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Add You - The 10 Most Difficult Clients You Meet on Earth
Let’s say you’re the marketing director of a professional services firm, the director of corporate communications, or the company president. You know you’re good at what you do and that your company provides outstanding services. What’s troubling you is the dissonance between these outstanding services and the level of corporate marketing collateral and the web site. You’re worried that marketing communications are sending mixed messages and thwarting business development efforts. In fact, corporate literature design has become a reactive process, often driven by the need for a piece for an upcoming event. With clients and prospects savvier than ever, you’re concerned that the right image for business has not been created.Creating image is the job of a visual identity system. It is the result of the integration of business goals and creative design. It defines the use of typography, image, color, layout and logo to reflect your business, making certain that all communications send a singular message. A system will provide the underlying architecture for all external and internal communications, ensuring a consistent presentation from corporate literature design to signage.Musical ChairsCreating a visual identity is a process that begins by switching seats with clients and prospects to view your business from their perspective. As seen from your former seat, the variety of ways to interact with your business can look like a series of unrelated events. On the surface there doesn’t appear to be a relationship between corporate collateral, public relations initiatives, interior office space design, and the web site. To an individual client or prospect though, these internal and external touchpoints combine to create a single picture of your business. More than passing impressions, these imprints become one’s collective ‘Experience’ of your business. There is no official port of entry into this world. Where someone may enter your sphere cannot, and should not, be controlled. Having many points of entry is optimum. Therefore, it is crucial that the Experience be consistent from portal to portal. Clients and prospects will find it confusing if different encounters send different messages about your firm. The danger to business is that your Experience is spinning without thoughtful input, creating a hodge-podge world of mixed messages and images, all featuring the corporate logo.Let’s apply this Experience principle to corporate literature design. In this scenario, you’re the marketing director of a mid-sized law
Native habitat: Small, private company; start-up
Status: C-Level; Upper management
Modus operandi: To hide and protect company secrets; keep you at arm’s length
Traits: Guarded; uncommunicative; aloof; cryptic
Signing an NDA with a client doesn’t mean you’ll be told everything you need to know to do your job well. Tight Lips are notorious for not communicating the essentials—business trip schedules, company plans, valuable feedback, etc. This situation is exacerbated when their native language is different from your own or when their communications abilities are minimal at best. When Tight Lips are paranoid about their company’s supposed intelligence, you’re going to find yourself out of the loop. A high degree of confidence is required before a new consultant can be entrusted with privileged information. Until such time, expect to be informed on a “need to know” basis and greeted with a veil of secrecy surrounding most company decisions and transactions.
Recommendations: There is no simple solution here. Probe, ask questions, throw out a few assumptions to see whether they stick to the wall, and hold the Tight Lip to account when important details are glossed over. If you’ve crossed over an imaginary line, you’ll know it.
The Hand Wringer
Native habitat: Large and mid-sized company
Status: Middle management; project manage
In today’s global economy it is becoming increasingly more important for a business to adequately protect and enforce its intellectual property (IP). Most businesses are aware of one of the routes to such protection, namely obtaining patents and trademarks from the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office, and registering copyrights with the U.S. Copyright Office. While registering IP with these entities is fundamental to protection and enforcement, another valuable protection and enforcement resource exists with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).As a bureau of the Department of Homeland Security, the CBP is charged with securing our nation’s border, which includes protecting U.S. IP rights (primarily trademarks and copyrights) from infringing or counterfeit imports. The CBP maintains a recordation system for trademarks and copyrights. However, owning a trademark registered with the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office, or a copyright registered with the U.S. Copyright Office, does not automatically result in the trademark or copyright being registered with the CBP, but it is the first step.The CBP’s registration process is relatively simple. Currently, an electronic application template for registering a trademark or copyright with the CBP may be found online at www.cbp.gov. Alternatively, www.cbp.gov offers an online application system for registering trademarks and copyrights with the CBP. Explained below are some of the documents and information needed to record a trademark and copyright with the CBP.Recording TrademarksFirst, it should be noted that only those trademarks currently registered on the U.S. Trademark Office’s Principal Register are available for recordation with the CBP. The standard information to be listed in the application to record a trademark with the CBP includes:(a) the name, complete business address, and citizenship of the trademark owner or owners (if a partnership, the citizenship of each partner; if an association or corporation the State, country, or other political jurisdiction within which it was organized, incorporated, or created);(b) the places of manufacture of goods bearing the recorded trademark;(c) the name and principal business address of each foreign person or business entity authorized or licensed to use the trademark and a statement as to the use authorized; and(d) The identity of any parent or subsidiary company or other foreign company under common ownership or control which uses the trademark abroad.” 19 CFR §133.2Along with the information cont
Even though the vast majority of them are smart, savvy, intuitive, charming, talented, persuasive, and colorful, there are a few enfants terribles who have elevated bad business practices and behavioral eccentricities to an art form. These “execs gone wild” can severely strain business relationships and make your life profoundly difficult.
