Say you had some home fix-it project that you hired someone to take care of, because you’ve just got too much going on. You’re thinking, he’ll show up, get the details, and then he’ll go to work. You’ll go back to your to-do list until an hour or so later, when he calls to you up the stairs and lets you know he’s done. Write the check. Finito.
If instead, he kept calling you down time after time with more questions, or asking to borrow tools, or chatting about his operation, or his wife’s shopping habits, or the last episode of American Idol, there’d come a point where you’d say to yourself, (all together now…): F’cryin’ out loud, I’d have been better off doing it myself.
Did an encore plenary speech appearance at the Washington Independent Writers annual conference this past June. The theme of my talk was “Creating a Memorable Box.” Given that human beings like to put things in boxes as a way of quantifying the world around them, the more we can make ourselves memorable to our clients, the more success we’ll have. I defined “creating a memorable box” in this way:
Make what you bring to the professional table a “predictably enjoyable and rewarding experience” for your clients and you’ll find a receptive and returning audience.
One of the memorable boxes I discussed was being forgettable. I do case studies for a large manufacturing company in Atlanta. I get a few grand to do a 1500-word story that takes me maybe 12-15 hours to do. They never question my fees. Why? Because after they give me the parameters in an email, I ask a few questions and then I’m gone – until it’s due. No endless phone calls or emails.
They go back to doing their jobs – which is how it’s supposed to work – and forget aaaaaall about me until the finished product shows up in their email box – ready for prime time. For any writer in any arena, reliability, dependability and yes, “forgetability” are solid gold boxes to be put in.
(NOTE: Not surprisingly, this is a company with money – which is key. When money isn’t a big issue for a company, but bottom line profitability and competitive edge ARE, the work HAS to be done right. As such, the desire for reliable, predictable competence will always trump cost.)
While the following idea should be a “well, duh…,” we all know how that sometimes goes. Here’s it is: A company will hire a writer because they don’t have the skills, time or both to handle it in-house. The whole point of hiring that writer is to create less, not more work for themselves.
After they meet with you once, and give you the scoop on the project, your goal should be to vanish from their minds, gloriously freeing them up to do their jobs. Sure, every job is different, and some involve more client contact, but no matter the situation, the extent to which you operate autonomously is the extent to which you will create that predictably enjoyable and rewarding experience that will keep clients coming back.
How important is it to your clients that you’re forgettable?
What strategies do you employ for being forgettable for your clients?
What lessons has being forgettable taught you?
Totally agree, Peter, that we generally should remain as invisible as the artistry that turns concepts into creativity. Our corporate contacts should see no writer, hear no writer and speak to no writer more than once between assignment and delivery, ideally.
Though ‘strategies’ seems overblown for the common-sense approach you also embrace, a fair question deserves a constructive try:
1) I do whatever it takes to resolve or work around snags, minor changes or other issues that I’m confident — based on a client relationship and my judgment — won’t blow back. This means not messaging/calling about delayed interviews or tough-to-reach contacts, additional angles/info or ideas for slightly refining a discussed approach. Just do it. (Clearly, major course corrections or chronically unreachable sources may require consultantion.)
2) When research or brainstorms bring good news, it also can wait. Just ’cause we can’t high-five a cubicle-mate doesn’t mean we can tell a client about shagging great quotes, finding The Perfect Source, spotting another point of distinction or moving ahead of schedule for early delivery. Just do it.
3) Harking back to our recent discussion here about post-delivery silence, that’s also a time I keep mum to stay ‘forgettable.’ If the e-mail didn’t bounce back, I assume it was received. If it wasn’t, I’ll hear. Invoice goes after a week, attached to the full project message thread. That often shakes loose an acknowledgment. Even if not, a check always appears two to four weeks later. . . and, ta-da, so do other assignments when the need arises.
That said, I do make awareness contacts occasionally to avoid being too invisible for too long between projects. Tools include:
* Brief notes commenting on blog posts (by client or on industry site)
* Forwarding links with brief heads-ups about articles or white papers of likely interest
* Sharing a resource that may be useful
My guidepost for contacts, during projects or between, is to ask: “Does this add value?”
