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How Many Revisions Are Enough?
Have you ever been disappointed in something you bought? When you opened the box, did you discover a defect or maybe a packing error? Were the contents everything you hoped, or did you announce what so many people do nowadays:
“I’m taking this back to the store.”
Imagine you trod on back to the store with your goods under your arm, set them down on the counter, and are politely told by a nice clerk, “No, I’m sorry. We don’t accept returns. We don’t provide exchanges. We don’t give credit.”
This gains you no repeat business.
Every writer should prepare for returns – or more commonly called revision requests, because services can’t be undone, and full refunds are never a win-win solution.
Have a revision policy in place. Never assume that clients will unconditionally love your work, because writing is subjective. One man’s treasure is another man’s trash. There will be revision requests, so know ahead of time how you’ll deal with a client who says, “I’m not happy with this.”
But that begs the question: To what lengths should you go to ensure customer satisfaction? How many revisions should you allow?
That’s a very good question indeed.
Some writers only offer one revision. They may feel it’s the client’s fault for not being clear or that more than one revision becomes a losing affair. Some offer two or three revisions to give a little extra value to the client. Some go for gold and offer unlimited revisions.
Lesson number one: The longer the guarantee, the higher the sales.
This is important. People like a safety net for risk that offers them plenty of opportunity with the fewest restrictions. They feel more secure in their decision to buy.
Why do you think sellers offer guarantees in the first place? To remove the risk factor, of course, and to provide the answer to clients who ask, “What if I don’t like it?”
In the case writing, clients of freelancers like having a risk-free policy, too. Offering one revision is good. Offering two revisions is better. Offering three is great, and offering unlimited revisions… well, that’s fantastic.
If you don’t offer three or more revisions already, you’re most likely shuddering in horror at the thought of a bad job coming back onto your desk over and over and over again. “Clients will abuse it,” you think. “They’ll just keep nitpicking…”
No, they won’t. You may have one or two bad jobs that haunt you, but you would’ve had those bad jobs anyways. You would’ve just quit working on them sooner and left your client unhappy and stuck.
If you lengthen your guarantee – the number of revisions you’ll allow – your rate of revisions will not go up (unless you’re not a good writer) and your revision requests will not increase. If anything, they’ll remain at the same level you have now or even decrease.
And you’ll have happier customers. Guaranteed.
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This post gave me flashbacks…
A few years ago I worked at a non profit organization. Serving as a “writer’ was one of my responsibilities. Initially, the job was given to me because the person who usually did them was out sick for quite a while. The project, a press release, was passed on to me after that “Staff writer ” became one of my jobs. I developed many extra jobs during my employment with them. In my case the people giving me the work kept changing their mind about what they wanted me write about. However, I left that experience with a positive outlook I highly doubt that I’ll have clients to that extreme so everything else should easy in comparison.
What you said does make perfect sense. It’s a great idea to add that information to your proposal so the client is fully aware of what you will offer.
On Deborah’s website, you mentioned you had an ebook? What is the ebook about? I’ll try to locate it.
@ Opal – Write for the Web is our ebook that helps new writers get started. It offers tons of information beyond that you need skills, a computer, and an Internet connection. Situations like the one you just described – and the issues my post discusses – are the type that are avoided after reading our ebook. It gives writers that extra edge on smarts.
Alternatively, click on the ad in the top right corner of this page.
I’m a brazilian webwriter and a came here to say tha a just loved your “One man’s treasure is another man’s trash.”
Here I often have problems with clients that not only say that they didn’t like my job without leaving a reasonable reason (that’s why that quote just picked me up): they came up to me saying what phrase should – or may (or will) – I include on my paragraphs! This is so boring: people that don’t know how to write, telling me what to write. And lots os exclamations requested.
That’s because I’m afraid of offering three or more revisions.
(Maybe they fell free to nitpick because they are older than me – a 23 years old webwritter.)
Anyway. How do you face this kind of problem? How to negociate sense with people that just feel free (“I’m paying…”) to DO your job? (A trash to me.)
Your tips are so helpfull to me. Keep writing, please.
James,
GREAT post. I’d never run into a revision monster until recently, and it was extraordinarily painful. It’s important to note that it’s really crucial to hold the client partially responsible for this process if they’re not communicating well. No matter how many times I asked, the client was refusing to give me a template or example of what they were looking for….so the whole project was me submitting things, which would be replied to with “This isn’t what I wanted.” The big problem was that I don’t think they knew what they wanted, they just wanted me to try and hit the moving target.
