I think I just dodged a bullet, but it’s no fun losing potential long-term work that I know would have helped the client succeed wildly.

 

A couple of blogs ago I mentioned a fellow who wants someone to write blogs for him. We corresponded for about two weeks, off and on, and he eventually decided he’d settled on me.  I was happy. The same week he lost a dear friend and asked me to remind him again of the project this past Tuesday, which I did.

 

Because I didn’t get a response to the Tuesday reminder, yesterday I sent a short courtesy email letting him know I’m rounding out my writing schedule for this coming week and wanted to know if I should include him in it.  He responded back saying to go ahead and fill it up, so I sent a quick follow-up and asked if he had an idea of when he would start needing me.  He responded back that he was going to go with me but that I was being “pushy” and so he had decided against it.

 

I sat there, reading his email, with my jaw dropped almost to my knees.

 

Since when is “attentive customer service” (sending the reminder he asked for plus a follow-up seeking information to find out when I’ll be needed by him) considered “pushy”?

 

I was floored!   Never, in eight years, has any other client told me I was being pushy. In fact, you can ask anybody: I’m just about the least-pushy person on the planet–it takes some doing for me to follow up at all because I figure “your deadline is my deadline” and if a client isn’t responding, they aren’t in a hurry to move forward–something I need to know (or be able to assume) to keep my writing schedule  filled enough to be able to make a living.

 

Now that I read his earlier messages more carefully, I can see that there were additional, subtle clues in them that I didn’t see earlier: he is decidedly full of himself while  being dismissive of a team mate’s (in this case, my) needs.

 

This gentleman was impressed, he said early on, by my professionalism–which is why he decided to go with me–right up until this professional asked for a timetable so I’d know when to put him on my schedule.  When was a hill too far!

 

Again, what can I say? I was floored!

 

When two people decide to work together, both party’s needs should be be taken into account. Each needs to know how to plan their work week so they can keep their heads above water financially.

 

My email to this fellow this weekend was simply that: letting him know to let me know if he would be using me this coming week and, if not, when to expect to be needed.

 

I run a business here, not a hobby.  I was looking for information that would help me function as a business owner. That isn’t pressure. That’s professionalism.

 

So yes, I dodged a bullet but the wrench that it caused my spirit still smarts. I’ll get over it. Losing this client was, I’m quite certain, a blessing in disguise that leaves me free to serve another person who will honor our partnership–as opposed to someone who will exploit and abuse it.

 

Who wants to help fill my schedule this week so I can fulfill your needs as you fulfill mine?  I know you’ll be delighted with the results! Call me or email me.  Let’s make some serious money together!