This is a good article that many would call &quot;Customer Service 101.&quot; The author seemed to have been weak in that area. Good the author realized how important it is to overall earnings.<p>On blogs or whatever, I can be pretty blunt and harsh. With my customers, I walk a tight rope between being aggressive and being gentle almost always moderate. I&#x27;m quick to concede something to customer if the overall value proposition is still good for long-term or it&#x27;s a little thing that can&#x27;t hurt my image. Past that, I might try to shift blame from them or I to the circumstances of the situation while portraying us as a team handling it. Pissing them off is the last thing you want to do, though, given long-term is more important.<p>Author either skimmed over or didn&#x27;t mention two things, though. One is that customers often talk to other potential customers. Even those you &quot;fire&quot; you should separate from on good terms or not too harshly if possible. They can spread word fast through other clients who are then more likely to turn down contracts.<p>The other issue is the clients asking too much: many do it on purpose. There&#x27;s so many hustlers out there who play proper capitalist by always getting as much as possible while giving as little as possible. So, you need to determine ahead of time what&#x27;s your willing to commit to, possible extras, possible compromises, and absolute upper-bounds for any given job&#x2F;client. Then, stick to it and politely if people are pushing it too much. Give those types an inch, they&#x27;ll take a mile: you go from profitable, independent consultant to many to practically under-paid employee of one.<p>Things to remember.