I wish I’d seen this post before I took that gig.
Susan
I’ve gone back and forth on this, and I’ve settled (for now) on two rounds of revisions. To be honest, I’ve had clients ask for revisions plenty of times, but I’ve never had a client need more than two rounds–and if I did, I’d probably accommodate it despite the policy as long as the revisions don’t reflect a change in scope. Susan’s right, though; some clients really don’t know what they want and want you to figure it out using your writerly psychic skills. It’s those clients that make it necessary to have a limit on revisions, but it’s also our job as writers to make sure they understand what a “change in scope” means and that your ability to get it right is strongly affected by their ability to communicate clearly.
@ Susan – One issue that I find crops up often is that writers tend to blame their clients for poor communication. But think about it: Who communicates best in this relationship? Most often, it’s the writer. As such, making sure you’re asking the right questions and helping the client provide you with clear answers you can work with is important. Why not make a template form of your own to have clients fill out before you start working? When your work comes back with the note, “This isn’t what I wanted,” then stop. Ask the client, “Well, what is it you want? Can you provide samples? Are you looking for X or Y? Would you like Z or A?” Suggest ideas, be specific, and see if you can’t help your client communicate his or her needs more effectively.
@ Claucio – While I think that people who say, “I’m paying you for this, so you must provide,” are extremely rude (there are other ways to say stuff like that), they’re essentially right – as long as they are focusing on what you agreed to provide. Make sure that you tell clients exactly what you’ll give, and then give it. If clients are consistently telling you how to do your job, then perhaps it’d be good to look at their feedback, determine the pattern, and take a course to eliminate the issue. Of course, there are tons of individual issues involved in working with clients, so I may not be hitting on the problems you’re running into. Let me know if there is something specific; I’ll see if I can help. Sometimes it’s more efficient for your business to figure out the best way to resolve those issues so they don’t keep happening.
@ Jennifer – Harry runs into this often in graphic design, because it’s far more visual and imaginative than writing (in my opinion.) He’s often had clients say, “I’m not sure what I want. Why not do what you feel is best, and we’ll work from there?” So he does, and the client goes, “Well, that’s not what I want. I can’t tell you what I want, but I can tell you what I don’t want!” What we’ve done with graphic design is offer two revisions and then bill for additional changes by the hour. We’re happy to please, but taking shots at a dartboard when you have a blindfold on isn’t productive.
But as you mentioned, in our experience, most clients don’t require revisions. Those who do may ask for one and request small changes. Those who need more need your help to communicate more effectively (see my reply to Susan).
Hi James,
I should mention that eventually we parted ways, because they refused to communicate what they wanted.
I sent a template, I sent a questionnaire, I sat on the phone with them for hours everytime they called….trust me when I say I facilitated communication however I could. I’m always the first one to blame myself if something isn’t working, but there was no way this was going to happen to their satisfaction.
I think there simply are clients out there who I just can’t work with, though they’re .0001% of the population. I never mind revisions, and if anything I probably overcommunicate with clients, but there will always be ones that are just flat out a bad match.
Thoughts?
I encountered the same problem as Susan; however, the experience I mentioned above was when I worked outside the home.
I asked a lot of questions sat in meetings, etc. I went with what was agreed upon only to find out later that changed their mind and wanted something entirely differently. However, I wasn’t the only one that encountered this problem a few other people did although their jobs were different.
I definitely go out of my way to understand and ask questions because I don’t like being in that situation. It’s the only time I’ve encountered that amount of poor planning. In my prior job, where I had to create weekly and monthly reports for the military this was never an issue. They did not stray from what they wanted occasional I did have to do revisions but never over two times.
I agree at times clients need to have a good idea of what they want before they approach the writer if they are undecided than it can be extremely frustrating for both parties.
@ Susan – Oooh. Harry’s going to have comments on this, I’m sure. We recently had a situation where we bent over backwards and jumped through hoops, and it still wasn’t working out. Add, “I’m paying you to think for me,” and “You’re the professionals, not me, so don’t ask me what I want,” and you had two very unhappy boys trying to figure out how to still be professional but draw the line.
I’ll let him give his thoughts.
Hey everyone. Wow, this topic really took off! This is one of the times when being 3 hours behind everyone else isn’t an advantage.
