Client Loyalty

[Matt Sugden]

So, i had an issue this week with a client I have done a few jobs for. I've put in a lot of ground work with this client, traveling long distance to see them face to face and putting in a lot of extra effort on jobs to make sure they are satisfied. Then someone (who is a member of this forum as it happens) has approached my client out of the blue, put in a tender for a job, with a very low price, then slashed their original price again to entice the client to get the work.

 

As it happens I am really busy with work at the moment, and I could only have considered this job if it paid well (as in my normal rate), as I'd would have had to do it in evenings, but as an attempt to hold onto to my client I offered them a small reduction in my rate to show willing, but this was still no where near the other guys price, it turned out when my client came clean.

 

So it seems like my client has jumped ship, which is a shame and has irritated me a bit, but I just wondering whether I should have dropped my prices further just to have kept this guy out of the picture? I don't make a habit of cutting my rates without a very good reason, because I know I always offer an excellent service, and i think it is a bad precedent to set, that said I didn't get the work in the end either, just wondered what other freelancers think about this situation?

[aaron-cds]

You did the right thing. All you can do is move on.

[Craig Ramsay]

Yep, it happens. I remember having this conversation with the owner of another visualisation form who said to me if he was to give a discount he may as well just set fire to his money and throw it out the window! Made me laugh, but kind of true. Just let it slide.

[BillyElNino]

NAME AND SHAME! (only joking)

 

If you think your pricing accurately reflects the value of your product and the time and effort invested in it then you should'nt get into a bidding war as it only devalues the work. As an alternative you could offer a 'Tesco Value' service as long as all parties are aware of the shortcuts taken.

 

When the dust settles on this project it will be possible to look at what gets produced and whether the pricing reflects that.

[Matt Sugden]

Well, that's what interests me in honesty. I always wonder about my pricing, is it too high, or could I charge more? The feedback I've had in the past 4 years is that it's pretty good, but then there's always someone who is prepared to take less.

 

I've tried to find more on this competitor, but I can't see a website or anything. So maybe this is reflected in his pricing, maybe just a guy moonlighting rather than an actual company with real company overheads?

 

It will all come in the wash I guess, but I must confess to being more than a bit curious about the quality of the finished work.

[rogue3d]

yeah this happens, not much you can do about it. In a way, you can't blame the client, they are always going to try and save money. just like any of us do when it comes to buying hardware...

 

I've had he same thing happen to me. Only my client decided to hire "in house" talent. which basically means he hired a couple noobs just out of school and paid them crap. 6 months went by, no word from him. Then I get a frantic call out of the blue of the huge job they need and the tards he hired counldn't hack it. So I came back as a consultant....(highly reccommend this!) I charged him twice as much as I would have to do the work myself, only I didn't do any work, just instructed his "in house" talent what to do via email, phone, and a couple meetings.

 

So it's not all bad, your client may come back when he realizes his mistake...then you make him pay through the nose and name his first born after you!

[Charles Gaushell]

I hear you. We had a potential client have us quote a project - we gave a fair price - he liked it, but then someone he had worked with before came in and low balled -he asked what we wanted to do - we said we price fairly and have no desire to get into the game of trying to low ball them.

 

He admitted that our quality was much better.

 

In the short run the guy that did that to you may make a few quick dollars, but he is setting himself up to always be cheap and clients will expect that. It is a disservice to everyone in the long run.

 

As long as you are fair with fees and do good work you will do fine. Plenty of morons like this to put up with though.

 

Good clients get it and they will come back. The ones that only care about saving a few bucks and can't see beyond that aren't worth messing with.

[Craig Ramsay]

In the short run the guy that did that to you may make a few quick dollars, but he is setting himself up to always be cheap and clients will expect that.

 

I agree with that completely... so do all the marketing books that I have read.

[Matt Sugden]

well I agree with that completely. I've worked hard to get my prices where they are because of delivering customer satisfaction, which may sound a bit corny but it is completely my business ethos. And so to get in a bidding war, and end up with a low pricing precedent, then in the future this isn't in my interest at all.

[Charles Gaushell]

I was talking to a friend of mine last week that has been extremely successful in the commercial real estate market - guy is worth millions. At any rate, we were discussing his philosophy on how he prices his fees - he sets them very high. His rationale is that quality clients expect to pay well for quality services and he delivers. Thus he built up a reputation and it snow balled.

 

We've had the exact same experience.

 

It is a roll of the dice on some projects especially for the mid level projects. But we've also lost work because the client thought we were too low before! We priced it fair, not low balled, but in their experience they were concerned that the quality would be diminished even though that wasn't the case.

 

Good clients are willing to pay.

Cheap clients typically are the ones that will drive you nuts anyway.

 

Our philosophy has worked for 16 years so far, and we just keep growing.

[ikinman]

When I first started my visualization business (all those many long years ago) one of the best lessons that someone taught me was that if you don't occasionally lose a client because you are charging too much, then you aren't charging enough.

 

If all a client cares for is the money, then they aren't worth having as a client. This often sucks, as I have lost several clients whom I enjoyed working with because of this. But it's important to remember that we are professionals, and the definition of a professional is one who works for money. Clearly for us it's not the most important thing, as otherwise this would be a forum for bond traders, but if you don't respect yourself financially, no client will do it for you.

 

-Ian

[demo38]

Agreed, you did the right thing. Once you low-ball a job, they'll want another, then another at that same rate, at that point they're just using you.

[blowback]

Yes,

 

I agree with everything that has been said. You devalue the price of your work when you "desperately try and price match" It sends a bad signal if you say your product is worth x amount..... then you say actually its worth y amount. ( what the hell is it really worth, does he over charge me all the time, does he even know what he is doing, ect...) cano' worms u do not want to open.

 

This is what it it is. I do not work for less than this. Like it or lump it.

[bluedogok]

There is always someone cheaper out there somewhere, once you get a cheaper and low ball reputation, then that is what they will always expect you to be. We hope to be starting our own firm in the future and I try to be conscious of the "market price" and stay within the market even though we are working out of the house at the moment since we do not want the reputation of just being cheap and we know there will be more overhead costs in the future.

 

My previous firm used a guy who did it as a sideline and his prices were way low. His renderings were OK but nothing like what others that I have worked with in the past did and the prices were reflective of the difference. The cheap ones out there affect everyone in the market because it lowers expectations of what things should cost. We face the same thing in the architecture market and have seen it happen over and over. Someone goes low ball, they either work for cheap forever or a client comes back for quality.

 

If the client appreciates your work, then they will come back....if not then you may be better off not having them as a client.

[Devin Johnston]

My latest experience with this went something like this, I've had this client for about a year and I've done 4 successful projects with them. This latest project was the biggest we've done so far and the most expensive. As with all my projects I have the client sign a contract before the project begins so we both know exactly what work is to be done and how much everything costs. After 4 months of work going back and forth with the architect I got a request from her asking for an animation of the building that had never been discussed before, she wanted to know what it would take to get it done. I informed her of the cost and time it would take to do the work and she responded in her next e-mail by complaining that she wasn't making any money on the project and that I was disorganized and slow and she would be embarrassed to ask her client for any more money. I responded by telling her that this project has progressed so slowly due to the large delays I experienced between when I would give her updates and when she would respond to them which was anywhere from 4 days to 3 weeks. I decided in the interest of finishing this project that I'd do the work for free but I demanded payment in full upon delivery because I don't want to have anything to do with these people any longer. Sometimes it's just better to get the monkey off your back!

 

Sorry for venting