Twelve Days Is All It Took.

A quick disclaimer before I share this story: I have not now nor have I ever asked “is your spouse a psycho a-hole” as a preliminary question before accepting a client.

Now that we got that out of the way let's continue...

Just 12 days!

Yep, that was the length of time this particular client went from signing up with our services to being fired and told to never contact us again.

Oh, it started out great.

No red flags.

Nothing that would indicate this client was off-kilter.

In my initial consultation call I spoke with the client for about 45 minutes, she explained that she wasn't happy with her previous marketer. And since we came highly recommended she wanted us to do whatever was necessary to increase her company's presence in the marketplace.

So I created a plan.

Submitted it.

Got the clients approval.

She paid upfront.

Her social media engagement was dismal at best so we tackled that first. The first six days of posts engagement took off. Then it happened.

I got a chat message...

"Hi, I'm not happy with the direction you are taking with the social media. I wasn't informed that you were hired and I think before you proceed you should contact me to discuss."

That message didn't come from the client.

It came from the client's husband who didn't even work for the company.

So I called the client to explain the message. She informed me that it was her husband that happened to be the person doing the previous marketing. And he wasn't a marketer nor did he understand marketing and I was to ignore him.

After 5 days, there was now more engagement on their business Facebook page than the previous 2 months. Then I got an email.

Yup, it was the husband again.

He was demanding I contact him.

I ignored it.

Then 6 hours later another email. Followed by another one an hour later. So I respond...

"I was not hired by you. You don't even work for the company. I have no obligation to respond to any message you send me. So stop contacting me."

Well apparently that must have set him off and an hour later I received a voice call from the client asking me to politely work with her husband and to make changes to the marketing. "With all due respect", I said... "your husband's an a-hole."

And he happened to be listening in.

To which he started screaming.

So I hung up.

Then he went in and removed all the posts we had scheduled on the clients facebook page for the rest of the month (even though it was getting great engagement and driving traffic).

That's when I contacted the client and told her I was firing her.

Well, that happened a year ago. I don't know if it was the marriage or Covid or something else...but that former client is no longer in operation.

What do you think? Should I ask that question from now on?

About Rob

Rob is affectionately known as “Mr Sarcasm” to his friends - to everyone else he’s a Certified Digital Marketing Strategist, a Foremost Expert On Specialized SEO, a Best Selling Author, Podcaster, Speaker and Authority Broadcaster who can help amplify YOU to your audience.

Rob has authored, coauthored or produced over 30 books covering social media, search engine optimization, podcasting, copywriting, personal injury law, weight loss, military law, life lessons, scams, customer service and more. His book clients include lawyers, speakers, doctors, real estate professionals and more.

Rob is also host of The E-Heroes Interview Series available on Apple, Amazon, Google Play, Stitcher, Spotify & many other podcast channels. Rob works inside corporations across the globe, helping companies generate new revenue and capture online business. Rob is also available to share talks and give interviews.

To learn more and to get started visit www.AnspachMedia.com or call Anspach Media at (412)267-7224 today.