I live by the “customer is always right” philosophy. I may not always agree with my clients but they’re the ones paying me to do the job their way. There are times when I might offer a suggestion if I feel they’re going in the wrong direction, but I always defer to them. It’s that paycheck thing.
I saw an online conversation today with two freelancers arguing over whether or not the customer is always right. The first freelancer felt the same way I do, that the person who is paying has final say in the decision. The second freelancer feels that the writer is the expert. The client is hiring the freelancer for his creativity and expertise and the writer should have final say.
While I do get that we’re being hired for our expertise, I don’t think it’s up to us to insist the clients do things our way. It’s one thing for me to offer advice to one of my freelance writing or social media clients, quite another thing to have a creativity hissy fit because my client doesn’t want to do his project MY way. I’ll suggest and guide, but I’m being paid to write the best representation of the client’s business or brand. This isn’t necessarily my voice. I get that and it’s not a hit to my ego to write in my client’s voice. It’s also not a hit to my ego if the client wants to do things HIS way.
What says you, FWJ community. Who makes the ultimate decision on how a project should go, the client or the writer?