I was speaking last week with a very busy Design Company - we were talking about 'client relationships' and how they 'felt differently' recently.

What used to be very calm, professional but still demanding clients were turning into the 'clients from hell'. We've all experienced them...

Now, of course this may have been a factor of overtrading, or of client fatigue, maybe the design company just weren't cutting the mustard in terms of servicing - but in our conversation we came up with another possible scenario.

Perhaps the clients were stressed out. The individuals involved were seeing the value of their houses/flats drop (perhaps for the first time), interest rates are on the up, jobs cuts are looming and debt looks less manageable.

Are clients more stressed than say 12 months ago?

Are you seeing client relationships suffer through no fault in your control?