Emily over at Electric Pulp reports that almost 10,000 (9307) people completed the Asshole Client from Hell Exam at yourclientfromhell.com. I suspect that the ACHE is most likely to be completed by people
who are unhappy with their clients, but still, I was shocked to
see a mean score of 14.3 out of a possible 20 among these 9307 people. A score of
a 10 qualifies as a "certified asshole" on the exam; a 16 is a "flaming
certified asshole." So it seems that there are a lot of nasty clients out there.
The ACHE was launched last week on Guy’s blog and here — see Guy’s post for some pretty interesting comments. I thought the most useful was from a fellow who described a "three strikes" process used by well-managed professional services firms:
"Yes, everyone has a bad day now and then so a typical policy is "three
strikes and you’re out". The first results in a note in the client
files unless it was really over the line. The second is reviewed for
action by a principal, likely resulting in some form of query about
what went wrong or what we could do better. The third strike triggers a
regret letter thanking the offender for previous business with an offer
to send the appropriate files to the provider of the aHole’s choice. And word gets around via the grapevine between established firms. One result is that new service providers hanging out their shingle tend to have a higher proportion of these "euthanized" Aholes crossing their thresholds.
A word to the wise – if that day was your bad day, when you realize
that you stepped over the line a sincere apology to the staff member is
worth its weight in gold."
This comment is chock full of good ideas and obervations, both the practice and the associated attitude could be applied in many settings, from retail stores to airlines to law firms. I especially like his word to the wise: All of us are capable of acting like assholes under the wrong conditions, and when we blow it, a quick and sincere apology is often the best solution.
Emily also reports that the spread of the ACHE seems to have sparked renewed interest in the ARSE (Asshole Rating Self-Exam), as there are now over 140,000 completions (142,927), which means that about 8,000 people completed the ARSE in first week or so that the ACHE was out.
Again, if you have any stories about clients from hell or, better yet, tips about how to deal with them, please send in a comment or email me.
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