Tone of Voice Masterclass 4: Troubleshooting TOV issues with clients
Summary
TLDRIn this masterclass, experts tackle the challenge of managing tone of voice inconsistencies with clients in copywriting. They discuss the subjective nature of the work, emphasizing the importance of specificity in client feedback to avoid vagueness and constant changes. Strategies like creating a style guide and tone of voice checker are highlighted to streamline the process. The session also covers how to handle clients who are unsure of their brand voice, suggesting a consultative approach to help define it. Lastly, the panel addresses the balance between guiding clients with expertise and respecting their final decisions, even when it means compromising on the copy.
Takeaways
- 😀 The session is focused on troubleshooting tone of voice issues with clients, particularly when they are unsure of what they want.
- 🔍 There is a level of subjectivity in copywriting that can lead to challenges, but it's generally easier to refine copy than design.
- 👍 Copywriters are advised to appreciate the relative ease of receiving feedback on words and sentences compared to logos or designs.
- 📝 It's crucial to establish clear guidelines and ground rules for clients to follow when providing feedback.
- 🤔 When clients are vague or keep changing their minds, it's often due to a lack of specificity in their initial feedback.
- 📉 To manage client uncertainty, encourage them to be specific about their likes, dislikes, and reasons for their feedback.
- 📋 Use tools like Google Docs for clients to provide specific feedback, which can help in refining the copywriting process.
- 🚫 If clients continue to be vague or change their minds frequently, it's important to address the issue promptly to avoid wasted effort.
- 💡 Creating a style guide or brand voice guidelines can serve as a reference point and help manage client expectations and feedback.
- 💰 Understanding when to charge more for additional work due to client changes in the brief is essential for fair compensation.
- 📝 Conducting a tone of voice check on a critical page, like the homepage, can set a solid foundation before expanding to other parts of a project.
- 🤝 When clients are unsure of their brand voice, it's an opportunity for copywriters to offer strategic guidance and define the voice collaboratively.
- 🚧 It's important to know when to push back on client requests with data and expertise, but ultimately the client's wishes should be respected.
- 🏆 Maintaining humility and recognizing that the client's satisfaction is paramount, even if it means accepting less-than-ideal outcomes for one's portfolio.
Q & A
What is the main topic of the video script?
-The main topic of the video script is troubleshooting tone of voice issues, particularly with clients in the context of copywriting.
Why is it sometimes challenging to handle client feedback in copywriting?
-It can be challenging because there is an element of subjectivity involved, and clients may not always be specific or consistent with their feedback, leading to frequent changes in direction.
What is the first step suggested in the script when dealing with clients who keep changing their minds?
-The first step is to ensure that the client's feedback is specific and that they can articulate why they don't like something and what they would prefer.
How can copywriters manage clients who are vague with their feedback?
-Copywriters can manage this by asking for specific examples, focusing on granular feedback, and establishing a clear feedback process.
What is the importance of creating a style guide for a client?
-A style guide helps to establish a reference point for the client's preferences and expectations, which can be used to maintain consistency and manage changing minds.
Why is it recommended to do a tone of voice check before starting a large copywriting project?
-A tone of voice check helps to set a solid foundation and ensures that the client is happy with the tone before expanding the project, which can save time and effort.
What should copywriters do if a client insists on a direction that contradicts their professional advice?
-Copywriters should provide their professional advice backed by data or case studies, but ultimately respect the client's decision as they are the ones paying for the service.
How can copywriters handle situations where a client doesn't know what they want initially?
-Copywriters can work consultatively with the client to define their brand voice, which may involve additional brand strategy work for which they can charge.
What is the role of humility in copywriting according to the script?
-Humility in copywriting involves recognizing that the work is for the client, and sometimes stepping back and accepting the client's wishes even if it means the copy is not as the writer would prefer.
What is the recommended approach for copywriters when they feel their work is being butchered by a client?
-Copywriters should argue their case respectfully and provide their professional opinion, but ultimately accept the client's decision, keeping in mind that pleasing the client is more important than personal satisfaction.
What is the purpose of the masterclass mentioned in the script?
