When I talk with other creative-service business owners, we – of course – judge other companies’ work. We whisper things like, “They should have let that idea simmer more before running with it,” or “Do they realize their headline has a sexual undertone to it?” And I’m not so naïve as to think others don’t judge my work.

But I was surprised when my marketing friend criticized a company for having “no control over their clients.”

I asked what he meant by “client control” and he explained that he had worked with this particular company one time and a project dragged on for months when it should have taken a week. And in the end, he thought the final product looked amateur.

I started to think about “client control” related to my own creative-service business. There are times when my projects drag on because of an indecisive client, and sometimes when a project doesn’t make it into my portfolio but it does please the client. Does that mean I can’t control my clients? Not necessarily. There are things that I can control and things I can’t. Here are a few:

• I do control how my clients perceive me and my abilities. If I present a project to my clients in a confident way, they will have confidence in me and trust my judgment, which leads to a quicker approval.
• I don’t control what is happening in my clients’ businesses. Marketing projects often get shoved to the side when something more pressing comes up – even though I think marketing projects should always be a top priority. Sometimes approvals take time, and that’s the way it is.
• I do control how people pay me. I can always set up my payment terms so that my payment is not contingent on my clients’ final approval of a project (such as a retainer).
• I don’t control someone’s taste. I’m in the business of delivering a creative product. If I only did what I wanted, I wouldn’t have clients.
• I do control whether I work with a particular client.
• I do control my project delivery process and my turnaround time.

In the end, if my clients are happy with what I deliver then I’m happy. Nothing would make me feel worse than if I got paid for a project that my client didn’t like, whether it was my fault or not.

To all the creative-service business owners out there, how do you “control” your clients?