7 Ways to Tell a Client He’s Wrong
Credit: Primastock on Photodune
Telling a client that he is, in fact, wrong can be the hardest thing you ever have to do in your freelance career. It’s not something that we generally consider to be a healthy step: it can lose you a client pretty quickly if not handled properly.
Even if a client accepts that he is incorrect about something, it may still be harder to work with him in the long run.
Here are a few options for telling a client that he’s wrong, with a little more grace.
- “X has been updated recently.” Especially when working with anything the least bit technical, I’ve found that clients lock on to concepts that may have been possible with past technology but aren’t handled the same way now. A good turn of phrase is to point to a recent update, rather than trying to tell a client he’s wrong.
- “Can I suggest an alternative?” By talking about the right way as another option — one with better odds of working — you don’t have to tell a client he’s wrong, while still getting the right way to do things on the table.
- “Look at this piece of evidence.” In many cases, if you present your evidence correctly, a smart client can come to the conclusion that he was incorrect, without you needing to explicitly state it.
- “Why do you want to do things this way?” Most clients don’t actually make decisions out of the blue, no matter how much it might feel that way. If you can dig deeper and understand the logic behind the situation, you can explain things in a way that addresses their concerns.
- “X did it this way.” Pick some big names that your client will know and break down how those individuals or organizations tackled the problem (preferably in line with your suggestions). If you personally worked with those organizations and have first person knowledge, dive in as deep as you can go.
- “You’re paying me for my expertise.” Sometimes a client just doesn’t want to listen. You may have no option but to sit her down and explain that the reason you charge as much as you do is because you’re an expert in your field and you have the experience to make judgment calls.
- “You’re wrong.” I admit: there’s no grace at all in this option, but it’s still worth trying. There’s a lot of ways that this option can go wrong, but if you’re comfortable with your client, just saying it straight out can save so much time. Be civil, of course, but be honest. You can jump in, get things fixed and move on.
Of course, you can always let a client go on in the wrong direction. If they’re asking you to do something that you can handle just as easily as doing things the right way, it’s tempting to just go along with things and get paid. In some cases, just walking away from the project as a whole may feel even better.
But isn’t it better to work with clients who get things right? Invest the time to talk a client through the situation and you can get there.
Photo credit: Some rights reserved by Primastock.
Leave a Comment
These are good tips, but I think it really depends on the type of freelancing you do. In some types of work (programming, web development, etc.) there is a right and wrong answer – wrong just doesn’t work, or at least can be proven to slower, less reliable, etc. It’s another story, though, with subjective types of work (design, writing, etc.) where there’s no such thing as “wrong”. In those cases it’s less about telling the client they’re wrong so much as their idea is bad, which is a real minefield.
My tip to add would be to carefully gauge the client before you say anything. Some clients just aren’t receptive to feedback and any attempt to sway them will just make things worse.
He’s wrong? Change it to “they’re” wrong. Sexist.
boohooo. No one really cares.
Pretty spot on on this one.
They’re all good tips. I often find myself needing to steer a client in a different direction because they do not understand the complexities of what they’re asking. I will always state that they can have anything they want but, if I feel it would be beneficial, I’ll offer an alternative that will be more cost effective or offer what I’d consider a better final product. Then, after the first project, they will usually bring me into discussions earlier and give me more control.
If they aren’t open to any alterations after some gentle persuation I will just push through it and charge accordingly. I would never be blunt enough to tell them that they are wrong. As far as I am concerned they can have whatever they want, I will make suggestions on how to improve it or make it cheaper but I am ultimately delivering a service that they are paying for so they can have anything within reason. I’d rather get paid to create something that isn’t perfect than not get the project at all by being elitist.
I like to tell the client “this is how it will happen if we do it this way, and this is what will happen if we don’t”
if they still don’t go for it, share some MaryJane with them, and ask again ^_^
They will understand…
I’ve had to do all of these. Sometimes with the same person about the same thing. Lol. Very good post and advice.
Thank you very much for the tips. I’ve just let go sometimes… so the next time I’m faced with a similar situation I’ll come back to this post. Cheers!
Telling a client you have made a major mistake is far worse than telling them they are wrong.
I have no problem telling clients they are wrong, they pay me for my skills & ability, I do them a diservice if I see something that is wrong & go along with it because I am scared of offending them.
It has to be tactful but that is not too hard.
I recently had to go through this with a client. I don’t know what it is about being a designer but many of us (including me) seem to take offense at the mere idea that someone could tell us to design something in a better way.
After writing an upset email but NOT hitting send, I read over the changes again. Some of them were actually quite good suggestions and I went with them. Others were not. So wrote a new email and used the “complement sandwich”. Gave kudos for the good recommendations at the beginning and end and told them they were wrong in between. I went with the line “I should tell you, as long as you are paying for my expertise as a professional designer…” and added “as it is right now, I would put this particular item in my portfolio”. The client said they would trust me and went with it.
Last month I had to use “You’re wrong”, but in a special way. My client wanted a list of things that would need to be changed on his website and also wanted a price. I put all the things together and also included some options from which he could choose.
After 20 minutes, I got a mail back for which I first had to take a little walk. He told me that he doesn’t need someone who thinks he could do better than him and that I wanted to pull him over the barrel with my price because he’s just a little non-tech guy. He hadn’t read the options I’ve sent him. He just summed up all prices he saw and took his calculated result as “end price”, which obiously is wrong. Which is what I told him directly.
Guess who has a new customer now..
Clients never know they are wrong.
The first 3 points seem the best in my experience, the word ‘wrong’ is always sure to turn things south: ) must pull out the old how to win friends & influence people book again to do a refresher!
A classic book for all people to read!
Hey, why bother with the first six
“Why do you want to do things this way?” I guess it comes down to the tone of voice when you ask this question, because in the wrong tone, it could appear as an attitude.
I do like the “x did it this way” because people are more likely to change their mind if you can give a good example of successful people whom have had success with doing it in the way you suggest.
These are great tips!
I really liked it, Thanks
This is one of the toughest aspects of client relations. While there is no silver bullet, qualifying the prospective client is best in avoiding a lot of this. Unfortunately, clients often undervalue a designer’s work, thanks to the proliferation of freebies, desktop software, and wannabe designers charging cheap.
It’s also common for some clients to model their site’s ambitions from many of the 1995 – 2000 sites they frequent, and they’re not aware their new site isn’t for them to enjoy, but for their customers to use. Some are just not exposed to the fresh designs we regularly surround ourselves with, nor are they keen on good usability.
As this article states, they hired us for our expertise, so gentle enlightenment is often necessary.
Also, I feel the, “you’re wrong,” statement would be better with something like, “I believe your customers won’t be best served with what you’re proposing, and this is why…” The statement is direct, but non-combative, referencing your expertise without being absolutist – and MOST importantly – favoring their goals and customers above all else.
Change it to “they’re” wrong. Sexist.
True to my thinking, the customer is never wrong, if they are wrong, they’re very difficult in the long-term cooperation, unless the client realize that when we demonstrate convincing evidence and wisdom smart.
I have met many customers are tempered though they were 100% wrong, I always wait for them softly through anger will explain later.
Your article very interesting, I like it, I have marked up and sent to colleagues to see.
Wait for all your new or more