{"id":4139,"date":"2019-09-17T06:29:52","date_gmt":"2019-09-17T11:29:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theadminbar.com\/?p=4139"},"modified":"2022-06-13T08:29:13","modified_gmt":"2022-06-13T13:29:13","slug":"book-review-dealing-with-problem-clients","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theadminbar.com\/book-review-dealing-with-problem-clients\/","title":{"rendered":"Book Review: Dealing with Problem Clients"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A BOOK WRITTEN SPECIFICALLY FOR THE WORDPRESS PROFESSIONAL<\/a><\/h2>\n

Written by author, speaker, and business coach, Nathan Ingram<\/p>\n

I was recently introduced to Nathan Ingram through a series of his WordCamp talks I found on YouTube. Every now and then you stumble upon someone that you just can\u2019t get enough from\u2014 and 5 videos later I was hooked and sold on anything Nathan was teaching.<\/p>\n

On his website I found his book, \u2018Dealing with Problem Clients: Building fences around friendly monsters<\/a>\u2019, and decided if his talks were this great, the $10 I\u2019d drop on this book would be well worth it.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a quick read\u2014 coming in at just over 100 pages\u2026 But what it lacks in length it makes up for in its specificity to our lives as WordPress web designers working with clients.<\/p>\n

WHAT’S INSIDE?<\/h3>\n

The book is broken up into two parts, which end up perfectly intertwining in the end.<\/p>\n

The first half is 4 fictional tales that are all too relatable. In each of the four short stories, Nathan describes scenarios of specific types of difficult clients in situations that I could immediately put myself in.<\/p>\n

Lovingly called the \u201cfriendly monsters\u201d, he describes The Question Mark, The Invisible Man, The Boundary Buster, and the Drama Queen\u2014 all of which I\u2019ve already encountered. As the fictional clients in the stories started to unleash their havoc I was immediately naming the clients in my own agency who have put me in the same position.<\/p>\n

Each story is wrapped up with a lesson from the freelancer\u2019s coach who helps them keep the monster at bay.<\/p>\n

The second half of the book is nonfiction\u2014 an actionable guide of how to setup systems and processes in your system that will keep your friendly monsters from wreaking havoc on your agency.<\/p>\n

Presented as \u201cthe four fences\u201d, Nathan explains how clarity, commitments, communication, and documentation can help you avoid the pitfalls of the friendly monsters and give you control of your business.<\/p>\n

The whole book is wrapped up in a bow as you start to see how each one of these fences plays a pivotal role in containing the monsters before they run loose with your project.<\/p>\n

WHAT I LOVE<\/h3>\n

Often similar \u201cthe creative business owner\u201d type books try to position you in a \u201cyou vs. the client\u201d stance where you must always be above them. These approaches make sense on paper, but feel really awkward when you implement them because you\u2019re forced to be someone you\u2019re not.<\/p>\n

Nathan does none of that\u2026 His \u201cmonsters\u201d are friendly\u2014even if they are frustrating. But the ways in which he advises on dealing with them is something I\u2019d feel confident implementing knowing that I\u2019m able to do it in my own voice and still be able to provide excellent customer service.<\/p>\n

Not only do I think the author paints a much more accurate picture of what we experience, there is very little \u201ctheory\u201d here\u2014 every lesson and tip is something actionable that you can easily implement into your practices right away.<\/p>\n

BIGGEST TAKEAWAYS<\/h3>\n

I won\u2019t spoil them for you (because I want you to support the author and pick up a copy<\/a> to keep on your desk), but there were several things I put into practice before I even finished this weekend read…<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. The \u201cFriday email\u201d, which is outlined in clear instruction and examples, is already setup as a reminder on my calendar every Friday morning. I know this will be a gamechanger when it comes to client communication and keeping projects on track.<\/li>\n
  2. A simple, but effective policy for my contract to keep clients from dragging out projects for ages.<\/li>\n
  3. Knowing which types of questions I can charge a client for answering, and which ones come free.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    WHO SHOULD BUY?<\/h3>\n

    Anyone who is young in their web career would benefit greatly from the lessons this book provides. I wish I had read this before I ever started my career, it could have saved me loads of frustration and a good pile of cash.<\/p>\n

    If you\u2019re a more seasoned professional, there might be things in this book you\u2019ve already adapted into your agency\u2014 but I have no doubt that you\u2019ll gain clarity and pick up a few tricks to help you refine your processes further.<\/p>\n

    No matter where you are in your agency\u2019s life cycle, you\u2019re likely to face these same challenges with a future client. Because this book helps you identify and put a name to them, it will be easy to recognize what you\u2019re dealing with and give you the confidence to know how to overcome the challenges they pose\u2014 if it doesn\u2019t help you avoid them in the first place.<\/p>\n

    WRAPPING UP<\/h3>\n

    You can learn more at www.nathaningram.com<\/a>, where he has a variety of courses and coaching programs available. I\u2019d advise you to start where I did: searching \u201cNathan Ingram WordCamp<\/a>\u201d on YouTube. Just make sure you have a few hours to spend and a notepad nearby\u2014 you\u2019re not going to want to stop watching.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    A BOOK WRITTEN SPECIFICALLY FOR THE WORDPRESS PROFESSIONAL Written by author, speaker, and business coach, Nathan Ingram I was recently introduced to Nathan Ingram through a series of his WordCamp talks I … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4157,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_eb_attr":"","_piecal_is_recurring":false,"_piecal_recurring_interval":1,"_piecal_recurring_frequency":"","_piecal_recurring_exact_position":false,"_piecal_recurring_end":"","_piecal_color":"","_piecal_text_color":"","_piecal_global_color_master":false,"_piecal_is_event":false,"_piecal_start_date":"","_piecal_end_date":"","_piecal_is_allday":false,"sync_status":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","castos_file_data":"","podmotor_file_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[191,181],"tags":[],"banner":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theadminbar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4139"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theadminbar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theadminbar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theadminbar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theadminbar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4139"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/theadminbar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4139\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theadminbar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4157"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theadminbar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4139"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theadminbar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4139"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theadminbar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4139"},{"taxonomy":"banner","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theadminbar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/banner?post=4139"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}