Clients Loyalty
This article, about clients loyalty, or lack of it, posted by reader rambo2 in answer to our article of ours.
First Client
What I DO recall, though, in the last downturn, was being given an ultimatum by my banking client.
After 12 months of loyal service, no holidays, 7.45 am starts, 120 miles a day traveling, on site before any of the local staff, timely delivery and no time off, I was told that I had a choice – take a 25% cut in rate or finish at the end of the month, which was two months before end of contract which, apparently, wasn’t worth a toss under the circumstances.
It wasn’t just me, mind you, it was all of us, so nothing personal.
It taught me a thing or two about loyalty. The only people I am loyal to these days are friends and family.
Second Client
Then there was the urgent requirement for a C# coder to meet a very tight deadline.
First day they gave me the spec, templates and data. Second day, morning, I pointed out the design faults – basically the dropdown menu texts were 300 characters long and wouldn‘t fit on the screen.
A bit fundamental, don’t you think?
Still, it needed a rethink.
Second Day at Work
Second day, afternoon, I was told that they didn’t think my skill set was up to their requirements and that I shouldn’t come back the next day.
The reality was, of course, that the fundamental flaws in their design meant that they were going to fail their target so no need for the external resource anymore.
Rather than give me a week’s notice they chose to shaft me by claiming that I wasn’t up to scratch.
Cheap Trainer
I have also had dodgy clients who take you on in order to gain cheap training for their permie staff.
I fell for that one once in my novice days but would never do it again.
So, from the contractor’s viewpoint, most clients out there treat you as a ‘human resource’ and nothing else.
So why should I be anything other than that?
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