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.
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.
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
Share your tips, suggestions, and/or horror stories in the comments or follow me on twitter and discuss!
[3] Comments
Posted in design, freelancing
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Ivan Tolmachev says:
I find the process described here very useful for any client who you work with for the first time. It gives you value in the client's eyes and proves you know what you're doing.
June 28th, 2010 at 3:21 pm
Chris says:
I don't take them. That is how I deal with them. I have become fairly good at recognizing which ones will end up being a PITA. I also avoid the "black helicopters" – the ones that talk about conspiracy theories and the black helicopters that fly over their house.
My recent post If you register your site for free at
June 28th, 2010 at 3:34 pm
MissKM says:
I think just knowing that other designers are experiencing the same problem as me is helpful! I have a client at the moment who is trying to dominate the project, rather than working alongside me. She wants all the bells and whistles (fancy page transitions, music, Flash intro and arty interactive photo gallery) for a rock bottom price – but is eating up all my time with rambling phone calls and e-mails – and pushing me into directions that I have advised against. I'm about half way through the project with only a 1/3 of the budget left…. not sure whether to cut my losses now and refund the deposit because I know it's going to go over budget – and because she wants so many 'things' on her site, I'm going to have to continually answer questions if she wants to change anything later on. I always try to think the best of people up front, but I'm thinking I need to cut them off right near the beginning if I get a bad feeling. I'm not sure some of these people even care if you go to all the effort of outlining everything in detail because they're not organised themselves and don't pay attention. But I guess you can only try.
Ah! Thanks for the vent!
February 25th, 2011 at 3:46 pm