My clients sometimes have terrible ideas that I don’t think will work out. what should we do? Do I give in and have a happy and satisfied customer or force myself to do what I know is far better?
With respect
Wise and mature
Dear adult
Handling requests from customers that seem impractical, misleading, or silly is an inseparable part of service businesses. I know it’s hard not to roll your eyes and shoot the client when they’re ruining your project and your reputation. But I recommend that you think a little before you write off their ideas.
Ask yourself if what your client wants is really impossible, or is your pride just getting in the way? Remember that your job is to make your clients’ dreams come true while providing them with professional judgment and guidance. This is the way to go, but I want you to really define your motivations for discussing what customers want. I may need to refresh my memory on Christmas lights. When I had to do something mundane and low-level, it ended up inspiring me a lot. I never thought of using Christmas lights (very small, white and sometimes colored lights that are used in celebrations and especially Christmas) for my designs. I thought to myself that these lamps were very low-end and no one would be thrilled to see them. My reaction to them has always been the same: no way, under no circumstances.
But finally I got a customer who loved Christmas lights. What could I do? I had to satisfy him and finally built a gazebo and covered the whole garden with Christmas lights. I must admit that it was very beautiful and amazing. The generous use of Christmas lights made the place look like a fairytale land. It was by no means predictable and low level. The lesson I learned from this assembly was this: I can end up using materials I don’t like (Christmas lights) and in a way I like (lots and lots of materials), and achieve a truly magnificent result. If I had not checked my pride in this and other cases, I would not have progressed in my work.
Get your creative juices flowing and try to understand why your client has such an idea. Then see this request as an opportunity; At least try your best. These insights may lead you to change your mind about your client’s idea or to stand your ground. Maybe it’s a real dead end in implementing the idea or even a safety issue. Once, one of my clients asked me to make the central decoration of their assembly hall entirely of gardenia flowers. I reminded him how pungent gardenias are, but he persisted. So I also did the decoration with gardenia, but due to the strong scent of this flower, one of his guests felt unwell. It was humiliating, but if someone asks me again, I will design and implement an all-garden centerpiece for them (although I will tell them this story first!). As professionals, we can explain to them the benefits of our advice and experience, but ultimately we need to do what they want.
One of the best ways to convince customers who are stuck on an impossible idea is to offer similar options. Some of my clients tell me they want to use tall, beautiful candles. Nice idea but the problem is when they insist the candles are real. Every time I’ve come up short on such a request, we’ve ended up having to wipe a large amount of paraffin off each table; The worst part of this case is that the candle drips on all the dishes and tablecloths.
Even the so-called “fireproof” candle will cause the same problems if there is minimal air flow in the room. I always try my best to convince my customers to use LED candles instead, which have all the elegance and beauty of real candles, without the paraffin disaster. But if I have told them the strengths and weaknesses of their idea and I have also proposed my own options, and they still insist on using paraffin candles, I will do the design work for them with real candles, of course, because of this choice, more costs for They are invoiced; Cost of preventive measures and support programs.
The only time you should stick your foot in a shoe is when it comes to safety. For example, when we design a ceremony in a huge tent, our clients like to keep everything traditional. For this reason, they demand to remove or at least cover the electronic signs that indicate the exit location. This situation is one of the only cases where I answer “no”. I’m sorry” I give to my clients. Because of the beauty of the ceremony, I cannot put everyone’s lives in danger.
Source: Trading with the heart book
Translator: Mehdi Nikoi