Consultants are often brought on board to solve a problem in times of rapid growth and impending crisis. While their ostensible goal is to confirm the client’s problem, suggest a path or a process to tackle it, and implement a solution that will produce tangible, measurable, and desired results, their real objective is to make sure their clients don’t impede or undermine their efforts.
Corporate Archetypes
This paper profiles the types of clients who create irritating potholes and fissures on the road to business success and reveals the behavioral patterns that characterize their so-called “worst practices.”
These archetypes are drawn from behaviors all too common in the business world. The most difficult executives are an amalgam of these archetypes and share several commonalities: distrustful, controlling, aggressive, inflexible, paranoid, and occasionally tyrannical. It is facile to suggest that these behaviors are always intentional or driven by a sense of malice. Rather, it is fear, ignorance, insecurity, and thoughtlessness that are at the root of the most egregious worst practices.
The Bureaucrat
Native habitat: Large, mature company
Status: Middle and upper management
Modus operandi: To preserve the status quo; protect one’s turf and job
Traits: Myopic; slow-moving; risk-averse
Bureaucrats are easy to spot. They seek shelter with the herd and are rarely found in one-to-one settings. However, don’t underestimate their ability to throw a monkey wrench into your project and sabotage your best-laid plans. They have a penchant for making eleventh hour changes and questioning the earlier decisions of others.
Recommendations: Since procedure means the world to these individuals, avoid confrontation and play into their strengths. Ask them to explain the rules. Get everything in writing, including sign-offs. Acknowledge their status while establishing mutual expectations. You’ll find that you can work with them as long as you don’t violate any deeply-cherished institutional edicts.
The Autocrat
Native habitat: Small to mid-sized company
Status: CEO, COO
Modus operandi: To exercise control; interfere; intimidate others
Traits: Imperious; egotistical; aggressive; capricious
Autocrats rule by whim. They flourish in a relatively flat organization and find it difficult to delegate to subordinates. Autocrats will subvert the rules in order to assert authority and control, and are convinced of their own self-importance and infallibility. Autocrats use intimidation to keep you off balance (e.g., calling before and/or after business hours, making unilateral changes to written agreements, changing strategy without warning, etc.).
Recommendations: The best way to handle Autocrats is to stay calm, hold your ground, and negotiate new ground rules. Warning: Autocrats won’t change their ethics overnight. At a certain point, you simply may have to walk away.
The Know-It-All
Native habitat: Any size company
Status: All levels
Modus operandi: To show superiority; be right; maintain control
Traits: Impatient; arrogant; inflexible; micro-managerial
Know-It-Alls “know” what’s good for their business and can’t wait to demonstrate their capabilities to you. They’ll challenge your ideas, devalue your work, and sometimes even do your job for you. No matter what you accomplish for the Know-It-All, it’s never good enough.
Recommendations: Build a contingency into your contract to ensure you will be paid for any work beyond the scope of the agreement. Know-It-Alls perceive outside expertise as a threat. Be that as it may, they really do need help. Since Know-it-Alls have the final word, strive for agreement every step of the way, and be sure to present alternate concepts and approaches. They may like what you show them, but, ego aside, it was their idea from the start.
