Quote Issues
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- _salisae_
I am using this strategy with a new client .. working really well so far. Thought I'd share and sort of blog about the approach as it goes.
http://www.tinygigantic.com/2007…
I literally copied and pasted this paragraph and tailored it to suit the situation:
“Look, a [insert creative service here] project can get done a lot of different ways. It can be big or small, deep or shallow, quick or slow. There isn’t necessarily one right way to do it. It’s very much a matter of chemistry and excitement and personality types. We’ve found that the best thing for a project is for you to first tell us how much you want to spend. We’ll take that number and think about the project, what it’ll take to get it done, how much we want to do it, and any other obstacles and motivators. Then we’ll tell you how to best use the budget you’ve got, and you can decide if you like what we suggest or not. Then, instead of negotiating abstract dollar counts, we’ll have a conversation about how best to get the work done with your budget. It’s more concrete, more human, more collaborative, and more transparent. For these reasons, it’s a much better approach, given how creative services really work.”
- TheBlueOne0
On the back of my web design biz cards:
"Cheap.
Fast.
Good.Pick any two. All three won't happen."
- _salisae_0
the strategy behind this is it opens a dialog about their needs vs. yours. asking questions like 'what are you hoping to achieve?' followed by 'how much do you have to invest in your needs?' and wrapping it up with 'this is what i can provide you with that amount of pay'
basically getting them to state a number first as well as helping them realize there is no logo button on our keyboards. we'll see if i can pull it off!
- Momentum20
I hear ya salisae, but a lot of times their response is simply... "well give me a ballpark #"... and thats when I get stuck heh
- _salisae_0
there must be a way to convey x amount gets you this quality of work while XX amount gets you more attention and thought.
just something to consider. i hate pulling a number out of a hat.
- k0na_an0k0
Nice post.
I coulda used something like that last week with a quote.
- nocomply0
I think that's a good way to approach a project, but the problem is that a lot of clients need to be educated about fair industry prices to begin with.
Maybe throw in some disclaimer saying "on average our rates are approx. X amount per hour" or something. I don't know if that will help or hurt the estimate, but it will definitely push away the people that you know you don't want to work with in the first place.
Its not worth even cutting and pasting that email if the client is going to get back to you and say that they're looking for a 10 page website and their budget is $250.
- mirola0
No offence but it seems like a really weak approach. You should educate your prospective client about what is going to work for them and propose solutions based on what is going to give them a return on investment fastest while considering the level of quality they really need. You need to sell them what they need and then be clear on what they will be getting.
- monoboy0
Great blog btw.
Sounds like a good approach if there's trust between both parties.
Prospective or new clients tend to guard their budget from agencies for fear of being ripped off, understandibly.
(Same for agencies when commissioning illustrations etc).