James is right, I’m so tired of hearing “You’re the professional, I leave it up to you.” Okay, if I’m the professional, why aren’t you listening to me? I’ve written a few posts on clients from hell and how to avoid being one. While it feels good to write about it and get it off my chest, it always leaves a bad taste in my mouth afterwards.
We try to live up to the old phrase of “the customer is always right”, and do our damndest to accommodate everyone, but there are times when the situation slides into abuse and that we won’t stand for. Walking away from jobs is never easy and believe me, we both do a lot of soul searching before we call it quits. We both take a long, hard look at our own reactions; are we too emotionally involved? Is there really a problem? Did we really do our best? I often have to step outside myself and try to view the events objectively. Sometimes the problem is with client’s tone in an email and has nothing to do with the project itself. Other times, the client’s lack of communication skills is the problem and no matter what you do, you can’t get it right.
I liked James’ comment about who’s the better communicator in relationships like these. It’s true, it is the writer. We communicate all the time, it’s our job. People hire us to put together the words they can’t. In the freelance world and the corporate 9 – 5 world, I’ve often found myself saying “Why can’t (insert name here) just leave me to do what I do best?”
Until the day comes where we can plug a cable in our heads and download thoughts directly, people need to learn how to effectively communicate what they want. If they don’t know what they want, they should learn how to express their dislike for what you’ve done with a little more than “This doesn’t work for me, try again.”
This reminds me of a linen outlet that was established in my area a couple of years ago. I was surprised when I went in to return an item only to be told there was a ten day limit on returns and that they only offered store credit. What I needed was my money back! I simply made a note to refrain from shopping there, and I wasn’t surprised when they went out of business a few months later.
I believe that in freelancing flexibility is key. Officially, I offer 1-2 revisions (depending on project scope) to all clients, but I will do further revisions at no additional charge if the request is within reason. The limit is included only to prevent rewriting the same document so many times that it is no longer worth the time or trouble. I have never experienced this, but after reading some experiences that other freelancers had in such situations, I instituted the policy as a preventative measure. Gladly, I haven’t had but a few minor revision requests so far.
I feel better now that I’ve read this. For a while now I have been telling all my clients — after I turn in the completed assignments — that I’m more than happy to do three free rewrites. I always wondered if the number was too low or too high, and now I know it must be perfect.
Thanks!
Blessings,
Misti Sandefur, Novelist/Freelance Writer
www.mistisandefur.com/Services/professional_writing_services.html
@Misti: There really is no right or wrong answer to how many revisions a writer should provide. You need to do what you feel comfortable with and make sure you’re not being taken advantage of by the client. If it works for you, it is perfect.
@ Misti – We usually offer unlimited revisions and it’s backfired on us with exactly three clients in all our time writing, which is a very small percentage. Most freelancers we know offer one or two. We limit revisions on some jobs, though, when it’s in our best interest to do so or when the project is an extremely subjective one.
@ Melissa – iI have a story. I started to write it as a comment but it became too long, so it’ll be a blog post
I just found Jurgen Wolff’s blog and discovered this post “What to Do When You Get Feedback You Don’t Agree With” In it he says about difficult people:
“…If they suggest something that makes the project better, make the change and be grateful; if they suggest something that is neither better nor worse, just different, make the change and shut up; if they suggest something that makes it worse – fight! Save your ammunition for the important battles, give way on the unimportant ones.”
Wow! What a great post and thread. I’ve thought about this issue a lot over the years. I’d like to share a few tactics that have worked for me:
If you have a gut feeling at the first meeting that the client is going to be difficult, ALWAYS pass on the job. When I was new to freelancing and desperate for clients, if I intuited the client was a muppet I would add a “tax” onto my fee to cover the hassles that were bound to ensue. But it never made up for the added drama. I soon learnt it’s better to give clueless and/or overly demanding clients a miss altogether.
What’s more important than the number of revisions you offer is the time limit on them. You don’t want to be doing revisions 8 months after you emailed the first draft… especially if your payment is contingent on the client signing off the final copy. I spell out in my contract how many revisions I will do and within what time limit (I also remind the client of the time limit in a header at the top of the draft copy.) I also make my final payment due after 14/30 days from the delivery of the first draft. That way I still get paid even if the client is pfaffing around with revisions.