The Waffler
Native habitat: Large company
Status: Middle and upper management
Modus operandi: To avoid conflict and making mistakes; protect one’s job
Traits: Indecisive; distrustful; insecure
Easily the consultant’s worst enemy, Wafflers can be a major roadblock. Despite their position, they are not born decision makers. Within their own company, they are often lauded as a team players and consensus builders; however, for consultants, they represent delay, doubt, and indecision. Wafflers will not go out on a limb for you. They won’t even go out on a limb for themselves. This can seriously affect the progress of your work and the success of your project. Wafflers have a difficult time committing to anyone or anything, especially if it means making a bold decision for which they’ll be held accountable.
Recommendations: Wafflers needs reassurance and a lot of hand-holding. Give them a milestone chart and deadline reminders, and reemphasize the objectives of the project. If roadblocks still persist, move up the value chain and seek alignment with more responsive and committed contacts within the client company.
The Tight Lip
Native habitat: Small, private company; start-up
Status: C-Level; Upper management
Modus operandi: To hide and protect company secrets; keep you at arm’s length
Traits: Guarded; uncommunicative; aloof; cryptic
Signing an NDA with a client doesn’t mean you’ll be told everything you need to know to do your job well. Tight Lips are notorious for not communicating the essentials—business trip schedules, company plans, valuable feedback, etc. This situation is exacerbated when their native language is different from your own or when their communications abilities are minimal at best. When Tight Lips are paranoid about their company’s supposed intelligence, you’re going to find yourself out of the loop. A high degree of confidence is required before a new consultant can be entrusted with privileged information. Until such time, expect to be informed on a “need to know” basis and greeted with a veil of secrecy surrounding most company decisions and transactions.
Recommendations: There is no simple solution here. Probe, ask questions, throw out a few assumptions to see whether they stick to the wall, and hold the Tight Lip to account when important details are glossed over. If you’ve crossed over an imaginary line, you’ll know it.
The Hand Wringer
Native habitat: Large and mid-sized company
Status: Middle management; project managem
What if you created the Worlds best MindMap to assist humans in using all of their knowledge, experience, observations and education to make the very best decisions for themselves, their companies, their government, their communities or children of the World? If you had such a thing who would you market it to? How would you get the word out; where would you start?In fact who on Earth would be your clients? Everyone I guess and this is exactly what our Online Think Tank came up with when reviewing this hypothetical concept of promoting the use of MindMaps to the humans of the planet. When I ask about a clients what am I really asking? You see in branding you have to know which questions to ask and what to do with the answers once you get them. For an Online Think Tank there might be many uses;Online Think Tank Chapters could sell "knowledge services", as an ad hoc contracted "Think Tank Consultants?" Using the MindMap "trademarked" patented systems technology for instance. How could this be branded? Well it could sold as consulting services and differentiated by the fact that it is; The Best. And the proof would be with the favorable results that were produced. Each time a solution was created using the MindMap then this would further add to the resume or list of testimonials.If the MindMap stood on its own as a Power Brand, then anyone using it too would stand above the crowds, especially an Online Think Tank using both its methods and concepts to produce the best results. I certainly hope this case study in branding get you mind thinking in 2007 in your quest to be the best.
The Bureaucrat
Native habitat: Large, mature company
Status: Middle and upper management
Modus operandi: To preserve the status quo; protect one’s turf and job
Traits: Myopic; slow-moving; risk-averse
Bureaucrats are easy to spot. They seek shelter with the herd and are rarely found in one-to-one settings. However, don’t underestimate their ability to throw a monkey wrench into your project and sabotage your best-laid plans. They have a penchant for making eleventh hour changes and questioning the earlier decisions of others.
Recommendations: Since procedure means the world to these individuals, avoid confrontation and play into their strengths. Ask them to explain the rules. Get everything in writing, including sign-offs. Acknowledge their status while establishing mutual expectations. You’ll find that you can work with them as long as you don’t violate any deeply-cherished institutional edicts.
