A friend once told me that part of a mechanic's job was
massaging the egos of car owners.
"Yes, that's a classic model."
"There's never a problem getting spares for this
one." (And with good reason.)
For freelance writers - and for most self-employed people, I imagine - there's a lot of
focus on service. Sometimes that's called customer service and sometimes it's
more loftily referred to as relationship management (usually on CVs), but it
comes down to keeping the customer satisfied.
That requires playing a variety of roles, often before you
can get down to the job itself. You may work on refining (sometimes defining)
the scope of their requirements and checking that those requirements align with their objectives / audience. You may feel you have taken on the guise of a counsellor when the
client wants to talk through not only the job but also the reasons behind it
and the effects it has on them.
Here are some of the other roles you may play: ideas
generator, business support, marketing strategist, concept developer,
publicist, reality check, negotiator, and confidante.
There are times when all you want to do is get on with the
job, but paying attention to your clients stated and unstated needs (you can
add intuitive to the list of roles) will pay dividends. The more closely
aligned you are with their vision of their work the more likely you are to
deliver to their satisfaction. It naturally follows, when that's the case, you
become the logical choice when any further projects arise.
It can be time consuming when you fulfil additional roles,
especially when they need to be covered before you can reach the writing
/ editing / proofreading. However, they are not hurdles; they are simply
additional aspects of the job and you need to factor in the time required and
the cost of providing those services too.
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