Hi! Sorry for the late reply. David Johnston and I had been in Albany all day Monday with a commercial client. To borrow some advice from an old manager of mine from 1981, where he said, "I get paid more than you to accept the pressure you don't have."... Or my take on it is more akin to, "We get paid not for what we do, but for putting up with the grief that comes with doing our job well and dealing with our clients." And, who could not remember the other famous line stated by a madam running a Call Girl ring, "They don't pay us for sex, they pay us to go away when they are done with us."
Okay, a bit more to the point. First, I am sorry to hear there is trouble in paradise. I know you worked your arse off on this project, and have provided these folks an excellent solution for a very reasonable price. Time now to eat some humble pie. I learned long ago I can't save the world. The heaviest users of my DCMS app do not use but maybe 15% of its capabilities, yet what is used does a lot for them with such little utilization. I no longer try to push heavier utilization unless I hear someone say they would like to see it do "this or that" - which of course it can do. I do not view my clients as idiots, but I do find they usually only listen as much as they want to (or are capable of), and any further rantings I have to offer are lost in the wind until they think of some "new idea on their own". Then I get to be the hero for helping them accomplish it using my solutions that were there all the time. They pay me well for putting up with not doing all they can with my applications. It is not their fault, it is the nature of the beast. "With familiarity comes contempt," it has been said. Or, put another way, "No man can be a prophet in his own country." Same idea in the larger view. One moment you are the new white knight, the next you are the old, has been soldier that is ready to be put out to pasture until someone realizes perhaps you have some latent value. Meantime you collect your pension (license fees) for helping guard the palace from afar. "What have you done for me lately?", comes the question. "Well, what have you done for yourself with the tools I built for you?", is the response. It breeds contempt. I think all you can do is (pretend to) listen to their "ideas", offer suggestions with all piety, draw from the experiences you have had with others (do not try to grab the glory, they will resent it), and then do as you are asked as long as it does not cross the lines of ethical or legal behavior. Never say, "I won't do it." Rather it is better to say, "I can't do it," or "I will need to seek counsel from someone with more expertise in this specific field," if you are not comfortable with whatever task is put forth. It is fair to be "too busy" to do a particular project, or to not be able to "get to it" for a few months with other client projects. I have deflected many otherwise ill-fated projects on behalf of clients with the, "I can't get to it for another month or two," approach. All for the client's own good, of course. Another thing to consider, sometimes it is better to not say anything than to speak the truth. I learned long ago that not everybody wants to hear "the truth." Sometimes speaking "the truth" comes with a high price. Discerning when to speak up, how to speak up, and when to hold the tongue is more art than science - and usually the art method is tempered along the way where the path entails getting a few battle wounds when a trip wire or two have lit off a grenade here and there. I know what works for me after years of "doing battle", but YMWV (W - will <g>). Sorry if all that seems disjointed. Perhaps it would be better for you to call me at your leisure so we can plan a time when we can have a nice chat at my place. You need to come by and cast your eyes upon my ESXi Servers anyway <g>, and let our Siberian Huskies pounce you a few times. Ciao! Gil > -----Original Message----- > From: [email protected] [mailto:profoxtech- > [email protected]] On Behalf Of David Smith > Sent: Monday, June 29, 2009 5:12 PM > To: [email protected] > Subject: [NF] need advice regarding Honesty vs. Brutal honesty with > clients > > Hi Foxers . I was hoping for some advice regarding exactly how honest > is too > honest when it comes to working with clients. My situation: I did a > website > and programmed some custom software for my leading client. Everything > is > great, everyone is happy. Over the next few months I see a subtle > uptick in > dissatisfaction as the tool they commissioned is being ignored by its > intended users, and an increasing amount of vague, non-specific gripes > about > the site. Ignoring the fact the tools work perfectly and the site > traffic > has more than doubled from their previous efforts, I find myself in a > somewhat frustrating position. What I'd really like to do is say " Hey > dummies, why not invest your time in looking for ways to leverage these > investments for you instead of grumbling in the corner over problems > your > own policies created and you could easily change?". except maybe a > little > nicer. Those who know me well understand I have a bad, bad habit of > telling > the blunt version of the truth when I see it . Obviously I want to > keep my > highest revenue generating client, and want to keep them happy. At the > same > time my tolerance for dealing with idiocy is wearing thin, and quite > frankly, I really don't want to just rip them off by doing projects > that > don't address their real problems just to make more money. Advice > gratefully welcomed and sincerely appreciated as I suspect over time I > will > run into this again and again. > > > > Dave > > > > David Smith > > Systems Administrator > > Doan Family of Dealerships > > (585) 352-6600 ext.1730 > > [email protected] > > www.upstatedigitools.com > > > > This message may contain confidential and/or proprietary information, > and is > intended for the person/entity for whom it was originally addressed. > Any use > by others is strictly prohibited > > > > > > --- StripMime Report -- processed MIME parts --- > multipart/alternative > text/plain (text body -- kept) > text/html > --- > [excessive quoting removed by server] _______________________________________________ Post Messages to: [email protected] Subscription Maintenance: http://leafe.com/mailman/listinfo/profox OT-free version of this list: http://leafe.com/mailman/listinfo/profoxtech Searchable Archive: http://leafe.com/archives/search/profox This message: http://leafe.com/archives/byMID/profox/[email protected] ** All postings, unless explicitly stated otherwise, are the opinions of the author, and do not constitute legal or medical advice. 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