The Autocrat
Native habitat: Small to mid-sized company
Status: CEO, COO
Modus operandi: To exercise control; interfere; intimidate others
Traits: Imperious; egotistical; aggressive; capricious
Autocrats rule by whim. They flourish in a relatively flat organization and find it difficult to delegate to subordinates. Autocrats will subvert the rules in order to assert authority and control, and are convinced of their own self-importance and infallibility. Autocrats use intimidation to keep you off balance (e.g., calling before and/or after business hours, making unilateral changes to written agreements, changing strategy without warning, etc.).
Recommendations: The best way to handle Autocrats is to stay calm, hold your ground, and negotiate new ground rules. Warning: Autocrats won’t change their ethics overnight. At a certain point, you simply may have to walk away.
The Know-It-All
Native habitat: Any size company
Status: All levels
Modus operandi: To show superiority; be right; maintain control
Traits: Impatient; arrogant; inflexible; micro-managerial
Know-It-Alls “know” what’s good for their business and can’t wait to demonstrate their capabilities to you. They’ll challenge your ideas, devalue your work, and sometimes even do your job for you. No matter what you accomplish for the Know-It-All, it’s never good enough.
Recommendations: Build a contingency into your contract to ensure you will be paid for any work beyond the scope of the agreement. Know-It-Alls perceive outside expertise as a threat. Be that as it may, they really do need help. Since Know-it-Alls have the final word, strive for agreement every step of the way, and be sure to present alternate concepts and approaches. They may like what you show them, but, ego aside, it was their idea from the start.
The Waffler
Native habitat: Large company
Status: Middle and upper management
Modus operandi: To avoid conflict and making mistakes; protect one’s job
Traits: Indecisive; distrustful; insecure
Easily the consultant’s worst enemy, Wafflers can be a major roadblock. Despite their position, they are not born decision makers. Within their own company, they are often lauded as a team players and consensus builders; however, for consultants, they represent delay, doubt, and indecision. Wafflers will not go out on a limb for you. They won’t even go out on a limb for themselves. This can seriously affect the progress of your work and the success of your project. Wafflers have a difficult time committing to anyone or anything, especially if it means making a bold decision for which they’ll be held accountable.
Recommendations: Wafflers needs reassurance and a lot of hand-holding. Give them a milestone chart and deadline reminders, and reemphasize the objectives of the project. If roadblocks still persist, move up the value chain and seek alignment with more responsive and committed contacts within the client company.
The Tight Lip
Native habitat: Small, private company; start-up
Status: C-Level; Upper management
Modus operandi: To hide and protect company secrets; keep you at arm’s length
Traits: Guarded; uncommunicative; aloof; cryptic
Signing an NDA with a client doesn’t mean you’ll be told everything you need to know to do your job well. Tight Lips are notorious for not communicating the essentials—business trip schedules, company plans, valuable feedback, etc. This situation is exacerbated when their native language is different from your own or when their communications abilities are minimal at best. When Tight Lips are paranoid about their company’s supposed intelligence, you’re going to find yourself out of the loop. A high degree of confidence is required before a new consultant can be entrusted with privileged information. Until such time, expect to be informed on a “need to know” basis and greeted with a veil of secrecy surrounding most company decisions and transactions.
Recommendations: There is no simple solution here. Probe, ask questions, throw out a few assumptions to see whether they stick to the wall, and hold the Tight Lip to account when important details are glossed over. If you’ve crossed over an imaginary line, you’ll know it.
