Saving the day with a cigarette...

By Brian Grimmer

When working as an Art Director for a graphic design firm, it is common to find customers who get upset by anything other than good news regarding the project they have entrusted the firm to produce.  When things do not go perfectly, customers can understandably lose their temper and become unprofessional.  Because of this possibility, one must be able to accept critical comments (6 Characteristics, 2009).

One such event involved a client in need of 2,500 flyers for an upcoming weekend event.  The client’s staff prepared the file and approved the subsequent proof prior to starting the press run.  Unfortunately, the client did not discover that the phone number formatting on the flyer was incorrect until after the print-run was completed.

The client flipped out and began to curse out the staff so vehemently, that the office manager wanted to call the police despite the company policy of, “never call the police unless lives are in danger as nobody wins when law enforcement is involved.”  Instead, I calmly waived the staff away, used a distraction, and worked to find a solution.

I said, “There is still time to correct this issue and have your flyers ready for tomorrow.”  Knowing the client smoked cigarettes, I held one out as a peace offering and said, “Let’s step outside, and smoke a cigarette so we can calm down and work this out.”  By distracting the client with the offer of a smoke, I was able to effectively redirect the client’s attention back towards finding a solution.

Rather than rely on unpleasant police tactics to resolve an unpleasant situation and ruin everyone’s day, the distraction provided by the offering of a cigarette and rapid development of a workable solution to the problem provided a win-win scenario.  Not only did the print shop keep a good customer, a few employees earned overtime hours and the client had flyers for the event.

References:

6 Characteristics of the Successful Designer. (2009, September 5). Paper Leaf Design. Retrieved November 9, 2013, from http://paper-leaf.com/blog/2009/09/6-characteristics-of-the-successful-designer/