quote: Let’s face it. Some days, you want to just fire your clients. You go through one too many comps, iterations or edits and you’ve had enough. It has happened to everyone at least once and I’d be lying if I said it won’t happen again; you get to the end of a project and realize that you would have made more per hour flipping burgers at McDonald’s. Thankfully, as with most common problems, there are a few simple guidelines that you can follow to help make sure that you’re never working for below minimum wage......
.....The Harvard Business professor Michael Porter states you can hold a competitive advantage in one, and only one, of two areas: price or quality. Focus your efforts on your strengths, build a solid reputation and you’ll never be forced to compete on price again.
"...there are no limits when you aim for perfection..." Jonathan Livingston Seagull Posts: 4595 | From: Highgrove via Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia | Registered: Dec 2002
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posted
And we might also sum up all 'strategies' into one solid 'standard' concept which is quite well known but often unrecalled when most needed . . .
"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you". Also works well in non-business relations.
I often remind our local city council leaders, (who are well known for their rude, boisterious, and totally immature behaviors during meetings) that anyone and everyone, but particularly those in such political leadership positions, should be tested on required reading of two books in particular, before they are even eligible to hold office; Dale Carnegie's 'How to Win friends and Influence People' and 'The Art of Debate'
(and by the way, you are in a local leadership position if you're a business owner)
-------------------- Signs Sweet Home Alabama
oneshot on chat
"Look like a girl, act like a lady, think like a man, work like a dog" Posts: 5403 | From: "Sweet Home" Alabama | Registered: Mar 2003
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I had a customer that I had to fire recently. The only problem is that I accepted a deposit from him for a project that won't end. It's been over 2 months and 5 sit downs on TRUCK LETTERING! The first time I met him he gave me a $200 deposit in $2 bills while we went over the design and the initial details for about 30 minutes. His truck was running and when he came outside he forgot he left his 2-3 year old child in the running truck for a half hour. The kid peed himself and was covered in sticky snack junk. I should have returned his deposit right on the spot but I was blinded by the thought of my kids smiles when I walked through the door with a $2 bill for each of them.
This guy has no clue what he wants. he changes everything everytime we sit down. He's irritable, jumping up and running outside to smoke or talk on the phone for 15 minutes while we're supposed to be finishing a design.
The last time we met he called me in the morning wanting to meet that day. Hopeful that I can get this guy out of my hair, I agreed to meet him at 2pm. I made my way over to near where we were supposed to meet and he calls me at 1:25 saying it won't be until 3. Great , because I was only planning to be with him for an hour and I had another appointment across town around 3:30. The dude comes in, sits down (without the disc he was supposed to have of his pictures) Looks at the screen and starts making astronamical, total design changing statements. I look at him and say calmly "are we going to change everything again"? he gets up, storms out , comes back in and says just do the name on the doors and the back window like I'm his child and he's ordering me.
Needless to say, i haven't done the name on the doors or the back window and I don't plan to. The $200 deposit is for his design and my time. The way I see it, if he wants to get his truck lettered he needs to either go to someone else, Or come back with his mind made up and a better attitude.
The funny thing is through the whole process he kept talking about his other trucks and a trailer that he wanted to do, (please , noo) mentioning them as some sort of "bait" for me to be enthusiastic about redesigning his stupid logo and text 25 times. I make more money painting windshields then dealing with people like this.
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ah yes the mentioning of "the other trucks", "my fleet" or the infamous "everybody wnts to see how mines going to turn out and they will le tyou do their". I remember when this would get my panties wet...not so much anymore as a matter of fact it usually sets off the warning bell #1
-------------------- VISUAL IMAGES MONTGOMERY, AL Posts: 1055 | From: Montgomery, AL, usa | Registered: Jan 2000
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This is where you need to let the customer know up front what his deposit is buying.
In my shop, there are three basic fees - design, fabrication and installation.
If a customer has no design, I charge a base fee. What is included in that fee is spelled out on the design workorder which he must sign before I do anything. Any revisions beyond what is specified in the signed workorder is charged my hourly rate of $65 per hour and it is charged in half-hour increments.
I just finished a shirt design for a client from out of town. He made a ton of revisions. I have about 12 in revisions alone. Everytime I sent him the revised layout, I included a running total of time and money (his money) spent.
I started doing this because I had the same kind of customer you have.
I had one guy who used to be a regular customer with whom I spent 30.5 hours on designs. Eighteen completely different designs. A few weeks had gone by after the last revision when I saw his new sign. It was one of my designs. I sent him a bill for the time spent. He called me demanding to know what the bill was for. In the end, I told him that he could pay me now or he could pay me in front of the magistrate. I got my money but I also lost a long time customer.
It was his fault for being an ass. It was my fault for not laying down the ground rules in the beginning.
.
-------------------- Creative Graphics, Inc. Wilson, NC
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Oh yeah, one more thing. Just to illustrate how much of an asshat this guy is. he called me one time saying he wanted to add a print of a sawblade around all 4 of his wheels. So, me knowing that he was an asshat and that he had to be actually INFORMED that would be more money. I nicely informed him that would add to the cost we discussed. He got all mad and said, "it's getting to be where I don't even want to call you anymore about this because everytime we talk you mention that something is going to cost more"
btw, Glenn, sorry for turning this into a customer rant. The article was good adviceand I read the whole thing. Just got me thinking of my most recent asshat experience with a customer. The fact that this only happens to me every once in a while and that 99% of my customers are excellent enforces my thinking that it's not me who's the ass, it's the ass who's the ass.
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