The Hand Wringer
Native habitat: Large and mid-sized company
Status: Middle management; project manage
Trade shows are one of the best ways to promote your business or service as they provide face to face interaction with the target customer. You also have the opportunity to convince and impress your clients and clear their doubts and misapprehensions, if any. A custom trade show booth offered by First Trade Show offers the client the flexibility to get a custom designed trade show booth according to his own specifications and requirements.First Trade Show is a company that offers trade show displays for companies who are or wish to participate in trade shows. The company offers in-house design, designing and fabrication of custom exhibits. It even offers management of trade show exhibits in case you require them to do so.If you are setting up a Trade Show Exhibit Booth and you don’t want to settle for any standard designs, then Custom Trade Show Booth is the best option for you. It opens a totally new world of designing prospects where the design and creative possibilities are limitless. First Trade Show offers innovative and creative designs that are practical as well as functional. These custom exhibit designs though affordable, are a bit costlier than others. These designs add a professional and classy touch to your trade show display booths.The First Trade Show designers begin the process by studying your company’s background, marketing goals, tradeshow objectives, trade show budget, projected booth size etc. All this information helps in deciding the type of the trade show booth will be fit for your company. Your specifications and inputs are used during the design conceptualization and implementation stage while giving final shape to your Custom Trade Show Booth. Unique CAD renderings are created so that you are able to get a realistic view of your exhibit on completion.First Trade Show offers a wide variety of trade show products like innovative designs of Table top display booth, Portable exhibits, Banner stands, trade show accessories. The company even offers trade show management services along with creative & rental services. Visit the site www.firsttradeshow.com to know more about the trade show products and services offered by the company.
Autocrats rule by whim. They flourish in a relatively flat organization and find it difficult to delegate to subordinates. Autocrats will subvert the rules in order to assert authority and control, and are convinced of their own self-importance and infallibility. Autocrats use intimidation to keep you off balance (e.g., calling before and/or after business hours, making unilateral changes to written agreements, changing strategy without warning, etc.).
Recommendations: The best way to handle Autocrats is to stay calm, hold your ground, and negotiate new ground rules. Warning: Autocrats won’t change their ethics overnight. At a certain point, you simply may have to walk away.
The Know-It-All
Native habitat: Any size company
Status: All levels
Modus operandi: To show superiority; be right; maintain control
Traits: Impatient; arrogant; inflexible; micro-managerial
Know-It-Alls “know” what’s good for their business and can’t wait to demonstrate their capabilities to you. They’ll challenge your ideas, devalue your work, and sometimes even do your job for you. No matter what you accomplish for the Know-It-All, it’s never good enough.
Recommendations: Build a contingency into your contract to ensure you will be paid for any work beyond the scope of the agreement. Know-It-Alls perceive outside expertise as a threat. Be that as it may, they really do need help. Since Know-it-Alls have the final word, strive for agreement every step of the way, and be sure to present alternate concepts and approaches. They may like what you show them, but, ego aside, it was their idea from the start.
The Waffler
Native habitat: Large company
Status: Middle and upper management
Modus operandi: To avoid conflict and making mistakes; protect one’s job
Traits: Indecisive; distrustful; insecure
Easily the consultant’s worst enemy, Wafflers can be a major roadblock. Despite their position, they are not born decision makers. Within their own company, they are often lauded as a team players and consensus builders; however, for consultants, they represent delay, doubt, and indecision. Wafflers will not go out on a limb for you. They won’t even go out on a limb for themselves. This can seriously affect the progress of your work and the success of your project. Wafflers have a difficult time committing to anyone or anything, especially if it means making a bold decision for which they’ll be held accountable.
Recommendations: Wafflers needs reassurance and a lot of hand-holding. Give them a milestone chart and deadline reminders, and reemphasize the objectives of the project. If roadblocks still persist, move up the value chain and seek alignment with more responsive and committed contacts within the client company.
The Tight Lip
Native habitat: Small, private company; start-up
Status: C-Level; Upper management
Modus operandi: To hide and protect company secrets; keep you at arm’s length
Traits: Guarded; uncommunicative; aloof; cryptic
Signing an NDA with a client doesn’t mean you’ll be told everything you need to know to do your job well. Tight Lips are notorious for not communicating the essentials—business trip schedules, company plans, valuable feedback, etc. This situation is exacerbated when their native language is different from your own or when their communications abilities are minimal at best. When Tight Lips are paranoid about their company’s supposed intelligence, you’re going to find yourself out of the loop. A high degree of confidence is required before a new consultant can be entrusted with privileged information. Until such time, expect to be informed on a “need to know” basis and greeted with a veil of secrecy surrounding most company decisions and transactions.
