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Dealing with Difficult Art Customers
Dealing with difficult art customers can make you want to ditch art and find a regular, boring job. Let’s face it, some people can just be nasty, unpleasant people. These folks make you want to just return their money and cut your losses on the time and materials you used.
So, how do you deal with them, if not avoid the situation altogether?
The number one tip is to be very clear right up front.
Communication is key. This can take the form of a contract where you list your price, the materials you’ll use, the size of the finished piece, what you expect of them (reference photos, payments, etc.), the number of revisions covered by the original price and how much each additional revision will cost. You can include a brief description of what the final piece will look like.
This form should also indicate the amount of the deposit. I usually ask for 50% of the total cost. If the customer asks why they need to put a deposit down, that’s actually the first red flag. But you can honestly tell them a number of things, such as, it’s to hold their place in line (if you have other customers). You can also say that it’s to cover the cost of the materials you’ll need to purchase in order to create their artwork. You can state that they’ll get the full deposit back as long as you…
