Pro tip: I saw a client meeting go wrong at a coffee shop in Boulder and everyone's blaming the wrong thing.

Everyone says the problem was the client being unclear, but I watched the freelancer spend the whole time on their phone. The client asked for a revision three times and got a shrug. How do you handle a client when YOU'RE the one who dropped the ball?

4 comments

4 Comments

miaprice20d ago

Jump right into what gets missed most here: the freelancer probably felt defensive and froze up instead of admitting they messed up. @charlieh74 you're right that not every mistake is a crisis, but even a tiny error feels huge to the client if you dismiss it instead of saying "my bad, let me fix that." Owning it kills the tension fast because it shows respect for their time, whether the problem is a typo or a total crash.

brian_hart2mo ago

Own it and fix it, fast.

charlieh742mo ago

But hold on, is this always a five alarm fire? Sometimes a small bug or a typo on a website gets blown way out of proportion. @brian_hart says own it and fix it fast, which is good, but what if the "it" is minor? Not every single thing needs a full panic response. If one person has a weird loading screen once, that's different than the whole payment system crashing. Gotta check how big the problem really is before we all lose our minds.

sam_cooper2mo ago

Yeah, that freelancer's gonna have a bad time. Shrugging off a client while staring at your phone is a sure way to get a bad review and no repeat work. The fix is simple, put the phone away and actually listen. Maybe even buy them a coffee while you sort it out.