What’s on the iPod: Untitled (Love Song) by Counting Crows
Had a bit of a fractured day yesterday. Had a small string of revisions on the large client project, and that consumed a good bit of the day. Also, it was my daughter’s birthday, so I had to dash out and finish final preparations midday. I cut out early – 4 pm – to wrap gifts and decompress. But then I found myself back at the computer for another hour playing with genealogy.
Over the weekend, I had time to read a few pages of Andrew Carnegie’s book, Business. In it, he tells the story of two friends both hired by the same department store. One friend wasn’t too keen on going out of his way to please customers, and he was always intent on getting ahead at the job and getting a raise. He did so by doing exactly what was expected. Imagine his surprise when the boss gave him a raise, but gave his friend a raise three times higher.
The reason: the other guy did more than what was expected. He focused completely on making the customer happy. And in one case, he demonstrated that to his friend. A customer had come in asking for a particular handkerchief. The friend said they didn’t have it. The other guy nudged his friend and muttered “Third shelf down.”
The manager oversaw it and said “Why don’t you know your goods?” To which the friend said he couldn’t possibly know everything they sold. The manager pointed to the other guy and said, “He does.”
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The story is paraphrased, of course, but the point is this: If you know your goods, you’re already halfway to pleasing your customers.
Think this doesn’t apply to us? You bet it does. Here are ways in which writers can “know their goods”:
Think beyond your skills. I can write and edit. I cannot publish or promote. Still, that doesn’t stop me from having a list of publishers and publicists handy for book manuscript clients. The same goes for writing anything of length for a client. Always recommend another editor go over it for accuracy (we can’t always catch our own mistakes), and have some names handy. Likewise with web designers, graphic artists, etc.
Understand your craft. Fully. This one is an evolving, ongoing process, especially when you’re talking about grammar, citations, or any nuances in the language that change with the times. Know what is colloquial and what isn’t. For example, if you say “My socks need changed” I can pretty much narrow down where you live, and I can tell you you haven’t understood the right verb tense yet. I know. I lived there once and made the same mistakes.
Know the software thoroughly. It took one formatting project for me to get a real education in how much I can do with Word. I still know about 50 percent of its entire functionality, but I keep watching tutorials and picking up tips whenever I can. You can dazzle your clients by knowing some of the simplest commands.
Know how to complete the project you’ve just been given. You don’t have to have done it before, but if you take on say a brochure project, know what goes into making a successful brochure and sales pitch. If you’ve scored a press release gig, know how to create a compelling one that gets all the facts in there. For instance, have you ever used a negative in a release or brochure? Words like “not” or “don’t” are negatives. Anything you’re tempted to say that includes a negative should be re-spun into positive terms.
Learn every day. If you’ve always wanted to be a MS Publisher genius, start. If you want to put some meat into your marketing, read something that helps you improve. If your grammar isn’t up to snuff, study a writing guide book. Don’t think that the skills you have now will be all you’ll ever need. The more you know, the more you can accomplish, and the more your clients will trust you. That in turn will result in more gigs and higher paying work.
How do you know your goods? What can you add to the list?
I've moved away from a practice that I need to start up again. I would make a list of items that I've wanted to know about. Then I would research them and blog about them.
It's a great way to learn new things and have blog material as well. 🙂 Between you & Jenn, your posts help nag, er persuade me, to get back on track. 🙂
Fantastic post, Lori. I would add that it can help to know a little about others' crafts too. For example, if I have a client that needs more of a full-service project, I partner with other contractors to get the job done. Even though I can't explain those other contractors' jobs as well as they do, I am able to share a little about how the whole process works so the client knows we can handle the job. It helps to get caught looking smart!
I have a list of what I call "areas of specialized knowledge" — things I've learned (usually from other projects) that I enjoy, retain information, or know where I put the research. That list is always expanding, because I pitch for jobs that interest me out of my comfort zone and then do the work.
Never be afraid to research. People love to talk about their passions.
Don't be afraid to ask questions. That's how we learn. But before you start asking your client questions, research it on your own first and instead of looking clueless, you'll simply be seeking additional information of clarifications. (Yes, Lori…I learned this one by writing résumés.)