5 Client Situations Where You Should Trust Your Gut
Mark Armstrong

5 Client Situations Where You Should Trust Your Gut

By the pricking of my thumbs, Something wicked this way comes!

Everyone's heard that line at some point, right? It's from Shakespeare's Macbeth.

"Pricking" refers to tingling or itching. It's based on an old superstition that if your thumbs itched, something unpleasant was about to happen.

So it's a kind of intuition: a gut feeling that something's not right. Here are 5 client situations where you should "trust your gut":

The job is a bad match for your skill set.

Years ago, I accepted a commission to do a serious portrait. It was a bad mistake. I do great caricatures, but find it difficult to do a serious likeness. I did dozens of revisions, and finally achieved an acceptable likeness. But I knew my client was disappointed, and so was I. Nowadays, I know when to decline an assignment, and refer a client elsewhere.

There is unspoken dissatisfaction on the part of the client.

One of my very first editorial assignments was for a now defunct business trade magazine. The editor asked for numerous revisions to my sketches. I took it personally, and complained. Time passed with no reply. I called and apologized, and our relationship was restored. I was young and ignorant, and I acted unprofessionally. Fortunately, I sensed what I needed to do.

The client ignores your ideas because you ignored his.

Sometimes a client will say: "I'm not sure how to approach this, but maybe you could try such-and-such." There was a time when I would ignore the client's suggestion, and just sketch out my own ideas. The client would respond with: "What about such-and-such?" So I'd draw up the client's original idea, and the client would say: "Yes, that's what I want." Now I draw up the client's idea first, and then add some of my own. A much smarter, more respectful approach.

You're wasting your time pursuing the wrong clients.

Every service business needs clients. We send samples and pitches to prospects. Some of them never, ever respond. My thumbs finally told me that mindlessly pitching non-responsive clients-- in some cases, for years-- was a foolish waste of time. I pruned my mailing lists and concentrated on prospects that had expressed interest-- with much better results.

You've been lax about reaching out and keeping in touch.

In a perfect world, everyone would have a schedule and stick to it. You'd know exactly when to email prospects, touch base with connections, and post to LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and your blog. I have plenty of lists, but sometimes I hear my thumbs telling me: You've been out of touch-- time to reach out and wave a digital hand. Which is probably why I'm writing this post!!

Trust your gut, listen to your thumbs-- you'd be surprised how smart they are!!


Mark Armstrong has been a commercial illustrator for over 20 years. He's a Photoshop expert specializing in humor, marketing, communication, editorial, and social media. He believes there's a visual component to every communications problem. His goal for every assignment: illustration that gets attention, makes a point, and sends the right message.

Mark lives in New Hampshire, USA. You can follow him on Twitter @mrstrongarm, and connect with him on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Mark Armstrong Illustration. You can view his portfolio in slideshow format.

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