This week Frankie Tortora and Steve Folland have a chat in response to a question from Detective Mel Horn, AKA Anonymous. They say:

“How do you cope with "Client Ick"?  Like that physical cringe you experience when you see someone you snogged at a staff party years ago but this time, it’s because your client is calling you and you secretly hate them.

Clients are good. Clients pay the bills. I should love that I have this client. Times are hard and I shouldn’t be ungrateful — after all I worked hard to get them in the first place.

But the honeymoon period of this client has died a death. My dilemma is that despite being a nice (but very insecure) person, as a client they are a royal pain in the bum. Which is fine when you are being paid for the service but right now we are in limbo between projects, so I’m officially off the books.

It’s a culmination of lots of little things that have started to grate on me. But after months of working with them and recently having  some issues with bill payments, I now see their name appear on my phone or receive an email and I want to hit the gin (before responding in a professional manner, obviously!).

I hate that they annoy me (I need them!) and hate that they suck my time even when I’m not charging for it (look at me writing to you about them right now!)

Should I just accept that our relationship is tainted, move on and hope that a better client comes along? Is this the end?? Or am I just being a dick, battered after a year of sodding covid draining all my patience and humility."

What would your advice be? Let us know your thoughts using #DIFTKpodcast on Twitter and Instagram, and join in the conversation via the DIFTK Community on Facebook.

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