Devoted to branding and building and protecting brands

People are asking me if yesterday's post might have been a cryptic venting of frustration stemming from a recent experience.  In the interest of full disclosure, hell yes it was. Nobody likes to turn away business, especially in slow times.  But if there is something infinitely worse than slack bizz, or even no bizz, it's bad bizz. In this category: people who not only don't know what they don't know about what they're doing, but get all huffy when you try, ever so gently, to inform them. Rarely does this scenario play out to a happy ending.  In the likeliest outcome,  you're left holding the (empty) bag after being abruptly fired for failing to perform. Which is a euphemism for failing to deliver the impossible under impossible circumstances.  So, in the interest of charting a course through the shoals of Clients from Hell, beware of the following:

- A blank stare in response to the question, "what problem does your product solve and who has it?"

- A rambling, indecipherable, pointless, answer to the same question above. 

-  An answer of "We have none" to the question: "Who are your competitors?"  This naieve, bone-headed response is a warning on two levels.  The respondent is either an idiot or there is no market. Likely both. 

-  Shakey, or non-existent, finances.  Get them to show you the money. If they can't or won't, fuggeddaboudit.  

- Management that's never before done anything even remotely connected to what they are purportedly doing now.

-  Management that's light on specific experience in the business it's now in.

-  Anything you deem troublesome or even slightly unrealistic in their answer to the question, "What are you expecting to accomplish in the next year?"  Or, "What do you expect us to accomplish on your behalf?"

Good sailing.