What’s on the iPod: The Sky is Crying by Stevie Ray Vaughan
What I’m reading: The Skull Beneath the Skin by P. D. James
It was a little coincidental that I was listening to The Sky is Crying yesterday – I wasn’t shedding tears, but tension is building in a current project. Remember the “We didn’t use it so we’ll just pass on that invoice” people? Yesterday I had to get firm as the wheel-spinning was nearly out of control. I’ve put a number of edits and one rewrite into a small, usually quite easy project. The trouble is delivery of expectations. It’s filtering through more than one person down to me. Any other time I’d be okay with revisions as I do charge hourly. This time, knowing that last time was a problem, I’m feeling my spine going rigid. I will not accept “We didn’t use it” this time. And I will end the relationship if need be. I follow through on my word.
And it’s proof that I need to market harder in order to replace this client before the expected happens.
That brings up the topic of expectations. Clients, writers, this is a collaboration. Both sides need to be delivering something to the other in order for this to work. Let’s start with clients.
Clients can expect writers:
– to meet deadlines
– to deliver on or close to what was expected
– to partner with you to get the message right
– to be competent
Writers can expect clients:
– to pay invoices on time
– to give enough information to get the job done
– to allow adequate time for the job to be done properly
– to allow for revisions
That’s in a perfect world. And for the most part, our worlds are pretty darned perfect. It only goes sour when one side of the equation fails to fulfill one or more of the expectations.
Clients and writers protect themselves from the let-down by signing contracts. Writers, if you come across any client who refuses to sign a contract, refuse to work with them. There’s no reason why a contract should cause anyone to feel strong aversion – unless they’re intending something less than honest.
Writers, what else do you expect from your clients? Clients, what do you look for in your writers?
6 responses to “The Client Collaboration”
Okay, in the ideal world, that you get one message on a project. Projects with multiple people involved in the process often give conflicting directions.
One way to deal with it is having one person accountable and even if you are not dealing with them directly, they are cc'd on all decisions so if there's a difference of opinion, the players can work it out before the writer goes down the "wrong" path.
This is something I look for in everyone: Do what you say you're going to do.
Wouldn't the world be a happier place? It definitely applies to the relationship between writers and clients!
Amen, Ashley.
I was excited to learn that an irksome editor is out of a magazine I once wrote for. It pays really well, so when I got that first assignment two years ago I was excited. Problem? She assigned a first-person account of my extended family's experience exchanging handmade Christmas gifts, but she kept changing things midstream – without bothering to tell me.
I turned the first-person piece in early, explaining that I wanted to get in in ahead of time in case she needed changes. She said she'd look it it right away but sat on it for over a month, then asked me to rewrite it as a third-person roundup of quick & easy holiday gifts you can make in under 30 minutes (ha!). Wanting to show I'm a team player, I agreed to do the rewrite, pointing out no gifts that can be made in that short of time are worth giving – unless you're a child. She upped it to one hour. I dug up three projects, provided URLs, everything. I was paid. She said she'd send me an issue, but didn't. I later found it online – she'd only kept one of my examples and reworked it so much I couldn't tell I'd written it. Frankly, I wish my name weren't on it.
Looking back, there were signs. For several months she promised to send me sample issues, but they never came. I politely reminded her I needed to see them to help match their style. She finally sent them after I'd finished the re-write!
Here's hoping her new replacement is more professional and easier to work with.
And there's the bane of my existence, Cathy – the multiple messages from numerous people, none of which hold any authority.
Ashley, totally agree!
I have my fingers crossed too, Paula. When the editor is bad, it's tough to deliver quality.
What do I expect from clients? (Sorry, but this song was on the radio a little bit ago and it just seemed to fit.)
"R-E-S-P-E-C-T, Find out what it means to me." Sometimes, my idea of respect is completely different from their idea of it. For instance, I don't want to be chastised for not getting back to an email you just sent 2 minutes ago. Give me some time to read it through and respond or respect that I might be working on someone else's stuff, or maybe I'm just done for the day.
When I get respect, I'll give it back.
Wendy-too funny-I had respect as part of my "recipe" for sharing-check it out 😉
http://simplystatedbusiness.com/2010/07/27/add-3-cups-of-sharing-and-mix/