Recommendations: There is no simple solution here. Probe, ask questions, throw out a few assumptions to see whether they stick to the wall, and hold the Tight Lip to account when important details are glossed over. If you’ve crossed over an imaginary line, you’ll know it.
The Hand Wringer
Native habitat: Large and mid-sized company
Status: Middle management; project manage
So you’ve decided to go out on your own as an IT consultant? Perhaps you want to be your own boss, work when you want, and of course there’s the money. You’ve got the skills and experience to do the job. Is that all you need? Not quite!The scary thing is now you have to go out and find some clients. You may belong to an agency that supplies consultants, but you’ve still got to persuade the client that you’re the best man or woman for the job.A business relationship between a consultant and a client is like any other relationship – it needs to be based on trust. To achieve this you need to build rapport with the client: smile, be friendly and professional, and show him or her that you can achieve their business goals in the timeframe required.Never take on work you don’t have the skills for, and don’t take on too much work at one time. If you say you are equal to the job, you must be able to complete the project in the required time and with the highest quality. If you find you can’t do this, once you’ve started a project, you may need to subcontract someone to help you. Clients want results, not excuses.Also make sure the project specification is absolutely clear and unambiguous. If you have any doubts, ALWAYS ASK. Both you and the client should sign it.If the client changes the scope of the project, you are entitled to change the deadline and charge more for your services.An IT consultant needs to be a good communicator. You should have excellent communications channels with the client to identify any unforeseen problems as soon as possible, to avoid delays in project completion. Perhaps there’s a hardware or software problem that isn’t your fault – you need to alert the client.To be successful as a consultant you need regular cash flow. To achieve this you need to have a number of projects at different stages. Some clients take longer to pay you than others. If they take too long to pay you, seek legal advice.You also need to understand any contract that you’re going to sign, as it is legally binding. Read it carefully. If you don’t fully understand it, seek legal advice before signing.Don’t overcharge or undercharge clients. Undercharging is bad for you and the industry. Find out what other consultants are charging by checking their websites.Get a good accountant. Ask your friends and associates if they can recommend anyone. An accountant can assist you with good recordkeeping, making sure you claim on your tax return everything you’re legally entitled to claim for, and GST. Rem
The Waffler
Native habitat: Large company
Status: Middle and upper management
Modus operandi: To avoid conflict and making mistakes; protect one’s job
Traits: Indecisive; distrustful; insecure
Easily the consultant’s worst enemy, Wafflers can be a major roadblock. Despite their position, they are not born decision makers. Within their own company, they are often lauded as a team players and consensus builders; however, for consultants, they represent delay, doubt, and indecision. Wafflers will not go out on a limb for you. They won’t even go out on a limb for themselves. This can seriously affect the progress of your work and the success of your project. Wafflers have a difficult time committing to anyone or anything, especially if it means making a bold decision for which they’ll be held accountable.
Recommendations: Wafflers needs reassurance and a lot of hand-holding. Give them a milestone chart and deadline reminders, and reemphasize the objectives of the project. If roadblocks still persist, move up the value chain and seek alignment with more responsive and committed contacts within the client company.
The Tight Lip
Native habitat: Small, private company; start-up
Status: C-Level; Upper management
Modus operandi: To hide and protect company secrets; keep you at arm’s length
Traits: Guarded; uncommunicative; aloof; cryptic
Signing an NDA with a client doesn’t mean you’ll be told everything you need to know to do your job well. Tight Lips are notorious for not communicating the essentials—business trip schedules, company plans, valuable feedback, etc. This situation is exacerbated when their native language is different from your own or when their communications abilities are minimal at best. When Tight Lips are paranoid about their company’s supposed intelligence, you’re going to find yourself out of the loop. A high degree of confidence is required before a new consultant can be entrusted with privileged information. Until such time, expect to be informed on a “need to know” basis and greeted with a veil of secrecy surrounding most company decisions and transactions.
