Clients: Love'em/Leave'em
The business of wooing a client is a lot like trying to corner a grizzly bear. The bear will only be cornered when it's darned good and ready to be cornered, and only stay cornered as long as he pleases. At that point, you realize there are another pair of walls in the meeting - and your back's up against them.
Today, I'm recipient of the good news that my most difficult - and frugal - client is coming on Thursday to "direct a little recut" on his hour long-television program. First of all, there's never been a "little recut" on a hour-long broadcast. Once a client starts cutting, you're no longer in an edit suite, you're in a butcher shop. And when he's done as a butcher, you're supposed to put the corpse back together and re-animate it...giving him total credit, of course.
That news comes right on the heels of my best client calling to thank me for saving him $3,000 + on his newest project.
I treat both these guys exactly the same; yet one feels obligated to beat me like the proverbial "rented mule." The other treats me exactly as he likes to be treated.
Is this unique? Nah, it's the creative business. Of course "creative business" are two words that do not belong anywhere in close proximity of each other. One is mutually exclusive of the other - yet we keep trying to make a "business" out of being "creative."
Some clients will gladly pay top-dollar for a magazine, video, or a book, but they scream like forcibly deflowered virgins when they're asked to pay for creative work on their behalf.
Others actually thank you for the work - and mean it. That "thank you" doesn't mean they're going to pay more than they're billed, but that sort of conduct DOES mean they're usually the recipients of more work than they're getting invoiced. It's a pleasure to do business with them. Consequently, it's no bother to give them what the Creoles call "lagniappe" - Cajun slang for " jus'a little bitta extra."
The other type client would be charged for "atmospheric usage" if I could figure how to charge it.
Recently, one of my "problem clients" was bitching (not a gender-slant, I consider high-volume whining "bitching") that he'd "rather go have a root canal" than come to edit sessions. Without thinking, his editor turned around and snapped "if I thought you'd stop coming to these sessions, I'd pull my own teeth."
The client went completely pale - like he'd been slapped or seen a ghost. Then, in a hurt voice, he asked "am I really that unpleasant to be around?" The chorus of "yes" he received sounded like a responsive reading in a holiness tent revival.
Then he colored up and asked "what ever happened to the customer's always right?" The editor's response: "if you were always right, you wouldn't be in here floundering around with your commercials - you'd know your product, your service, and your customers, but you don't. You're too-busy trying to impress everyone with your own importance. But you know what? When you leave here - finally - there will be another guy in that seat within 15 minutes. If he's only nominally civilized, he's going to get far more work from me than you - not for any reason other than he's not you."
The moral of this rant:
Even if you're paying someone for their work, you'll get more work from them if you're civil toward them. You don't have to be Pollyanna or Mary Poppins, if you disagree, there's a way to disagree without making anyone feel inferior, stupid or inept. After all, you've come to them for their expertise. We've all come to the point where civility has become synonymous with weakness - it's actually just the opposite.
Today, I'm recipient of the good news that my most difficult - and frugal - client is coming on Thursday to "direct a little recut" on his hour long-television program. First of all, there's never been a "little recut" on a hour-long broadcast. Once a client starts cutting, you're no longer in an edit suite, you're in a butcher shop. And when he's done as a butcher, you're supposed to put the corpse back together and re-animate it...giving him total credit, of course.
That news comes right on the heels of my best client calling to thank me for saving him $3,000 + on his newest project.
I treat both these guys exactly the same; yet one feels obligated to beat me like the proverbial "rented mule." The other treats me exactly as he likes to be treated.
Is this unique? Nah, it's the creative business. Of course "creative business" are two words that do not belong anywhere in close proximity of each other. One is mutually exclusive of the other - yet we keep trying to make a "business" out of being "creative."
Some clients will gladly pay top-dollar for a magazine, video, or a book, but they scream like forcibly deflowered virgins when they're asked to pay for creative work on their behalf.
Others actually thank you for the work - and mean it. That "thank you" doesn't mean they're going to pay more than they're billed, but that sort of conduct DOES mean they're usually the recipients of more work than they're getting invoiced. It's a pleasure to do business with them. Consequently, it's no bother to give them what the Creoles call "lagniappe" - Cajun slang for " jus'a little bitta extra."
The other type client would be charged for "atmospheric usage" if I could figure how to charge it.
Recently, one of my "problem clients" was bitching (not a gender-slant, I consider high-volume whining "bitching") that he'd "rather go have a root canal" than come to edit sessions. Without thinking, his editor turned around and snapped "if I thought you'd stop coming to these sessions, I'd pull my own teeth."
The client went completely pale - like he'd been slapped or seen a ghost. Then, in a hurt voice, he asked "am I really that unpleasant to be around?" The chorus of "yes" he received sounded like a responsive reading in a holiness tent revival.
Then he colored up and asked "what ever happened to the customer's always right?" The editor's response: "if you were always right, you wouldn't be in here floundering around with your commercials - you'd know your product, your service, and your customers, but you don't. You're too-busy trying to impress everyone with your own importance. But you know what? When you leave here - finally - there will be another guy in that seat within 15 minutes. If he's only nominally civilized, he's going to get far more work from me than you - not for any reason other than he's not you."
The moral of this rant:
Even if you're paying someone for their work, you'll get more work from them if you're civil toward them. You don't have to be Pollyanna or Mary Poppins, if you disagree, there's a way to disagree without making anyone feel inferior, stupid or inept. After all, you've come to them for their expertise. We've all come to the point where civility has become synonymous with weakness - it's actually just the opposite.
posted by Jim Shepherd | 8:56 AM
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