Dear Chase,
We've been working together for a long time.
Actually, I should say, I've been working for you for a long time. Since September 2020.
We go way back.
And honestly, I think in those 3.5 years, you could count on one hand the number of mistakes I've made as your copywriter. And they've all been pretty minor.
This has always been the case for me as a freelancer/agency owner.
I've been able to mostly skate through my career so far without having any major mess-ups that would cause significant lost revenue or embarrassment.
However…
I've had 2 doozies that will haunt me for the rest of my life.
2 major mistakes I remember in my 4 years of freelancing that I wish never happened. I looked so stupid.
They were bad enough that if I were the client, I would have fired me.
But I know this one trick that I learned a long time ago to get through those really bad mistakes without getting fired.
If you ever find yourself in a pickle as a freelancer, just remember this.
It's the Nail In The Ice Cream story.
Imagine you plan to go to an ice cream shop after work.
You've had a terribly long day, everyone's annoying you today, and the only thing you give a shit about all day is this ice cream.
You drive there straight from work to get a cup of your favorite flavor.
After waiting in line for 20 minutes behind a bunch of screaming children, they finally hand you your cup of ice cream that you paid $16 for.
Within 3 spoonfuls, you notice something hard lodged in your cup of ice cream.
It's a nail.
Not a fingernail. A fucking nail.
Like a stainless steel nail. And it's in your ice cream.
HOW in the world does that get in your cup of ice cream that you waited all day for, and paid SIXTEEN DOLLARS for?
You're pissed.
You speed-walk up to the cashier and tell her you found a nail in your ice cream and something needs to be done about this.
The girl working there is obviously young and doesn't like her job.
She tells you to relax, puts a glove on, removes the nail from your ice cream, and hands it back to you.
That was the extent of her customer service.
Now, you're 10x more pissed than you were after having just found – and I cannot stress this enough – A NAIL IN YOUR ICE CREAM.
Depending on how bad your day at work was, this could be end game for you. You might just go lay down on some train tracks.
But let's rewind.
You find the nail in your ice cream.
You march up to the cash register.
You explain the situation to the girl who works there, and because she loves her job and wants every customer to be happy with their product, she is absolutely, positively, completely mortified at what you just told her.
Her heart rate rises to about 120 bpm, and you can see her eyes welling up.
"Oh…my…goodness gracious," she replies. "In my 3 years of working here, I have never had anything this horrific happen. I absolutely cannot stress how disgusting this is. I would NEVER accept this from myself or my team. I am so sorry."
She continues on, through tears, as her vocal pitch crescendos further:
"We're shutting down the store for the day. I can't, in good conscience, allow this place to continue to accept customers after knowing what you've just had to go through. And the employee who made this ice cream is fired. Not only am I going to personally make you a new ice cream, but you, sir, will never have to pay for ice cream ever again at this establishment."
She goes on. And at this point, you're not even really mad anymore.
She's so much more pissed than you were.
You tell her, "Hey, it's like…really not that big of a deal. It's just a nail. I just wanted a new ice cream..."
And such is the art of dealing with angry clients.
All you have to do is get angrier than them.
Understand?
Yours truly,
Alex.
Sent from my Ice Cream Maker (I just have ice cream at home now)
P.S. The guys have a new podcast episode where they share million-dollar course secrets. Check it out!
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