-The purpose of the masterclass is to help copywriters navigate and resolve tonal voice issues with clients, providing strategies and insights for effective communication and project management.
Outlines
🤔 Navigating Client Uncertainty in Tone of Voice
This paragraph discusses the challenges of working with clients who are unsure of their desired tone of voice, leading to frequent changes in direction. The speakers suggest that the subjectivity inherent in copywriting can make it difficult for clients to provide specific feedback. They emphasize the importance of setting clear guidelines and seeking detailed feedback from clients to understand their preferences. The paragraph also touches on the relative ease of adjusting copy compared to design and the need to manage vague client feedback effectively.
📝 Establishing a Style Guide to Manage Client Expectations
The second paragraph focuses on creating a style guide to help manage client expectations and provide a reference point for consistent tone of voice. It discusses the importance of doing a tone of voice check on the home page before proceeding with other content to ensure the client is satisfied with the direction. The speakers also address the issue of clients changing their minds frequently and suggest using the style guide to charge for additional work resulting from significant changes to the brief, distinguishing between valid feedback and changes in client requirements.
🔍 Balancing Expertise with Client Autonomy in Copywriting
In this paragraph, the discussion centers on the balance between using professional expertise to guide clients and respecting their autonomy in decision-making. The speakers recommend backing up recommendations with data, case studies, or articles to provide a strong rationale for suggested strategies. However, they acknowledge that the client has the final say and that copywriters must be prepared to accept their decisions, even if it means compromising on the desired outcome for the copy. The paragraph concludes with advice on maintaining humility and professionalism in the face of client demands.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Tone of Voice
💡Subjectivity
💡Feedback
💡Vagueness
💡Copywriting
💡Brand Strategy
💡Revisions
💡Style Guide
💡Tone of Voice Checker
💡Client Involvement
💡Pushing Back
Highlights
Navigating tone of voice issues with clients is the focus of the masterclass.
Clients may not know what they want, leading to frequent changes in feedback.
The subjectivity in copywriting contrasts with the precision of mathematics.
Copywriters are fortunate as feedback on words is easier than on designs.
Establishing clear guidelines helps manage client expectations and feedback.
Vague client feedback can be combated by requesting specific examples and reasons.
Use a Google Doc for clients to provide specific comments and feedback.
If clients keep changing their minds, seek specificity to understand their needs better.
Difficult clients may require a more granular approach to feedback.
Creating a style guide can help manage client expectations and provide a reference point.
Charging more for changes in the brief is justified as it requires additional work.
A tone of voice checker is crucial to ensure the client is satisfied before proceeding.
Working with clients who don't know what they want requires a consultative approach.
Defining a brand voice may fall under brand strategy and can be charged for.
Finding the balance between accepting client feedback and pushing back with expertise.
Using data and case studies to support strategic decisions in copywriting.
The importance of being frank and honest with clients about potential strategic mistakes.
The client is always right; their satisfaction is paramount even if it impacts the portfolio.
The need for humility in copywriting, understanding that the work is for the client.
