We are experts in our field. We’ve been doing it a while and we take pride in doing our work the right way. We take so much pride that we’ve built a successful, growing business based on our expertise.
These statements can be true for most successful businesses. For example, I run a graphic design and printing business. I attribute a lot of our success to the way we handle our graphic design files and the way we are meticulous at things like file types, file naming conventions, good practices with typesetting, and more. With all this in mind, it’s important to not forget two things. We are the experts, the customers are not. We are helping the customer, not proving them wrong.
What do I mean by this? Here is an example. A customer want to design a brochure. A project like this is usually done in Adobe InDesign. The customer tells us that they did their logo in Microsoft Paint and they are working in Microsoft Publisher because they are the best programs to get the best quality. Of course this statement from the customer is wrong. What’s important is to not react and make them feel wrong or stupid. You need to help them at this point. Educate them in a polite way, and explain the benefits of transitioning the design to a better program. Remember, you are the expert, but part of having this expertise in business is to be able to make it work in real life situations, especially when a customer is standing in front of you.