5 Types of Customers. What to Expect from Each?

If you think that academic writer's job is all about writing, you are severely mistaken. Whether you will be successful or not – it depends on your cooperation with a client. During my career as an academic writer I had to face various customers and after long years of co-working I managed to develop my own client classification. According to the results of my “research”, there are 5 general types of clients and each of them requires special kind of treatment.

Type 1: The Passive Ghostly One

If you cooperate with him through a custom writing service, it looks like you were given an automatic order from a computer. You get precise guidelines at the very beginning – and get your money after you send him the order. No feedback, no communication – nothing. If you cooperate with such client personally – it's pretty much the same. The only difference is that you know that you actually work with a real person.

Prescription: If you are a beginner at academic writing, you might have troubles while working with this type of a customer. You've got so much questions to ask – and he definitely is not looking forward to your communication! Try to take as much as possible from the instructions he gives in the beginning – and do not worry. Even if you understand something wrong, he will simply pay you for the order and make corrections himself. He will also provide a better explanation of what he wants the next time.

Type 2: The Perfectionist

He will require you to send him your first, second and third drafts. He will make over one hundred corrections at each of them and expect you to change everything he wants. This client will contact you daily and ask what you have done today to make his order better. Anyways, at the end of your cooperation he will provide you with a long and detailed feedback – and with your payment.

Prescription: If you are a kind of writer, whose first draft is usually final version of an essay and who tends to do all the work within one day – perhaps you should avoid working with The Perfectionist. But if you are a beginner or a perfectionist yourself – this is your type of a client. He will readily explain you every detail you are interested in.

Type 3: The Psycho

You really have no idea what to expect of him. He sets a deadline in a week – and then writes to you the next day and asks for the finished paper. He asks for an essay – and then, after you took the order, you suddenly find out, that by “an essay” he meant “a thesis paper”. If you try to reason with him, he might require a refund – and before you can explain anything to the custom writing service administrator, your rate on the website is already low and you have to pay a fine. You'll get everything back in a while – but certainly not your nerves.

Prescription: Whoever you are – just don't deal with such a client. You can identify him among other clients by ridiculous order requirements or inappropriate prices. But if you do have to put up with him – just try to follow his requirements and not to lose your mind (or money).

Type 4: Mr. First Order

Apparently, he never had to place an order with an academic writer before. At least, because the price he sets is way too high for such an easy order. This customer has no idea of what he might require from you for his money. Little does he know of how to give proper guidelines as well.

Prescription: Teach him. Ask him everything you need and don't be afraid to waste your time – if you provide him with a qualitative order and with friendly support, there is every chance that he will choose you as his “permanent” writer.

Type 5: Your Lucky Number

What can you say – he is perfect. Understanding, patient, helpful. He can put aside the deadline if you really need it. If he requires additional work – he will assign you with an additional order.  Sometimes you wish to pinch yourself just to make sure it is not a dream.

Prescription: Work and enjoy. Apparently, you’ve come across the ideal type of a customer. All you need to do is to accomplish his order as good as possible – trust me, you don't want to lose such a client.

Of course, I only described the most common types of clients. You might get a mix of two or more types as your client – but don't you fret: increasing experience will help you deal with every customer you have to face. Well, maybe except for The Psycho ;) 

When Writing Is Boring

Don’t get me wrong – I love my job. But sometimes academic writing is extremely dull. The thing is, there are so many common cliches to use and then every essay type has its own predefined structure. That’s why sometimes my work reminds me of making identical toys of different color at a factory. When the order is big, I often make a general draft and then just fill it with various information.

Well, I did discover some tips of how to make a process of essay writing interesting even after multiple experiences of writing same old paper types.

My Tip #1. Try It Differently

The first tip is experimenting with a writing style. Imagine that you are another person - use particular phrases and keep a special tone of writing, which is unusual for you. If you are used to creating complex descriptions, try to avoid such constructions. You can also play with the tone - make the whole paper sound less formal. Or less informal, depending on what is more usual for you. The necessity of significant change in style will make your work more difficult – and yet, more exciting.

For example:

“Betty Blue was a remarkable, intelligent child, whose thoughtfulness amazed the adults and impressed her friends.”

VS

“Betty Blue never suffered from the lack of brains.”

My Tip #2.  Try It Inside Out

The second tip lies within the possibility to choose which point of view you might defend in your essay. If you have this choice, always support the statement that you would normally reject. For example, when writing an essay on civil disobedience, the idea of which you sincerely support, take the other side. Describe peaceful resistance as something incredibly ineffective. Tell your readers that Mahatma Gandhi simply got lucky and that it usually takes some weapons to get through thick skull of insolent people from government. Choosing the point, different to your own, will lead to the necessity of making an additional research, analyzing more data and therefore – to gaining new knowledge.

My Tip #3. Say No to the Ordinary

The third tip is to choose interesting and challenging orders in the first place. If you got exceptionally good at writing reflective essays, for example, perhaps you should try and get yourself an order for a thesis paper. That will do a good job for your writing skills. Shift types, topics and sizes of paper. Do not get stuck in the same place, move on. After all – the more skills you acquire, the higher salary you get.

Hurrah! My 1st Post!

Hello, there! I’m Lily, a 34 year-old home-stay academic writer/advisor and a proud mother of 2 children, Amy and John, and a happy owner of 2 pets - a classy red and blue Macaw and a perky dachshund.

You’ve happened to visit my blog about academic writing. So far I don’t know what will come out of it, but I do hope that the blog will help me and other writers get better. I plan to register all the insights and tips I’ve found useful in the course of my career. Luckily, I do have some stash of tips.

In fact, I’ve been in the writing business for the last 15 years. My career as a journalist started when I was 20. I was pretty much satisfied with all this running and writing and interviewing people – and then, two years later, Amy happened. My husband convinced me to leave work – and I did, but, well, not completely. I began taking part in various writing projects online – journalist projects, fiction and non-fiction projects. Then, when I accidentally got myself into an academic writing project, I suddenly realized I’m into it. It was 5 years after I started to work as a copywriter. That was also the time when I discovered custom writing services. It took me another 5 years to get to the best ones with decent payment and adequate (mostly) clients. Now I work with trusted customers (word of mouth, you know), but sometimes I return to writing agencies.

P.S. I am almost sure that sometimes I will get carried away and mix personal with professional in this blog, but, at least, you will never be bored J