Transcripts
[Music]
hi everyone welcome to the last part in
our tone of voice master class which is
all about
troubleshooting tonal voice issues
mainly with clients
so we're going to help you navigate all
of those tricky little things that crop
up
when we've tone of voice um
[Music]
conrad what i was gonna i thought a good
place to start would be
when we all have to deal with this all
the time is when a client doesn't
actually know
what they want they think they do but
they might not
um actually know
so they can come so it will be like
things like changing their minds
um or so it goes back and forth and back
and forth and back and forth
what do we do with them just
give up just stop copyright no i'm
joking um
obviously as we mentioned in the last
video
there is an element of subjectivity
involved in the work that we do we're
not mathematicians
and it can lead to some troublesome
situations at times
i would say first of all comparatively
to
being in the design game we've got it
pretty good
generally it's easier to kind of chisel
copy into a place where the client is
happy than
you know design and it's easier for
people to give feedback on words and
sentences than
looking at a logo which can be
incredibly difficult so first of all
we're lucky that we're in the
copywriting game
um but naturally yeah people have
different ideas
um there's some subjectivity involved as
much as we try to make it scientific we
try to
uh set the ground rules and create
guidelines
and kind of point them to the guidelines
sometimes they will
come back and say no i that's not right
um or i don't think that's correct this
is how it should be
um i feel like i've lost sight of the
original question what was that what was
the question what do they do and they
keep changing their mind it's like
i think but what you a big thing that
you
is the problem of vagueness with the
client so you'll get
they'll highlight things on the dark and
it'll be things like
i don't like this or i still don't like
this
or but there's no without them being
specific
and i think that when a client keeps
changing their minds
a lot of the time it's because they
haven't been specific about their own
feedback
in the first place so they're not even
sure what their starting point was or
where they're going so i think that
getting them like the feedback process
really firmly in place
making sure that they're when they're
giving you feedback they're specific
about why they don't like something
why don't like they like that tone why
isn't it working for them get them to
give examples
of things that they do like and um
that special specificity is going to go
a really long way
to helping you actually manage their
changing
minds 100 yeah it's like
loose vagueness as you as you put it is
is where
it is is the stuff of nightmares you
know when it comes to
um and you know you'll again like i said
we
are providing something on a google doc
where they can write comments so if they
just have this overall feel yeah it just
feels you know jazz it up
for example if they say that you know
try to get more specificity like what
sentences do you like what sentences
don't you like
unless you feel confident that you
understand that feedback
and you have a crack at it if it keeps
happening like if it's happened the
second time
definitely you know nip it in the bud
and
and do what ella says which is like you
know
get them to be granular
about which sentences work and which
don't and why
they might find that a bit annoying and
sometimes you've got this
client that is not only bad at giving
feedback they also don't like
getting involved you know it's
it's unavoidable there will be clients
that just
not great to work with and if there's
kind of a perfect storm
of of uh challenging
issues that they that they have when it
comes to feedback you know they
they don't they don't want to write
things down specifically they want to be
vague
but they keep changing their mind yeah
the more you can focus their attention
in and explain you know
this and not this and why and then you
know if you've got
something some longevity to the project
or it's a retainer
and you kind of sense these or see these
like red flags early on
take those instructions and take them
out into another dock and make a kind of
a a what we call a style guide
for that particular client because again
it's like the brand voice guidelines
which you may or may not have
you know especially if you're writing
long-form content you can then come back
because if they change their mind they
go but look you said here i followed
these instructions so
not only does it preempt you from
falling into the same
problems again or making the same
mistakes
if they are that type of client that
keeps changing their mind
you can use that as a reference point
and say but hang on
you know actually i'm going to have to
charge you more because you've changed
the brief this isn't just a round of
feedback i haven't got it wrong
and there's it needs to be a very clear
definition
and division between um you know
writing uh revisions based on
feedback that is is what you know valid
against them changing the brief because
arguably if they're changing the brief
they should be paying you more money
definitely
and i think that's a money's a really
important point as well and it's a
it's something we can talk about because
if you talk about money
let's talk about money if you're going
back and forth
so okay you write you've been asked to
write
eight pages of web copy you write the
web copy from start to finish
according to um their tone of voice
guidelines if they have them or
according to
and the briefs that you've been given
and they come back and they don't like
it they
no it's not the kind of voice we want so
now you have to start
all the way at the beginning and edit
all of those tonal voice
um the tone of voice for all of those
pages so
a really really important thing that you
can do here and i think we do mention
this in the course
is always do a tone of voice checker um
and we've learned this the hard way over
the years but now it's like we