BTW I’ve always offered 2 rounds of revisions, but most clients only use one.
The trick is to get the brief locked in at the outset. It’s not a bad idea to get the client (especially new ones) to sign off on a draft outline. So if they come back to you and say they want something different, you say “Sure” and then remind them that a change of scope incurs an extra fee.
If the client is of the “I don’t know what I want, but I’ll know it when I see it” variety, you better have that draft outline signed off or it will end in tears. Or, if they tell you this upfront, I wouldn’t offer any revisions (as they’re for approved customers only!). You’ll find paying your hourly rate for rewrites will focus the client’s mind real quick!
If the client hates your copy you have to find out EXACTLY why. You have to get them to commit to precisely what they want changed and why. Steve Slaunwhite has written an excellent article on how to do this:
http://forcopywritersonly.com/archive19.html
As for fighting for what you know is right… that’s a tricky one. We all know “The client is always right”. But they often don’t understand that every word in your draft is there to achieve a particular result. So if a client wants a change that will, in my opinion, diminish the effectiveness of the copy I have written, I will explain why I’ve done it that way. But if they still want me to change it I don’t argue. After all, I’m a copywriter not a marketing educator.
Finally something I don’t think anyone else picked up on: using unlimited revisions as a form of guarantee e.g. “I guarantee you’ll be happy with what I write, or I’ll rewrite it, at no cost, until you are.”
Last year I did a lot of research on a suitable gurantee for my copywriting business. This was the only one I thought would work. What does everybody think – is it a compelling guarantee?
Cheers
Charles
@ Charles – You’ve put up some very valuable tips and I sat here nodding as I you’re your comments. Gut feeling is very important. Listen to it, people. Charles is right. No matter how good the money is, no matter how attractive the deal, no matter how persuasive the client, if it doesn’t feel right, don’t do it. We learned this one the hard way (A few times. I have a tendency to respond to anyone with, “We can do that.”)
Time revision was a good pointer to bring up. We’ve been caught here too – three months lapse, and the work landed back on our desk for revision.
The draft outline signoff process is an interesting idea. High-caliber programming firms use something similar when they apply the XP process to their methodology. I’m not sure if I understand how this will work in your favor to increase clients by making their life easier, though, or how you’d apply it. Expand for me?
As for guarantees, I see you’ve picked up on what I’ve put forth in my post – absolute security and no risk for the client. In my eyes, it’s the only guarantee that will erase any doubt in the client’s mind.
Here’s some good pointers on how to handle negative feedback that ties in with revision requests.
Hi James
What I’m getting at is that you need an agreed, written brief before you start writing. If the client doesn’t supply one you need to write one for them.
I start each job with a brief client questionnaire to establish the vital facts. In fact I have 2 questionnaires: one for their initial inquiry, which I use to write the proposal, and then on to establish the vital facts once the client has paid a deposit.
I then create an outline/brief which defines the paramaters of the job e.g. target audience, content, tone of the copy, etc., which I’ll get the client to sign off.
I don’t do this every time, but I often do it with first time clients or if there’s any ambiguity (in my mind) about what’s required.
As for making the client’s life easy… Well I’m all for making the client’s life easy. But the reality is, if the client wants copy that gets results then they have to make some effort to supply you with quality “raw ingredients” i.e. information about their prospects, market, products, competitors, past marketing efforts, etc.
I find a questionnaire is the most efficient way to uncover this information. To expedite the process I send the (second) questionnaire in an email and do an interview to collect the answers. I record this interview because when you get people talking about their business they’ll often give you fantastic nuggets which you can incorporate in your copy. If you do this right, 80% of your work is done. Now all you have to do is knock it up into a first draft.
Clients who haven’t worked with a copywriter before often don’t realise that they’ll have to make a significant input. They’re more likely to be the ones that want you to do it all for them because you’re the professional. If you ask, “What’s your target market?” and they say, “Everybody” you know you’re in for a lot of work.
That’s why I get prospects to complete a questionnaire before I give a quote. It helps:
1. Weed out clients who will be difficult to deal with
2. Helps you gauge how much work will be required – it’s a lot easier to write copy for marketing-savvy clients than ones who are producing their first website
3. Make you look more organised and professional – you have a system
4. Build committment to you – once they’ve made an effort to complete your questionnaire they’ve got some skin in the game (i.e. they’re less likely to be tire kickers).
Cheers
Charles