In most cases you should be dealing with the Marketing Mgr and not the President. If the Marketing Manager does not have the authority to make decisions about the site, he is working for a President who cannot delegate authority to other people. This means endless approvals by the President for every site issue. There is no marketing plan that your customer can refer to that includes e-business. Check the existing marketing materials for consistency of message and use these as your guide for the site.
Consistency is the name of the game and the web site is an extension of what already exists.
Often times you will find that a new Sales manager was hired and has made changes that don't appear in the brochures or other sales literature. This means you are talking to the wrong person for decisions. Chances are the Boss will treat you the same way. It is important to remember before a purchase order is cut for your services, you are not working for that customer. I always like those customers that are working with you on a project.