Despite our best efforts to get it right the first time, we can still get it wrong and end up with an unhappy client. So what can we writers do to turn the situation around?
While our article on Client Dissatisfaction and Managing Difficult Clients provides detailed guidance on client communication, this article provides several tips and key techniques on revising documents for an escalated client:
Listen to the client! Carefully read the message history and drafts to ensure you’ve gathered all their feedback.
Change the style. If the client asks for a more modern layout, try a different template, change the font style or the border line colors, or add or remove color. A few cosmetic tricks can modernize the document without changing the structure.
Spend a few extra minutes on research. Many customers, especially those well along in their careers, know when a writer does not fully understand their industry. If clients complain that incorrect or irrelevant keywords have been used, go back and do some homework, or reach out to writer support for assistance.
Be flexible! Once you’ve educated the client on our strategies, be open to their requests. If the client prefers specific phrasing, use it! During the revision period with an escalated client, their satisfaction is our top priority. When in doubt, reach out to us!
Here are a few real client scenarios to illustrate how we addressed client dissatisfaction and endeavored to make these customers happy:
Scenario 1:
Mr. Christopher was mostly pleased with his content, but really didn't like the format and layout. His original resume was quite creative with color, graphics, and photos, none of which made it ATS-friendly. The format that the writer selected was appropriate - the VIP Version 2 - but given Mr. Christopher's penchant for pizzazz and color, the writer could have foreseen that perhaps Mr. Christopher would find the new resume somewhat bland.
Fig 1: Cover page of original resume
This customer is in sales and marketing with a passion for mountaineering and his original resume did a good job of storytelling, with the disadvantage that it was too long, not ATS-friendly, and would thus not likely land on a recruiter's desk.
The below screenshot shows a fine first draft with strong content, but the client wanted more of a modern look to his resume, so the writer reached out to writer support to see what we could come up with.
Fig 2 First draft submitted to the customer
The below-modified resume format worked out well as a compromise, we added a bit of color from the client's original resume as well as an accomplishments section to better highlight his career successes. Lastly, we also changed the font style as per the client's request. I try to pick font styles with clean lines that are easy to read. I like Helvetica and Franklin Gothic Book. In this example, we switched from Franklin Gothic Book to Calibri Light. It's amazing how these minor changes and modifications can help turn around a project and the client's satisfaction. The client was pleased with the changes.
Fig 3 Revised format using color based on client's original resume.
Scenario 2:
This client recently held a high-profile job at the White House as well as numerous positions in govt and non-profits. She is targeting roles such as Director of Operations, HR Director, Director of Social Responsibility positions in non-profit or higher education sectors, she wants out of politics. The writer had a hard time presenting her diverse work experience in a cohesive way and failed to implement many of the client's requested edits. This is one of the most critical steps a writer can take toward de-escalating the client; and if the requested clients edits are detrimental to him or her, then explain the reason for not implementing said edits.
In this scenario, the client requested that the summary paragraph and qualifications summary be condensed; she also noticed some overlapping content in the QS and the work history section which she wanted addressed. The writer missed out on these requests in the first round, which is partly why the client escalated. The second reason was that the client felt her skills were pigeonholed as administrative support as opposed to administrative leadership. So how did we help her?
Figure 4 First Draft for Anna
Here we see that the resume title does not quite correspond to her career goals, it reflects her current role in govt, but not her desire to leave govt roles. Also the Qualifications Summary reads more like career highlights, not skills. Header and bulleted content have to be cohesive, otherwise the client will call you on it.
On page 2, the client wanted some of the Additional Experiences to be covered in full. Rightly so, because they are relevant and they don't date back beyond ten years. Also, under Education, you can assume that the U of Cincinnati is in Cincinnati, try to avoid asking the client for obvious prompts. Do a little extra research if you need to.
Figure 5: Page 2 of first draft showing Additional Experience not fully covered.
The below 2 screenshots (Fig 6 and 7) offer a look at the final version we came up with for this client. For the resume title, we opted for Director of Operations because it is more relevant to the private sector and business world. and added profile because she has not held a similar position before.
Figure 6: Revised draft with short summary paragraph and Areas of Expertise.
To more effectively highlight her experience in multiple sectors throughout her career, we subdivided her experience into Govt, Non-profit, Academic. Luckily her experience in these areas was fairly chronological, but even if it hadn't been, I think we would have tried this strategy anyway. We also expanded her work history to fully cover the positions that were originally placed under Additional Experience.
Figure 7: Page 2 of newly revised draft.
Ultimately, it is incumbent upon us as writers to listen to our clients, incorporate their changes, and accommodate requests as long as said requests do not negatively impact the effectiveness of the documents. Sometimes these efforts require more time and thought as well as some out-of-the-box thinking. If this is the case, do not hesitate to experiment or play around with different ideas. Reach out to writer support for assistance if your project turns out to be more time-consuming and complex than you thought. The projects that require this extra effort are all the more satisfying when you have been able to come up with a creative solution that turns the client around.