What’s on the iPod: Radioactive by Imagine Dragons
I shouldn’t be surprised that my forearms are hurting. I spent seven hours this weekend in the garden, trimming the marjoram into submission, losing the onion grass (and all those buried nodules), buttercups 9and their nodules), vetch (and those miles of roots), and moving sedum, daisies, coreopsis, coneflower, you name it. I even found a baby plume poppy. Cool. But the marjoram bit me –last year’s stems scratched my forearms like kitten scratches. Every time I rested my forearms on my keyboard tray, I remembered the marjoram. Maybe that’s its revenge for the haircut I gave it.
The garden tells me what it wants to look like every year. I’ve learned to let the plants direct me. The strongest ones determine where the others will be grouped. Each year, the view from the kitchen window shifts as the plants move into new places and show me where “home” is for them. I kind of love that.
I had a client interaction in which I was educating the client in an unfamiliar-to-them process. Sometimes that’s just part of the job. In this case, I gave the client all the facts and stepped back. Their decision to hire me has to be based on knowing all there is to know about what they’re attempting to do. I suspect I’ll get the job at some point, but only after they’ve reconciled internally what to do with this new information.
There will be projects that surprise and clients who don’t always know what is entailed in seeing the project through to the end. That’s where we come in. I think the best salesperson is the one who becomes the partner, the trusted consultant (paid, of course) who helps the client understand (without condescension) how to navigate these little mysteries. They’re also a great way to secure more business by gaining that trust. Here are four examples of teaching moments:
Learning social media. For every one client who has harnessed social media there are at least five who haven’t. Gain your client’s confidence by showing them what they’re dying to know but are afraid to ask. Put together a newsletter or client info sheet that explains one or more social media tools. Then follow up with a conversation to clear up any questions privately.
Building the writer/client working relationship. I used to get so many questions about “How do I get my book published” that I wrote a primer for new ghostwriting clients explaining what was included (and not included) in our working relationship. You can very easily tell clients without being combative that publishing is not within your scope of work. I did, and I gave them definitions of each type of publishing option so they were better informed on their choices.
The same goes for any project with a new client. It’s a good idea — and a great way to ease your clients into the project — to give clients a “What to expect next” document outlining your process, deadlines, their deadlines, and how you’ll work best together. It’s a great chance to stress teamwork.
Conveying your expertise. Show them how much you know by extending beyond the project and into those new-to-them areas. For example, I gave my newest client a primer on how publishing and reprint rights would affect their projects. They didn’t know because publishing is not their industry. That information saved them tons of money later when they would have inadvertently breached copyright laws had they printed out “their” article verbatim without publisher permission. They didn’t know, nor should they have. They do now, and they’re smarter for it.
Delivering comprehensive proposals. Your proposal doesn’t just outline the work ahead of you — it also helps your clients see gaps in their own expertise, and it’s a chance for them to discover the answers on their own or come back to you for guidance, changes, etc. It also teaches them how professional writers approach projects, removing the doubt or any notion of low-balling your fee.
Writers, what teaching moments have you had with your clients?
I had a few clients who started business blogs that thought it was perfectly okay to copy entire articles and slap them on their blog as long as they gave credit to the source.
I don't think I ever convinced one of those clients that she had faulty thinking (despite all the evidence I gave her to the contrary), but I gave it my best shot. The other clients changed the way they handled it.
That's definitely a teaching moment, Cathy. You did what you could–in the end, they're responsible for covering their own arses.
Excellent information, Lori. A lot to learn about how to communicate with a potential client about a project.