Verbal Tics and My Top Three Pet Peeves For Creative Business Speak

Everything matters in creative business. How you dress. How you talk. Where you go (hey it is a digital world). And, yes, how you write (even in a digital world).

However they happen, we all get into ruts. We answer questions the same way. Get into the same arguments with clients. Find ourselves in a perpetual ground hog day we have no idea how to get out of. The definition of looney tunes – doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result. I call them verbal tics.

The answer is in the details. Client asks what do you charge. You answer. They say, “Wow, you are expensive.” You say, but here is what you get and how much I will do for you. They say, “Wow, you are still expensive.” You panic and start negotiating.  Maybe you get the client, maybe not. Either way you lose, you just turned creativity into a commodity.  What if, instead, you said, “I am not expensive, I just cost a lot of money.” And for those of you who would like to be provocative you could add, “and if you cannot understand the difference, I am not sure we are a good fit.” What comes after that will be a real dialogue of what you will create for the amount you charge. Not stuff, art.

Another fave: after telling you their exhaustive list of wants for their project, a potential client tells you their teeny tiny budget relative to their wish list. You then say that, based on what they want, you cannot do it for their budget. Here is what you just told your potential client: you are a moron, you do not know what things cost and I am here to educate you on your stupidity. Shocker, they dig in and stick to their number. Nobody likes to be told they are stupid. Ever. Instead, why not talk about yourself, your art and your creative business. “Your project sounds amazing and right in line with the work I love to do. My projects (exclusive of my fees and associated expenses – taxes, shipping, storage, etc.) usually run in the range of $X to $Y. You can certainly get what you desire for your budget. Unfortunately, it is not a budget I feel comfortable working with as I would not be able to do the level of work you would expect of me and I would expect of myself. I would be more than happy to refer you to someone who might be able to meet your budget or we can work together on a minimum production budget we would both feel good about and go from there. We can always go up if you like, but we will not need to to make your project spectacular.” Distinction with a huge difference.

You have to pay attention to what you are saying without saying it. Do you honor your clients? Your art? Your creative business? Do you act with integrity – walk the walk, not just talk the talk? By the way, walking the walk does not mean lie down, it means to respect your clients and yourself, your art and your creative business’ process. Sometimes respect means, in the nicest, sweetest, most polite way, you tell your client to f-off for being inappropriate. Your show, not theirs.

In the spirit of saying things just because or because everyone else says or does them, here are my top three pet peeves for creative business speak. Yes, in order, an I wish they would all evaporate from our creative business lexicon yesterday:

Full Service. We are a full service “____________” (you fill in the blank). As opposed to the self-service, sort of do-it-yourself shop down the street? If a client says “I just need”, they do not need a creative business. A creative business, ahem, creates. Specifically, it creates what a client cannot. You are not a helper, you are an artist. Act like one and do not apologize or remind someone that you are full anything. You just are.

Package. You are not an all-inclusive hotel. The notion of saying “Here’s what you get” sucks. See above. You are an artist. They get your creative business to create incredible art for them in the best way you know how. Telling potential clients they get what everyone else gets is exactly the opposite of what you want your clients to think.

Lists of Services. In the same spirit of number one and two, giving me a list of what is included when a client hires your creative business starts a negotiation you do not want to have. “So I see you will be on site for 8 hours with your silver package but 10 with your gold. We want the album that comes with the gold, but only want you for 8 hours, what is your price then?” Good luck with that. No list of what a client gets is ever going to make (or even help) them understand the power of what you are going to create for them. The power of your art and your creative business has to be communicated intimately. Meaning human being to human being. It IS personal. There is not a full service, package list of services that will get around that.

Sweat the details, understand what you are saying. Say it with intention and direction. The dialogue is there for you and your creative business first, client second. Pretending it is the other way around does not help anyone. You are the guide and you are there to transform. Clients are seduced by what you and your creative business has done for others, but they leap when they can see what the guidance and transformation will look like for them.