In our sixth take at Client Horror Stories, we have FM Byers, CEO and Founder of SM Digital Partners telling us a tale that involves drama, diversity, round tables, and maybe too much ambition.
Our story begins with a random meeting on a cruise that soon would be followed by a two-year-long back and forth that included everything (from product developments, translators, many flight tickets, and even elementary-school children) except an actual written contract or agreement.
FM’s tale tells us everything we need to know on how to handle cross-cultural clients, take risks, explore our patients, and realizing that sometimes it’s just time to go. This story gives us a lesson or two on how to be genuine and create real value, and just take a moment to come to a conclusion: Maybe people just won’t get it, and maybe our ideas work, but the timing just wasn’t right.
Links:
FM Byers
SM Digital Partners
Morgan Friedman
Literacy quotes:
“This is the way the world ends, not with a bang but a whimper.” - T. S. Eliot
That time when the web guy suddenly went MIA because he’s going through an existential crisis (with Timi Orosz)
That time when you were too nice to a client so a 15-page website snowballed into a 150 + page one (with Ari Krzyzek)
That time your client complained about your slow response time, a week after you met him in the hospital during your radiotherapy (with Rachel Brenke)
That time when you worked for a client in the funeral business and ended up being ghosted yourself (with Liz Wilcox)
That time you were hired to remotely create a Shopify store, yet ended up setting up your client’s store, in a mall, at midnight (with Nick Janetakis)
That time your client who was too good to be true was, in fact, too good to be true (with Dimitri Constantine)
That time getting “comfortable with uncomfortable conversations” was the key to managing your startup (with Kison Patel)
That time your client threatened to fire you if you didn’t deliver a surprise demo, months before the due date (with Andrew Kemendo)
That time your cowboy mounted shooting client ripped his tax return in half in front of you (with Liz Farr)
That time your inexperienced client turned into an influencer sommelier in less than 2 months (with Rick Schirmer)
That time you had to develop two apps a day, every day, for a 19-years-old boss (with Ben Nuttall)
That time you poured your heart into your moonshot, but ended up burning down 3 acres of Stanford University (with Mark Jacobsen)
That time your teenage idol hired you to manage their show, then makes you learn not to meet your heroes the hard way (with James Hush)
That time your company had you working 36 hours straight, then took away your bonus (with Violet Femm)
That time your offhand joke became the embarring headline in the press (with Scott Kveton)
That time your wonderful client was growing fast and doing great, then mysteriously shuts down overnight (with Bonnie Rothman)
That time your client believed that advertising was a magic solution, but still micromanaged the magician (with Collin Slattery)
That time your mentor gifted you his house in his will, but removed you from it when you asked him for the money he owed you (with Will Rico)
That time your agency was hired only to prevent the partner who hired you from getting fired (with Anthony Highman)
That time your boss cared only about spending the client’s whole ad budget (with Rachel Smith)
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