Your client’s idea stinks! What do you do?
Five tips for working with a client who thinks he knows the PR business, but is instead offering disastrous ideas.
It would seem bizarre.
The same goes for legal counsel. Imagine if you were a lawyer counseling a client—as long as it wasn’t a fellow lawyer—and a similar scenario occurred.
Why would someone who isn’t experienced and professionally qualified tell a highly trained expert what to do? Especially considering the person willingly selected that expert. Crazy, right?
Well, it happens every day in PR. Professional, experienced, well-qualified practitioners in this field are often told—by the very clients who hired them—how to do their jobs.
It’s vital to listen to clients and to take into account their thoughts and feedback.
That’s not what I’m talking about here. I’m going into that long dark tunnel most of us have found ourselves in, where a client insists on an idea that’s dreadful: a “solution” that would backfire, make the client a laughing stock with the media or even worsen a crisis.
You can’t give in, but it’s delicate. You can’t laugh in the client’s face, nor say the idea stinks.
What to do? Here are five tips:
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