I was reading everyone's weekend situations (what a crew - you gotta see what's going on out there) and one note by FrigidNDEditing caught my eye.
He was being stressed by a "last minute Annie" client.
These guys exist everywhere and are the bane of all production people.
So I thought I'd give you some advice, FWIW.
At the beginning of any job, give your clients a production schedule. LIE like crazy about what it is... that is, if you know you'll need three days to do a simple edit, tell them five. And mention AT THE BEGINNING OF THE JOB, that as long as you have the allocated time to work in "No overages will be accrued" -
This is called "Sales Conditioning".
1 - You have established a working schedule which is EASY for you to stick to (after all you've added two, three or more days to your "real" schedule).
2 - You've introduced the concept of "overages" and "rush fees", while everyone is still relaxed and in a good mood.
You've only mentioned those words. You don't want to scare anyone. And they have been mentioned in the positive context of avoidance - not the negative context of punishment.
Now, the second someone deviates from the schedule (which you have neatly typed up and submitted at the BEGINNING of the job) - you lightly mention the "rush fees" that will be engendered. These fees should be formidable... 25% to 50% more than your normal rate.
CLIENT: "Vic, we won't be able to get you the scripts we promised for Monday, until Sunday night at midnight for the 7AM Monday screening".
ME: "Bernie, if we can't get the script approved until the last moment, we will be encountering some serious rush fees".
BERNIE: "How much"
ME: "Looks like an additional $500 bucks".
BERNIE: "WHAT??" " ##)*$&@(**&"
ME: "Hey - I've got to pay overtime to my people... see if you can't get me the stuff by Tuesday - Wednesday at the latest - and I"ll eat the overage. Anything after that will have to be paid for."
I've done that dialog a zillion times. Generally the script (or whatever) gets delivered right on time. If it's late, I bill them and at least get some money for the aggravation of rushing.
I haven't been beaten up by a client since I adopted the above procedures. And I''ve seldom lost a client, either. (Although, eventually, you do lose most of them - they get promoted or bored. I've kept certain clients for years and even decades, but they are the exception, not the rule).
I hope this mindset helps some of you out with your business dealings.
v
He was being stressed by a "last minute Annie" client.
These guys exist everywhere and are the bane of all production people.
So I thought I'd give you some advice, FWIW.
At the beginning of any job, give your clients a production schedule. LIE like crazy about what it is... that is, if you know you'll need three days to do a simple edit, tell them five. And mention AT THE BEGINNING OF THE JOB, that as long as you have the allocated time to work in "No overages will be accrued" -
This is called "Sales Conditioning".
1 - You have established a working schedule which is EASY for you to stick to (after all you've added two, three or more days to your "real" schedule).
2 - You've introduced the concept of "overages" and "rush fees", while everyone is still relaxed and in a good mood.
You've only mentioned those words. You don't want to scare anyone. And they have been mentioned in the positive context of avoidance - not the negative context of punishment.
Now, the second someone deviates from the schedule (which you have neatly typed up and submitted at the BEGINNING of the job) - you lightly mention the "rush fees" that will be engendered. These fees should be formidable... 25% to 50% more than your normal rate.
CLIENT: "Vic, we won't be able to get you the scripts we promised for Monday, until Sunday night at midnight for the 7AM Monday screening".
ME: "Bernie, if we can't get the script approved until the last moment, we will be encountering some serious rush fees".
BERNIE: "How much"
ME: "Looks like an additional $500 bucks".
BERNIE: "WHAT??" " ##)*$&@(**&"
ME: "Hey - I've got to pay overtime to my people... see if you can't get me the stuff by Tuesday - Wednesday at the latest - and I"ll eat the overage. Anything after that will have to be paid for."
I've done that dialog a zillion times. Generally the script (or whatever) gets delivered right on time. If it's late, I bill them and at least get some money for the aggravation of rushing.
I haven't been beaten up by a client since I adopted the above procedures. And I''ve seldom lost a client, either. (Although, eventually, you do lose most of them - they get promoted or bored. I've kept certain clients for years and even decades, but they are the exception, not the rule).
I hope this mindset helps some of you out with your business dealings.
v