She says it with confidence, and she probably does know. She has been doing this work for years, has solved enough problems to recognize patterns quickly, and can walk into a complicated situation and begin making sense of it before someone less experienced even knows what questions to ask. “It depends.” “On what?” “The client.” “Okay. What happens first when someone hires you?” “That depends on what she needs.” “How do you determine what she needs?” There is a pause before she answers. “I...

“What do you want me to say?” She had been explaining her business to me for several minutes, and she knew the service well. She could tell me what was included, how long clients worked with her, why she created her framework, what happened during each phase, and how much experience she had accumulated before developing the methodology. The problem appeared when I stopped asking about the service and asked about the person buying it. “What does your client say she wants when she comes to...

A client sends you an email with a question you know you have already answered. You remember answering it because you spent an unreasonable amount of time making sure nobody would ever need to ask. You wrote the instructions, created the welcome email, recorded the tutorial, and placed the resource inside the client portal under a heading that seems perfectly obvious to you. Somewhere between irritation and disbelief, you wonder how she missed it. You answer politely and move on. Two weeks...