Writing is an art and not a science. What makes good copy is subjective and open to interpretation.
Most clients understand this and accept that sometimes it takes time before even the most talented writer delivers copy that really hits the spot.
Very occasionally, however, some clients don’t. They don’t value the creative process and judge words like any other product they work with… if the words are not perfect, they are therefore flawed and not worth paying for.
As owner and director of copywriting agency, I’ve had to deal with exactly this argument.
Countering it, and making the case for our worth, requires discretion and patience, confidence and a fair degree of tact.
I believe it’s also important to protect our writers from this kind of criticism and negativity. If they weren’t good at what they do, they would not be working for ProseWorks. And if the assignment wasn’t the right one for them, then we shouldn’t have given it to them in the first place.
Our relationship with good writers is always more important than our relationship with difficult clients (even if we haven’t invoiced them yet).
So, on the rare occasion that clients try to pull apart a ProseWorks writer’s efforts, we try our best to protect and defend them.
We expect loyalty from our writers and editors. When push comes to shove, it’s only reasonable for them to receive loyalty from us.
It also makes perfect business sense.
We live and die by the quality of the words we write (and edit). We’d always go the extra mile to keep clients, and to keep them happy. But if that’s only possible to sacrificing or blaming our writers, we won’t do it.
Ultimately they are more important.
Photo by Steve Johnson on UnsplashPrioritise writers over clients (even if we haven’t invoiced them yet)
Writing is an art and not a science. What makes good copy is subjective and open to interpretation.
Most clients understand this and accept that sometimes it takes time before even the most talented writer delivers copy that really hits the spot.
Very occasionally, however, some clients don’t. They don’t value the creative process and judge words like any other product they work with… if the words are not perfect, they are therefore flawed and not worth paying for.
As owner and director of copywriting agency, I’ve had to deal with exactly this argument.
Countering it, and making the case for our worth, requires discretion and patience, confidence and a fair degree of tact.
I believe it’s also important to protect our writers from this kind of criticism and negativity. If they weren’t good at what they do, they would not be working for ProseWorks. And if the assignment wasn’t the right one for them, then we shouldn’t have given it to them in the first place.
Our relationship with good writers is always more important than our relationship with difficult clients (even if we haven’t invoiced them yet).
So, on the rare occasion that clients try to pull apart a ProseWorks writer’s efforts, we try our best to protect and defend them.
We expect loyalty from our writers and editors. When push comes to shove, it’s only reasonable for them to receive loyalty from us.
It also makes perfect business sense.
We live and die by the quality of the words we write (and edit). We’d always go the extra mile to keep clients, and to keep them happy. But if that’s only possible to sacrificing or blaming our writers, we won’t do it.
Ultimately they are more important.
Photo by Steve Johnson on Unsplash