I suggest that quick trick before you click Send.
To play devil’s advocate on this one: I had a client who hated it when people would take the project away and disappear. He was one of these guys who loved having his own little empire comprised of staff subordinates, consultants, ad agency people and anyone else constantly chatting him up and shooting the bull. My tendency was to work on my projects with no fanfare (except for turning in good work at the end). But he was really irritated that I didn’t schmooze like the other hot-shot consultants around him (and he would tell me exactly who they were and how great they were schmoozing him, taking him to lunch, golfing, etc.). He interpreted not schmoozing as “not caring/not being curious about his business/not being passionate,” and he would play a very blatant game of favorites by shifting work from one agency to another if he had the slightest irritation with someone. Obviously, we were players in this guy’s strange psycho-drama, and it would be nice to tell him we didn’t want his business but the fact is his business was worth a fortune — he could literally make or break a few ad agencies, since he controlled a huge communications budget, and this is in a very small geographic area where he was a massive fish in a small pond.
I just wanted to give that perspective. This client is not the only one who has urged me to “just pick up the phone.” So now I try, during the course of writing, to send a few brief emails or phone calls to the client to ask very specific questions. It’s partly information-gathering and partly to let them know I’m diligently working on their project and that their project is very important to me.
It depends on the client. Some clients want to get regular updates. As you mentioned, the bigger, more corporate clients generally don’t.
It’s also a sharp contrast to the work I do in fiction and theatre, where you need to be as memorable as possible so they keep hiring you.
I prefer to get the parameters and go off and do the project without interruption (heck, I only check phone messages twice a day — when I’m working the phone is OFF –I don’t accept jobs where the client states I have to be available by phone or IM during particular hours unless there’s a huge hourly rate for those hours), but I’ve learned to be read clients better and be more flexible as to their comfort level.
As in working backstage in theatre, a good portion of the job is psychological, not physical.
Thanks Rick and Devon,
SO happy I don’t have to deal with egomaniacs like the one you describe Rick. But, yes, I know they exist, and in an agency setting, it’s harder to turn away cash cow clients than it is for a freelancer, who has more discretion to decide what and what NOT to deal with.
And good suggestion, Devon, to turn off phones during the day (and email, too)…
PB
Hi Peter,
A few good comments here — I think the bottom line is that the writer needs to make the process as easy as possible for the client. In your case, they appreciate the fact that they take 10 minutes to email you an assignment and then simply review the finished product. As Rick mentioned, other clients like to be kept “in the loop” throughout the process.
The other thing I would mention is that there will be a learning curve with any new client. I’ve been tempted to “guess” what the client wants instead of asking (to avoid the risk of “bugging” the client). But in most cases, I think it is more important to get it right.
My rule of thumb (if they are the “want to be left alone” type): don’t bog your client down with frivolous questions or questions you can find the answers out yourself by doing a bit of Internet research. But if it is a “make or break” situation, get the *right* answer even if it means a quick phone call or email to your client.
~Graham
Peter,
Generally, I agree with you, but I must make two distinctions. If it’s a new client, or event a brand new project from a current client, I often can’t get by with asking “just a few questions” at the beginning. In fact, I just added to the creative brief questionaire I use. Maybe I’m lucky, but so far, no one has complained about it. If they ever do, I know what I’ll say: “I don’t mean to take up much of your time, but the more information I get now, the less you’ll hear from me until the project is due.”
Also, when I’m working on a project, I do find it’s helpful to give my client occasional progress updates. They appreciate it, and it’s also a subliminal way of keeping me in the loo. In a perfect world, I’d be notified immediately of project changes, but it doesn’t always happen that way. Several times, a client has responded to one of my “progress” e-mails by saying “Oh, by the way…blah, blah, blah.” If I’m going to get an “Oh, by the way,” I’d rather NOT get it right before the due date.
