What Does It Cost To Pay Less? Part II
With the overwhelming response from this column in April, we decided to collect additional information on this very hot topic. If you responded in April, you may do so again. If you did not email your thoughts, do so NOW (see below link). This is your chance and the forum for venting your frustration over pricing in our industry. The more reaction we get, the better the survey. Some of you will be contacted for a more in-depth interview. You will also be approached if we can use this material for an article in one of the National industry magazines I write for.
Creative professionals today are overwhelmed, and certainly dismayed, with the problems of pricing their work. Clients can "get it free" or pay less than industry standards when everyone is a photographer. Everyone is a designer. Everyone is an illustrator. What kind of backlash will this trend have? What is the "real cost" to clients and our industry of free or below-cost creative work? The best thing you can help your clients understand is that cost is not always just dollars. Cost can be paid in time, energy, attention, prestige, market share - and dollars!
Though new technology has made cross-discipline creative work possible, that doesn't mean the work should be free. CLIENTS HAVE THE MONEY. Budgets are getting tighter, not disappearing altogether. If we all do not consistently express our concern to clients, prices will continue to slide.
When we lose a job to a printer giving the photos to clients for free, we do get a little crazy. We have to stop now and think through this. Clients can't stop to do it; they are pressed and stressed just to get their jobs done. It damages the entire graphic arts industry when a professional creative service becomes a "loss leader".
So, as an exercise to defend your work, your value and your pricing, answer any or all of the following questions and e-mail me under the title of "April E-folio". This is a way to separate the "vendor" from the true professional - you! I will collate and publish your feedback. Here are the questions:
- When your clients are quoted a price that is below industry standards, what factors add value to your price?
- Your client says the printer can do the photography for half your price. How do you respond?
- Besides price, what other factors would influence your client and get them to hire you instead of someone cheaper?
- How does your work OR your service help your client's ads, brochures and communications stand out in their marketplace?
- What budget are you working with? Often the "creative" budget is undervalued compared to the "production" budget. What if the client moved the money around? What if clients spend more on the creative so they can spend less on the production? For example, designing the job to minimize the printing costs or shooting the job to reduce the amount of retouching. What are some other examples?
- If the client must pay less and you still want to work with them, what things can they get less of without hurting the project? What things can you get more of to make up part of the fee?
