50 episodes

Tales from those on the front lines of dealing with clients. Tales of difficult clients, complex situations, relationship management - and how massive client management problems were solved, and what they learned. Largely those running agencies, but all across different professional services.

Client Horror Stories Client Horror Stories

    • Business
    • 5.0 • 1 Rating

Tales from those on the front lines of dealing with clients. Tales of difficult clients, complex situations, relationship management - and how massive client management problems were solved, and what they learned. Largely those running agencies, but all across different professional services.

    • video
    That time when you’ve already spent $5 million only to be told they couldn’t commit (with Brandon Kirkpatrick)

    That time when you’ve already spent $5 million only to be told they couldn’t commit (with Brandon Kirkpatrick)

    Have you ever tried waiting for a prospective client to make up their minds? If you're currently doing that and your patience is wearing thin, listen to this unique episode right now.
    Welcome to another Client Horror Story with Brandon Kirkpatrick, CEO of Catalyst Consultant Group. This autonomous drone startup has just had a welcome to the world and had a chance encounter with a potential client during a motorcycle ride. Bizarre, right? Well, they got to talking and realized the potential client needed the exact services they offer.
    Hands were shaken and prototypes had already been built, but it was only until 2 years in and $5 million later that they got blindsided in the deal. It turns out there were things they didn’t know about. Of course, we’re not going to spill the whole story here, but one thing’s for sure – the story is about to take a turn for the worst.
    Tune in to learn more about Brandon’s client horror story!
     
    Morgan Friedman
    Brandon's Website
    Brandon's Linkedin

    • 44 min
    • video
    That time when you’re trying to complete a massage only to be met with someone expecting you to do special services (with Suzy Hardy)

    That time when you’re trying to complete a massage only to be met with someone expecting you to do special services (with Suzy Hardy)

    Imagine going to Los Angeles to follow your dreams of becoming an actress – all these setbacks and challenges seemingly going on forever, and just when you thought you’re about to have a big break, it all comes crashing down. In this episode, we’re speaking with Suzy Hardy, a certified stress management and anxiety coach, and discuss her client horror story from a decade ago.
    We’d want to say that since events of the past occurred years back, it would give us a wider berth or bigger perspective to think things through, but no – in this case, it was just an absolute shock to the system. When Suzy transferred to Los Angeles and graduated from massage school, while pursuing her acting career, she was introduced to a Russian agency backer who, after learning of her massage services, scheduled an appointment with her. During the course of the treatment, her Russian customer started giving some signals. If you thought a man putting his hands behind his head was sexy in books, in real life it’s definitely a red flag, especially during these professional services.
    There’s more to the story, but you’ll have to tune in first. Watch the episode to learn more about how Suzy got out of this unbelievably scary situation and what she learned thereafter! 
     
    psychopath on the street? In today’s episode, Robert Indries, owner of a group of 8 companies generating 7-figures yearly, shares his biggest mistake of hiring a high-functioning psychopath in his portfolio.
    High growth comes with high responsibility, and eventually, Robert decided to take the networking reins to further expand his ever-growing company. To make sure he can concentrate on this task, he hired several executives who could, in theory, take over what he usually does. As a result of Robert’s additional networking efforts, his portfolio has managed to take in more clients and earn more money, but Robert noticed various issues on the service delivery side. Why?
    He dug deeper and talked to multiple individuals and was eventually led to a single personality – one of those “leaders” he hired to allow him to focus on networking. This guy derailed the company in every possible way, whilst making Robert think twice about his own leadership… How?
    He was being ingeniously spoken to with the goal of further confusing him. What’s worse is that not only were his clients being wronged by this person – they were also stealing Robert’s prospects and current employees!
    Crazy? More like psycho! Press the play button and listen to the rest of the story. Uncover more of Robert’s challenges, and learn how he retook control and turned his portfolio back around.
     
    Morgan Friedman
    Suzy's Website

    • 43 min
    • video
    That time when you accidentally hire a psychopath who derails your business (with Robert Indries)

    That time when you accidentally hire a psychopath who derails your business (with Robert Indries)

    Do you ever wonder whether you’ve accidentally crossed paths with a psychopath on the street? In today’s episode, Robert Indries, owner of a group of 8 companies generating 7-figures yearly, shares his biggest mistake of hiring a high-functioning psychopath in his portfolio.
    High growth comes with high responsibility, and eventually, Robert decided to take the networking reins to further expand his ever-growing company. To make sure he can concentrate on this task, he hired several executives who could, in theory, take over what he usually does. As a result of Robert’s additional networking efforts, his portfolio has managed to take in more clients and earn more money, but Robert noticed various issues on the service delivery side. Why?
    He dug deeper and talked to multiple individuals and was eventually led to a single personality – one of those “leaders” he hired to allow him to focus on networking. This guy derailed the company in every possible way, whilst making Robert think twice about his own leadership… How?
    He was being ingeniously spoken to with the goal of further confusing him. What’s worse is that not only were his clients being wronged by this person – they were also stealing Robert’s prospects and current employees!
    Crazy? More like psycho! Press the play button and listen to the rest of the story. Uncover more of Robert’s challenges, and learn how he retook control and turned his portfolio back around.
     
