Hey!
The customer isn’t always right
In fact, I’d go so far as to claim that the customer is rarely right.
OK. Let’s take a step back. I don’t mean that customers don’t understand what they want. On the contrary, they understand precisely what they want. I’m talking about their diagnosis of why they have the problem and/or what the solution is.
Their diagnosis of the problem is usually either incorrect at worst, or incomplete at best. The smartest customer is still limited by their experience and their bias.
The reason you’re in the room for a meeting is to fill in the gaps in their experience with your expertise. Your job is to help them see the world from a different set of eyes – yours.
Your value is not in doing what they ask you to. They either already have an employee for it, or can easily hire one.
You’re paid to disagree with them if they are wrong.
If you agree with your customer when you know their diagnosis of the problem is incorrect, you’re doing them a disservice. Not everyone who hires you wants to thrust their ideas on you. Dare to disagree. It opens up more doors than it closes.
When did you last disagree with a client? How did that go?
Yours,
Abhilash
PS: What if a client closes a door just because you disagreed? You know what – Good riddance!