Recommendations: There is no simple solution here. Probe, ask questions, throw out a few assumptions to see whether they stick to the wall, and hold the Tight Lip to account when important details are glossed over. If you’ve crossed over an imaginary line, you’ll know it.
The Hand Wringer
Native habitat: Large and mid-sized company
Status: Middle management; project manage
Successful fundraising letters are exciting to read. They take you to crack houses, battlefields, logging protests, prisons, floods and other places you will never set foot yourself. Effective donation request letters show you the organizations you support engaged on the front lines in the battle to right wrongs, correct injustices and make the world a better place. They put you in the thick of the action. And they usually do this by making a scene.An inexperienced writer will tell you about a subject, place or person. But a writer who knows how to craft novel fundraising letters will show you that subject, place or person—in action. Plays are constructed with scenes. So are movies. And so are the best appeal letters.Novel fundraising letters usually open with a dramatic scene, go on to state the need, invite the donor to participate with a gift, include one or two more dramatic scenes, then conclude with another request for a gift.Here is a sample of the opening scene from a donation request letter that Trans World Radio Canada mailed to its donors (Trans World Radio Canada is a Christian radio network that offers inspirational programming and Bible teaching in dozens of languages around the world). We had never seen anything like it before.It was a Saturday evening in rural Angola. Our team was visiting villages, distributing wind-up radios. In one village, we found a group of at least 150 people huddled around a tiny radio, listening to Trans World Radio’s weekly broadcast. We joined them on the grass, and listened from the first program to the last, including Women of Hope, the ministry of Project Hannah that I know you pray for so faithfully. Then we introduced ourselves, and made some new friends. Here’s what we learned.The villagers, especially the women, were amazed and grateful to listen to a program addressed to them. Since you cannot meet these dear people face to face, as I do, I’m writing to tell you how your prayers are being answered in the lives of your sisters in Christ, halfway around the world, in Angola. Why should you include scenes in your donation letters? Because your donors are used to movement, action and a three-dimensional experience. Scenes make your fundraising letters “cinematically compelling,” as Lee Gutkind puts it. Scenes involve your donors in the action while informing them about your need for funds.Here is another example, taken from the opening of a fundraising letter mailed by Humane Society International: In
Native habitat: Small, private company; start-up
Status: C-Level; Upper management
Modus operandi: To hide and protect company secrets; keep you at arm’s length
Traits: Guarded; uncommunicative; aloof; cryptic
Signing an NDA with a client doesn’t mean you’ll be told everything you need to know to do your job well. Tight Lips are notorious for not communicating the essentials—business trip schedules, company plans, valuable feedback, etc. This situation is exacerbated when their native language is different from your own or when their communications abilities are minimal at best. When Tight Lips are paranoid about their company’s supposed intelligence, you’re going to find yourself out of the loop. A high degree of confidence is required before a new consultant can be entrusted with privileged information. Until such time, expect to be informed on a “need to know” basis and greeted with a veil of secrecy surrounding most company decisions and transactions.
Recommendations: There is no simple solution here. Probe, ask questions, throw out a few assumptions to see whether they stick to the wall, and hold the Tight Lip to account when important details are glossed over. If you’ve crossed over an imaginary line, you’ll know it.
The Hand Wringer
Native habitat: Large and mid-sized company
Status: Middle management; project management
Modus operandi: To avoid trouble and being judged; protect status quo
Traits: Skeptical; pessimistic; anxious
Hand Wringers predict catastrophe wherever they go. They see the glass as half empty and are shocked when things go right (a deviation from the norm). They trust no one, have little or no confidence in themselves, and tend to second guess their own judgments. Like many other archetypes, Hand Wringers are high-maintenance and need a lot of reassurance. If you’re the impatient sort, you may not enjoy the constant phone calls, questions, whining, and complaints.
