Helping Create Success
When clients make unexpected or unusual requests
My father, an attorney, once got a call from a client who desperately wanted to sue someone who was dead. His reasonable response was “What are you going to do to the dead…grind them into meatballs?”
Then I once had a client who told me he flatly refused to go on stage at the Waldorf Astoria in the rented tux we’d provided him. So I asked him (reasonably) what he needed and he said “A second fitting with the tailor.” Problem solved, he did go on, and got a standing ovation.
When clients make unexpected or unusual requests, you can’t always give them what they want, which my father understood. And while I was initially taken aback by my client’s demand, he was absolutely right.
During my career, I’ve been faced with a whole bunch of requests from clients, some easy to rectify, others not so much. But with a bit of compromise, there’s always a solution.
Have you been asked by a client to do something atypical? How did you handle it?
Simplify, Simplify
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he other day I wanted to hear my friend guesting on a podcast, but the host was such a gas-bag that I had to stop without getting to hear her. He seemed to think he was the Charles Dickens of podcasts, getting paid by the word.
After five long and boring minutes of him talking about himself, and no way to skip ahead in the recording, I gave up. This is what I call “audience abuse” and it should be illegal.
One of the cardinal rules when speaking, whether in person, on camera or other platform, is to get to the point as soon as possible. It will make life much more pleasant for all concerned.
This is definitely something I’ve noticed a lot more since we’ve all been forced onto Zoom in this past year. Some people seem to think that because we have nowhere to go that we must also have all day. Not so! Preamble that rambles is not the way to build momentum, and waiting through several minutes of filler to hopefully get to the meat of the matter is tiring and vexing.
If you’re fortunate enough to have an audience, take care of them. Be forthright, succinct and show them you respect their time.
Clutter; the creativity killer
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lutter is a creativity killer, sucking up the energy needed to think clearly. I once had a client who had great views of Rockefeller Plaza but his office was so messy that you couldn’t see a thing. We spent hours clearing and organizing, all in order to help him think. It worked wonders.
Clutter can also creep into conversation and presentations, which is equally enervating. Filler words and phrases, cliches and general lack of concision will leave your listeners feeling over-fed and under-nourished.
Papers, piles and more piles of papers. The bane of my existence and clashing with my love of trees, I hate these necessary nuisances. My solution was to buy a label maker, which let me make beautiful, clear labels on my files, and made filing a fun thing instead of a drag.
Your office should be a place for work only and unnecessary or irrelevant items, such as sports equipment, make-up, and food do not belong in there. Get rid of them-your office isn’t a catch-all for the rest of your life.
How is your office looking today? How are you sounding in conversation? It’s time to streamline, and get lean and mean.