    Morgan Friedman
    Robert's Website
    Robert's Linkedin
    Robert's Facebook
    Robert's Twitter
    Robert's Instagram

    • 54 min
    • video
    That time when you expected a fully formatted book for publication but ended up receiving a PPT presentation instead (with Lynita Mitchell-Blackwell)

    That time when you expected a fully formatted book for publication but ended up receiving a PPT presentation instead (with Lynita Mitchell-Blackwell)

    Dive into the engaging and insightful world of Lynita Mitchell-Blackwell, Esq., now an Intuitive Business Coach at Leading Through Living Community LLC. Lynita, once a champion of publishing, navigated the exciting realm of helping authors share their stories with the world.
    Here's a fun twist: a close friend of Lynita's needed help publishing a book. With a generous spirit and a knack for problem-solving, Lynita eagerly stepped up to the challenge. She shares a humorous and all-too-real insight in the podcast: "Lawyers make the worst clients." It turns out, she humorously overlooked switching from friend mode to client mode, skipping the formalities of a contract.
    The story takes a quirky turn when Lynita, expecting a manuscript, receives a PowerPoint presentation instead—her friend had composed the entire story on a phone! Unperturbed, Lynita adapts like a pro, transferring the content to a laptop for better accessibility. But there's a catch: the text is a labyrinth of incomplete sentences.
    Pushed to her limits but still maintaining her poise, Lynita's tale unfolds with a blend of laughter and learning. The full story, rich with more twists and sage advice about maintaining professional boundaries with friends and family, awaits. Get ready for an enjoyable and enlightening experience that blends professionalism with a touch of fun—this is a client horror story you wouldn’t want to miss!
     
    Morgan Friedman
    Lynita's Website
    Lynita's Linkedin
    Lynita's Facebook
    Lynita's Twitter
    Lynita's Instagram
     

    • 39 min
    • video
    That time when the boss used us as training troops to drop his telephone sales bombshell (with Catherine Llewellyn)

    That time when the boss used us as training troops to drop his telephone sales bombshell (with Catherine Llewellyn)

    Listen in as we speak with Being Space's Founder, Catherine Llewellyn, and discuss her greatest client horror story. In this episode, Catherine discusses disappointing traits and tactics of business executives that may prompt even loyal employees to resign.
    During the 1980s, Catherine traveled the countryside as a trainer with her team. They were distinct from the sales team. The sales team would acquire clients, close deals, and contracts, and then brief Catherine's training team to execute the training.
    They were assigned to conduct a two-day telephone sales training for a travel agency. Upon arrival, they were met with a derelict training room with walls full of plaster and a dusty, filthy floor – which they spent hours cleaning! Worse, upon the arrival of the participants, their faces were slack and utterly unhappy because (surprise!) they don’t perform telephone sales in their line of work. 
    It gets even worse as when they tried contacting the primary client, he was on holiday. It turns out that this client just didn’t want to be there for his employees’ reaction to letting them take telephone sales training. There just wasn’t any hope of breaking it to them gently. They were going to be handling telephone sales upon return, but Catherine’s team had to be the ones to give the news.
    You are in for a treat with this episode full of surprising twists and valuable lessons. Get ready to explore what it takes to thrive in the business world and learn from both successes and challenges.
     
    Morgan Friedman
    Being Space
    Catherine's Linkedin
    Catherine's Facebook

    • 51 min
    • video
    That time when you just want to complete a project but cultural differences get in the way so you end up abandoning the project halfway through (with Colin Duff)

    That time when you just want to complete a project but cultural differences get in the way so you end up abandoning the project halfway through (with Colin Duff)

    In this episode, we have the privilege of hearing from Colin Duff, the CEO of Mosaic Innovation. He shares with us an unprecedented client horror story that sheds light on the challenges of managing a diverse team of individuals. It's evident that this is no easy task. 
    Colin worked with a big hardware company that suddenly decided to become a digital company, something they knew totally nothing about. This project ran for 9 months, and a lot of individuals and experts were hired left and right to complete the project successfully.
    Naturally, we all want to work as a team, but one project manager didn’t want to accept any help and went on his merry way only to have outputs that just weren’t done right. To make things worse, during meetings, they couldn’t decide on anything that would give them something to continue because of so many cultural differences. Some say, “In Germany, this is the least priority,” “In India, this is how we do it,” and the list goes on.
    Frustrating, isn’t it? Well, there's more to the story. In this episode, Colin takes control of the situation, and you won't want to miss how he did it. The lessons he learned are valuable and definitely worth your time. Tune in to discover more.
     
    Morgan Friedman
    Colin's Company Website
    Colin's Linkedin
    Colin's Facebook

    • 1 hr

Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5
1 Rating

1 Rating

OfficialAnika ,

Great interview style and lessons for every service provider!

Morgan has a fun interview style. I like that he uses “client horror stories” to share things we all experience as marketing and communications professionals, and give actionable lessons and red flags to pay attention to when working with - or thinking about working with - clients.

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