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Subject:Re: Is the Customer Always Right? From:Romay Jean Sitze <rositze -at- NMSU -dot- EDU> Date:Mon, 30 Jan 1995 08:41:07 -0700
Sometimes we are called upon to educate our clients. However, I have
seldom found clients to be resistant to good suggestions when backed up
with reasonable explanations.
> When it comes to matters of design, style and language, is the
> customer/client always right? Or is this an abandonment of the
> professionalism that technical writers rightfully assume?
> . . .
> So, if technical writers consider themselves professionals, are they
> entitled to say to clients: "No; page numbers can't be aligned along the
> inside margins. Or, no, paragraphs must be indented. Or, no, we don't
> instruct trainees to "originate a plan", we tell them to " devise a plan"
> .. and so on ... whatever you might wish?
> [Suppose a client's specification, if followed, would result is a barely
> readable text. Would you argue against the specification? Or follow the
> client's specification, because "the client is always right"?)
RoMay Sitze, rositze -at- nmsu -dot- edu
You can't solve a problem unless you first admit you have one.
--Harvey Mackay in _Swim with the Sharks_
