Be The Expert, Say No
Let me paint a picture for you. You’ve been up for 48 hours. There are Pantone books, coffee cups and sketches scattered about your office. You spent two hours picking just the right green for the primary color palette (not too much yellow, not too much blue). Today is the day you present the new brand identity to the Board. You understand your target, you know the product. You’re confident. They are going to love it.
You take your seat at the table and give the best pitch of your life. Everyone is excited. You’re on fire. Then you hear the unmistakable voice of the company CEO say ‘This is great, but I really like blue.’
We’ve all been there– our hearts broken by this one simple sentence. There are two things you can do in this situation, you can either say ‘Okay, we’ll change the palette to blue.’ or you can say ‘No’.
You’ve done the research, you’ve studied the emotional effects of color, you know what will work. The company has hired you to be the expert. Not the CEO, not his wife, not some ‘friend who designs websites’.
Being a ‘yes man’ can be a slippery slope. When you start giving in, you lose credibility. By the time you’re done, the logo will have been developed in a board room. One caveat, you must back up your ‘No’ with data with experience, case studies or research.
As brand strategists and creatives we must learn this simple word. Surprisingly, it can earn you a lot of respect.
Beth LaPierre is a Brand + Creative Strategist. When Beth is not helping build brands she’s on her snowboard, spray painting something, or drinking copious amounts of espresso. Follow Beth on Twitter.
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Beth, I totally agree with this. I know the feeling of getting “bullied” by a client. Sometimes you have to say no! Thanks for the great article and congrats on the launch!
What a grandiose idea. It’s like say no to cancer! Now, Beth, come on. You can do better. You’re missing the entire “how” part “how to say no”. Do you say it nicely, aggressively or what.. There are tools out there to handle such a situation. “Crucial Conversation” for example. It nicely explains how to turn a “no” into a “yes” or vice versa. Thanks, Marc
I totally agree with this article. Often I say NO to requestes like those described in the article, motivating the choices with strong reasons. We (designers) are professionals. What if you go to the doctor and tell him “I’d like a kind of different medicine”???
I think that saying no is necessary, but not always. In some cases, like this one up there, the no is the solution, but in the other hand, this may make the client hate you.
And remember, clients pay you, and they always think: I know so much about brading and other kind of stuffs.
Saying no is, in most cases, the correct thing to do, but we have to cosider think about clients ideas and try (i sad TRY) to apply than.
If the client idea sucks, show it and say: See? It sucks
Oh, and don’t forget to say: This modifications will make the project go out of the budget by 30%.
Very very very good article. Modern and new designers say yes everytime!