Re: Client is demanding me to do jobs beyond ...

d98c8a47 · ‎11-15-2021

Hi all!
I'm a filmmaker and video editor with a filmmaker profile and background, and I'm working in a hourly contract with this client.
He has an agency with a team of designers, and lately, he's been sending me urgent requests in which I need to resolve both the design and the editing. I couldn't deliver on time ONCE and he got tremendously upset with me saying it was "unacceptable".
I have been open to make those jobs if they really need me to do it, but I feel he just crossed the line this time. I'm telling him that I'm not a graphic designer, and making those jobs take a lot of time and research to me. I always ask for references before starting, and he keeps sayting to me that I should simple use my own criteria.
When he got upset, I sujested him that on urgent requests he should resolve the design part with his team previously instead of loading me with those responsabilities. But he took it as if I wasn't taking him seriously, he's convinced it's my fault, and told me I was unprofessional.

How should I deal with this kinds of situations? Thank you!

martina_plaschka · ‎11-15-2021

Well the client is right. It is unprofessional to take on tasks you are unqualified for. You can end the contract at any time you want.

2e395a62 · ‎11-15-2021

Before we put a blame on Fernando, I'd like to know what was agreed as the nature of the hourly contract he has with the client. Did it include the graphic design from the very beginning or have these tasks just been added recently?

prestonhunter · ‎11-15-2021

Putting aside the original poster's specific situation, we can talk about this as a general concept:

It is always a possibility that a client hires a freelancer using an hourly contract, and then asks the freelancer to do something that the freelancer was not originally planning to do. The client may ask for something that was not originally discussed. This happens.

This a simple matter. If the freelancer wants to do that work, he can agree to do it. If it is not something he wants to do, or if it is not something he knows how to do, he simply informs the client.

The client DOES NOT ACTUALLY CARE if the freelancer does the work. The client just wants to get the work done.

The freelancer will be helping the client out if he tells them: "Janet, yes, I agree that we should add custom product photography to the website. But that is not something that I do. You can hire a freelancer who is a dedicated, experienced photographer for that. The results will be better and probably less expensive. Because if I do this, I will need to charge you for the purchase of specialized equipment that a dedicated photographer already has."

d98c8a47 · ‎11-15-2021

That's the point.

They send me an XML with instructions, sometimes they cover 100% the graphic part, sometimes only 75%, 50%, or 0%. In those cases, I have to figure it out myself when editing the video. So, we have never really talked about designs, it's a grey area in the instructions sheet.

I mentioned it once to them because one job took more more than expected, but I wasn't emphatic about it. But now, I have mentioned again and I was very empathic about it. He was angry in that moment and took it as if I was blaming/mocking them. I'm going to talk to him again and hope he understands and we coul team up to make this jobs work in time.

martina_plaschka · ‎11-15-2021

Fernando B wrote:
That's the point.

They send me an XML with instructions, sometimes they cover 100% the graphic part, sometimes only 75%, 50%, or 0%. In those cases, I have to figure it out myself when editing the video. So, we have never really talked about designs, it's a grey area in the instructions sheet.

I mentioned it once to them because one job took more more than expected, but I wasn't emphatic about it. But now, I have mentioned again and I was very empathic about it. He was angry in that moment and took it as if I was blaming/mocking them. I'm going to talk to him again and hope he understands and we coul team up to make this jobs work in time.

The thing is, you might be jumping through hoops and everything, and the client might still be unhappy in the end and you risk getting bad feedback. The more money you earn on this contract, the more weight the feedback will have.

martina_plaschka · ‎11-15-2021

Piotr O wrote:
Before we put a blame on Fernando, I'd like to know what was agreed as the nature of the hourly contract he has with the client. Did it include the graphic design from the very beginning or have these tasks just been added recently?

The problem is client management. Can this be saved and come to a good outcome? I don't know. The client might be angry for a number of reasons. I don't know how civil the discussions between client and freelancers are, he might be able to turn this around, but it doesn't sound like it to me.

d98c8a47 · ‎11-15-2021

Graphic design isn't even mentioned in my profile, and I only agreed to edit their videos.

HERE'S HOW THEIR WORKFLOW IS: For every job the client sends me an XML sheet his team prepared to edit the videos. Some of them have all instructions with the graphic part included, but others haven't, so I need to figure them out myself while editing the videos. In the past, everytime I asked for references or something when the sheets lack of the graphic part, he said to me "use your own criteria, I trust it"

Yet, we have already talked this problem once because one job took me more than expected. But as I accomplished to finish the video before the deadline, the client was happy in the end. I wasn't empathic about it, when he asked me why it took so long, I said that the design part took me more than expected because I'm not a graphic designer.

But then it happened again, he needed a video with URGENCY that required to take graphic design decisions for a brand I have never worked before. He and his team couldn't give me references, not the brand identity book, or something that could help me get the visuals he wanted. In the end, he just wanted something way more simple than what I was delivering. But he and his team couldn't really communicate that in a visual or clear way, they simply put all the responsability on my shoulders.

d98c8a47 · ‎11-15-2021

That's okay. I can see my mistake on that. But that's not what I was asking, the point is how to deal with the situation from now on.

I'm telling you that I aimed to re-construct the good relationship with my client by letting him know, again, what is my scope and asking him to stick to it, and he seems to not like that.

martina_plaschka · ‎11-15-2021

Fernando B wrote:
That's okay. I can see my mistake on that. But that's not what I was asking, the point is how to deal with the situation from now on.

I'm telling you that I aimed to re-construct the good relationship with my client by letting him know, again, what is my scope and asking him to stick to it, and he seems to not like that.

The client might not be happy for a number of reasons. Maybe he thinks you should be able to do that, maybe he is annoyed you didn't tell him sooner, I don't know. I think this ship has sailed.

Client is demanding me to do jobs beyond my scope of skills