wouldn't do a project with our tone of
voice check which is basically
for that website would be your home page
because it's always the trickiest to um
to get right get that set in stone get
just work on that home page
until they're happy with it and then
you've got your basis and
and you can build on the copy and it
will go the project will go a lot
quicker from there on
yeah definitely a really good point yeah
um and
yeah i think that's kind of it i think
that i think one other thing we could
cover is when a client actually doesn't
know what they want at all to start off
with
because i think that that does happen as
well like people will come and they're
just
you know i don't know i'm not sure what
i want so
from that point you
can kind of you have to work with them
to try and understand and like because
what you don't want to happen is for you
to keep
jumping around different tones of voices
that they're just gonna until they're
happy with one
so um what do you think at that stage
it's more
it yeah it's a tough one
and sometimes and often that is the case
especially when you're starting out you
will be working with startups
um and small businesses and they might
not know
um and so i guess it's almost like
this is where sort of brand strategy
work comes in
or helping them to define that voice
which really falls into the bucket of
kind of brand strategy which you can
charge for
so again just think you know have your
commercial hats on and and think that
like
you want to set this project up for
success right
you both want to get to that end goal
which is that perfect
shiny copy that's going to compel and
convince and convert
customers so what steps are going to be
needed to get there if they don't have a
set idea
of what that brand voice or what their
brand is
it's going to be very difficult for you
to to get there and and
and like ella said it you might go in
one direction that we like no
another direction no so so work
with them you know consultatively and
charge for that time
to kind of flesh it out and ask them
these questions and
and and and get paid for it and you know
you're making more money
they're getting you know a more logical
process that will lead to a
a good end result so it's a win-win
situation
yeah um and i think another thing we
wanted to chat about
correct them correct me if i'm wrong i
was is
uh that i think some people in
in the course were kind of wondering
where where's that line
between when they should just accept
what
the client is saying and when they
should push back
yep the good point
it is i'm asking you i'm throwing that
question you yeah
i think it's our job to i don't think
there's a definitive answer i think that
it's our job to and we use our own
expertise
to guide them and to use
and whatever we're trying to guide them
towards try and back up
with case studies with data like
articles you can find on the web
um for a particular headline formula
you've used or for a different title or
whatever direction you're going in
try to back it up with convincing data
or stats or past work so
you're kind of coming at it with not
just saying
because it's my opinion it's like these
are proven techniques
um it's proven strategy um
and it really works but i mean
ultimately they are the client and all
you can do is advise
and as long as you've done that to the
best of your ability um
then something if they still want to go
in a different direction you just have
to go okay
that's fine yeah and what i'll say is
one thing we do in the
pitching process is we say look we're a
frank
an honest agency we state how it is
if we see something that we believe is a
strategic mistake
we're going to kind of call you out on
it and we're going to
not in a a rude way we're gonna kind of
yeah um we're gonna point point it out
and say look we believe this isn't quite
right or this is what you should be
doing
and yeah like ella said wherever
possible back it up link to an article
link to something that that proves it's
not just your opinion
yeah um it's like yes sorry go on
um and what was i gonna say i lost my
train of thought
and what was i saying back it up yeah
link to it
and then you know like ella said there's
only so much you can do
and even i say that in the pitching
process i say look we're always going to
do that and they
they respect that often it's a good
spell
oh that's what we want whether they do
or not you know you don't know in
reality but
they want often they want that or they
like you saying that so it helps
sell you before you've even sealed the
deal but then when it comes to the the
reality of the situation
is you give that suggestion you send
that email or you
you jump in that meeting and if they say
no
then you know the client is always right
at the end of the day they're paying you
for your
services so you have to do it and don't
get too kind of
precious we see this with freelancers a
lot
yeah i know you want to have that
perfect copy on the website for your own
portfolio
right but don't push back too hard
otherwise you are going to piss off the
client
yeah exactly they want to butcher their
your copy and put it on the site you can
argue your case
and then once and that's it it's your
portfolio is not
as important as their what they want and
pleasing the client and that's
really important i think it is it's
about there's a big part of copywriting
which is about humility like you do
have to just step back and it's not your
writing it's for the clients you know
like and you do just have to step back
and go okay
fair enough i think that's a really good
point and i think that
is something that copywriters can easily
stumble into because it's not very nice
seeing your copy get butchered but
all the time all the time exactly
cool i think that's everything
um can you think of anything else have
we covered everything off
i think we i think we've we've had a
perfect
session perfect session cool look out
for the next masterclass guys hope it's
been useful
and feel free to ask us any questions in
the community as well
cheers guys
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