Recommendations: Stay positive, communicate clearly, and focus on achieving realistic goals. Break the project down into bite-sized chunks that are palatable and digestible. Sure, it’s nice to be a tower of strength and a beacon of understanding, but, remember, you’re not a panacea for the Hand Wringer’s anxieties. In order to deflect negativity and incessant worrying, you need to remain impassive and firm in your beliefs and expectations.
The Absentee
Native habitat: Small company; start-up
Status: CEO/Managing Director/Owner
Modus operandi: To be busy and in control
Traits: Detached; self-absorbed; unfocused
Nothing is more frustrating than having a client who doesn’t give you straight answers, won’t return phone calls, and is constantly inaccessible and unreachable. Absentees are elusive control freaks who wield their authority from afar where you can’t get a handle on it. But, then again, maybe you can. After all, you’re the one controlling the work, especially its outcome.
Recommendations: Don’t use e-mail to communicate with Absentees. Instead, leave very brief and matter-of-fact messages on their personal cell phones (try to get the number). Talk about consequences with a sense of urgency that they can understand, e.g., the impact on their bottom line, their company’s credibility, and the market opportunities they’re missing. Whatever you do, don’t get bogged down in minutia. Eventually, Absentees will resurface or come down from the mount. When they do, be prepared to move with speed, determination, and an unflagging sense of confidence in your ability to get things done.
The Perfectionist
Native habitat: Small and mid-sized companies
Status: Upper and middle management
Modus operandi: To be secure and right; maintain order; preserve status quo
Traits: Self-critical; fearful; obsessive
Some people can live in chaos and confusion. This isn’t the case with the Perfectionist. Perfectionism, however, is only a symptom of a deeper disorder – a desire to control people and events coupled with a fear of change. Without getting too deep into psycho-babble, let’s talk about this in practical terms. Your job is to manage the project and, as evidenced in this paper, manage the client. Perfectionists typically like to be assured that everything is proceeding on course according to their expectations.
Recommendations: Keep Perfectionists in the loop and in control by meeting with them in person. It is extremely difficult to manage this relationship by phone. Let them throw in their two cents and make the operationally mundane decisions governing your project. Acknowledge their need to tweak, fiddle, and keep order. However, give them forced choices so they can choose the best option. If you keep things too open-ended, they’ll never be secure in their decisions.
The Exploiter
Native habitat: Small and mid-sized companies
Status: Upper and middle management
Modus operandi: To extract blood from a turnip
Traits: Demanding; conniving; manipulative
Industrious, prodigious, and hard-working consultants beware: At some point, your client will take advantage of you and your goodwill. Assuming that you have an agreement which spells out your work and fees in detail, Exploiters will still try to get more out of you. They’ll leverage whatever they can -- your friendship, your expertise, and your good nature – and do it with a smile. That makes it really difficult to say “no.” If you cave in too often, though, you’re in danger of becoming an indentured servant.
Recommendations: Remember, the Exploiter will keep pushing until you push back. When you do push back, keep an eye towards compromise. There are a few favors or freebies you can throw in that won’t eat up your time, but will satisfy the Exploiter’s need to extract more while the day is young and you’re still under contract.
The Emotive
Native habitat: Large and mid-sized companies
Status: Middle management
Modus operandi: To elicit sympathy; manipulate feelings
Traits: Sensitive; impulsive; dramatic
If you think the Hand Wringer is tough to manage, the Emotive will try to push all of your buttons at the same time. This is a person who really believes that high drama will lead to greater understanding and stronger business relationships. These histrionics may work with friends, family, and a few colleagues, but not with a steely-eyed consultant like you. Still, be on guard. Emotives are looking for a crutch – a person who will listen, intervene on their behalf, and share their pain.
Recommendations: Don’t get involved in company politics or the personal problems of your clients. Keep your wits about you, stay above the fray, and remain a neutral party. Sympathy is fine, but empathy crosses the line. Keep the relationship on a professional plane and refrain from responding to emotionally-laden appeals or outbursts. As long as you’re the paragon of cool judgment and im
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