So, bottom line, I’d say being “forgettable” is a plus, but I’d caution against being too “invisible.”
Though I’m painfully well-acquainted with humorous typos such as one ^ by the other Alan, I still can’t resist saying I also feel at times that assignments are bloody well “keeping me in the loo.”
ARGH! Sorry – the margins were kind of funky on my computer. Of course, I meant “loop.”
@Alan – LOL, I was trying to figure that out. First, I was wondering if perhaps you were physically sick with the pressure. Then I was wondering why you were using US spellings in your comment, but referring to the loo… It was all very confusing — but now you’ve cleared it up I’ve certainly had my daily chuckle! Thanks!
~Graham
What a difference a “p” makes… 😉 Couldn’t resist…
Great stuff everyone. Guess I’ve been fortunate to have clients that want me to disappear so they can get back to their to-do list. But, viewed another way, you could call them low-maintenance clients, who don’t need constant updates. Not that folks like that are by definition, total pains to work with, but if you realie that you’ve got one (or you get the impression in an initial meeting that they WILL be that way, factor some extra “hand-holding” time into your bids.
PB
It all depends on the client. Most of my clients like the fact that they can run their day to day business without worrying about whether or not a writing/marketing/design project will be done well and submitted on time.
Then there are a few clients who like to be involved with project updates. It gives them a sense of security. The ones who need updates are usually the ones who have been “burned” by writers and designers in the past who haven’t met deadlines and who turn in poor quality work.
So, I guess you could say being “forgettable” makes you “unforgettable”. Hm-m-m, I believe there is a song by that name by Nat King Cole. Is it time to start singing?!
Take care and have a great 4th of July!!!
I definitely prefer to keep communication with a client only confined to work-related phone calls or emails. Once, a meeting was scheduled for 3 pm. When I reached the client’s office, I found out that the meeting could not be held because the client was sick. Was it necessary for me to confirm? Or, is it for them to call and say that it is off? I’d really like to know this. I was told that the whole world confirms. Was it necessary for me to call and say that I was coming, etc.?
Nita,
It’s never a bad idea to confirm, especially if you set the meeting 3+ days earlier. But in this case, the burden to notify you of a canceled meeting was definitely on them. That’s just unprofessional, and in my world, communicates, “Our schedule and lives are more important than yours.” Sure, it may have fallen through the cracks, but that’s no excuse. If your contact was sick, presumably yours wasn’t the only prior engagement that was canceled. Did his office not call all other appointments, as well?
PB
Nita,
With your situation, I would say someone there DEFINITELY should have called you. In
any case, I hope you bill them for your time that day. I definitely would.
Some clients need reassurance and progress reports and others have a fit if you ask them a question and say, “This is why I hired you. I should not have to do your job.” It varies…
I must say that one thing I really enjoy is working for ongoing clients. In the beginning, there may be several conversations to understand the details of the project and the tone of the client, but as time goes on, I find we need very little communication to get the job done. Of course, the project details are critical, but I find that understanding the client’s tone and personality a bit allows me to be unforgettably forgettable!
Thanks, Pete, for another thought provoking post!
I’m in agreement with those who say it depends on the client. Of course a large cororation that isn’t so concerned about money prefers you become “invisible” and just get it all done by the negotiated deadline. But if you happen to have a small or medium business as a client they may require a bit more communication in terms of progress reports – some may call it “hand-holding.”
Personally I prefer to become invisibile and just do what I do, but I make adjustments according to my client’s needs.
Feeling snarky today…
https://zefrank.com/punc/
Yes, bad attitude–you don’t have to put it on your site…
Peter,
This is a great topic. The current CEO of the hospital I work for (day job) was recruited from a High-End hotel. He is remaking our work and interactions with customers based upon his model of a “customer experience.” Sounds very similar to your points. This mindset carries from a 1 person consulting gig to 1,700 person hospital team.
Leaving the customer with a favorable and “memorable” experience is a MUST!
Thanks Tom,
And there are a lot of ways to screw it up and many writers try them all! 😉
PB