Practical advice that never ages.

Let’s work backwards. Life goes forward, so this story will go backwards. Everything here is true and it quite possibly saved me a client and a relationship with a printer.

Tuesday, 2:45 p.m., phone call from client
“Kevin, received the poster. Love it! We’ll chat after the holiday, have a good one.”

Monday, 6:12 p.m.
Everything is fine.

Monday, 5:57 p.m.
Invisible impatience, must stay calm. The office may close at 6, but I’m not leaving until satisfaction is received. I’ll stay and watch them print and cut a new batch if I have to, because first thing Tuesday morning, this shipment IS going out the door.

Monday, 5:30 p.m.
I’m sitting in a printer’s office. Fuming. Fingers drumming on my knee to prevent obvious sign of agitation. A slightly bored but bemused smile. There is no sense in being rude, or nasty. The mistake will be fixed.

Monday, 4:55 p.m.
“This isn’t my poster.”
“Pardon?”
“My poster you are printing? This isn’t it. It is an illustration of an orange tower against a black background. This is a poster for [charity name].”
“Oh. Well I’m glad we didn’t ship it out!”

Sunday,  2:30 a.m., thinking to self while FTPing files
“Well, if I just have them ship the poster to [client name], I could save myself an inconvenient trip… Nah. Better go just in case.”

It was exceedingly simple, the mistake. Two mailing labels got mixed up, so when the guy behind the counter went to grab my order, I was presented with a charity for a hospital instead of my self promo poster. Oops? Yeah, almost.

The printer produces excellent quality work, the staff is courteous and they are timely. But human. The point? Listen to Dennis and Kristy and everyone else when they say “always proof your work.” Holding your tongue is useful as well, I can still show my face in their office again without being regulated to the realm of “problem customers”. Special favors, tighter deadlines, good deals aren’t given to “problem customers.”

Practical advice never ages.