When clients are wrong. Why (and how) to say no to a client.
Controversial? Maybe, but there, I’ve said it out loud now.
The client isn’t always right.
Sometimes they come to us with an idea that they think sounds great. Sometimes they make dud calls. And I have never been one to go along with it, nod my head understandingly and go, ‘Sure, of course you could do that. That’s a great idea!’ while actually thinking ‘Heck, no. PLEASE don’t say you want us to do that…’
There’s a caveat here. This is nothing against clients. Heck, these guys are the LIFEBLOOD of small business. And the ridiculously talented people I get to work with are 100% experts in their areas of genius. They seriously know their stuff. I could NEVER run their businesses or understand the intricacies of what they do on a daily basis.
And yet when it comes to marketing strategy or content writing, web development or logo and branding design, they employ US. Like, they picked us. Out of all the marketers in all of the cities in all of the world, they approached us and listened to our pitch. Decided we do actually know what we’re talking about. Signed the project brief. They said yes. To us.
They engaged us to HELP them.
To advise and guide and educate and review and implement all they things because marketing isn’t their thing, and it is OUR thing.
Personally? Outsourcing my weaknesses is one of the smartest things I’ve learned to do in this little adventure called business ownership, and it’s something I HIGHLY recommend to other entrepreneurs.
So often the reason a client chooses to work with you is because they just don’t KNOW what to do differently and they trust that you do. It’s a massive privilege and a responsibility that I seriously take to heart.
So even though it might be unpopular to say it, the clients isn’t always right. And that’s 100% okay.
We promise to be honest enough to let you know what we really think, even when you probably don’t want to hear it.
And sometimes that means saying no.
So we get a sense of superiority or power?
Um, nope. Because we care.
We care enough to deliver the news you might not be expecting, humbly, gently and with grace. We’ll have the tough conversations and ask more questions so we can understand. We’ll explore what might be a better option and we’ll explain all the reasons why, in ALL the ways (with pictures) until we’re blue in the face and you can see it, too.
Whatever it takes, our goal is to find a way to get you where you really want to be.
And if there isn’t wiggle room to find a great solution?
The master of sales Zig Ziglar said ‘The right customer is always right, but the wrong customer will never be right’.
The right client might always be right, but not every client is the right client. It takes guts to say no to a client, and even though it’s hard, sometimes it’s just gotta be done. For their long-term benefit, and yours.