Comments on: Recent question on cheap clients

By: Lena Shore

Lena Shore — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 21:58:53 +0000

I agree. The cheaper they are, the more douchey they are. I also acknowledge that if you give some people a discount out of the gate (because they whined) decide if you are willing to do it once, you’ll do it again. Those people are worth firing.

Here is a funny find that illustrates this issue well. You can laugh and cry in pain at the same time.
http://www.lenashore.com/blog/2009/07/the-vendor-client-relationship/

By: Ray Frenden

Ray Frenden — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 07:05:00 +0000

Sure. Not a problem.

By: Remuse Fashion

Remuse Fashion — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 23:44:54 +0000

Hey Ray, could you do me a favor and email me your custom tee rates? I’d love to have your work on our shirts.

By: Cj

Cj — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 05:22:50 +0000

Unfortunately, there are douchebags across the board. You never know if you’re getting a cheap douchebag or a rich douchey asshole.

Every once in awhile you’ll get the best client which is the one who knows you know what you’re doing….and doesn’t care what the price tag is.

By: Ray Frenden

Ray Frenden — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 20:13:05 +0000

Naw; seems like everyone here has learned this lesson. It’s not a grand insight, heh. We’ve all fallen for it. :)

By: Blooboy

Blooboy — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 19:49:29 +0000

you’re the man Ray.

By: Ray Frenden

Ray Frenden — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 19:18:20 +0000

I give a flat number of revisions in my default contract. I like dealing with low, simple numbers. Turning things into hours seems to evoke a sort of effort quantification that can sour a client (in my experience, obviously)

Ashley, I hear you. If I have any to spare, I’ll let you know, hah.

By: mandy

mandy — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 19:16:12 +0000

Great anecdote, Stefan.

By: Stefan Grambart

Stefan Grambart — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 19:12:04 +0000

Oh definitely! I used to outline a “revision phase” that allowed for # hours of revisions… one client summed it up best; after using up his hours for revisions he said “just go back to the one you first showed me, I liked it best.”

After further prodding it turns out that the initial comp was his favourite throughout the entire revision process, but he never said a word… when I asked him why he insisted on all these arbitrary changes when he was happy with the original result he said “i dunno, cause I guess I paid for ‘em – might as well use ‘em.”

I no longer outline how many hours I will spend on revisions.

By: Ashley Selby

Ashley Selby — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 19:07:09 +0000

I couldn’t agree more! Sadly, most of our clients these days are the really, really cheap clients… and they are very demanding… and very unclear about what they want.

If you have any nice big clients, send them our way! Plllleeeeaseee.

By: Ray Frenden

Ray Frenden — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 18:30:02 +0000

That’s an interesting angle on it.

By: Esben Thomsen

Esben Thomsen — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 18:26:02 +0000

Somehow this is goes across culture western culture, since I’ve the same experiences in Denmark.

What I’ve found out is that cheap clients need to have this “feel” that they actually spend their moneys worth, by asking for changes or by voicing critically some of their ideas. Its a way to insure themselves that they have made a good deal psychologically.