The vendor client relationship
Here’s a sadly all-too-true video that shows what I’ve experienced with a lot of potential clients. I get the distinct impression I’m not alone.
Seem familiar?
Remember, it’s perfectly okay to say “No”. In fact, it can be necessary.
Via iLT on Twitter.
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66 appreciated comments on “The vendor client relationship”
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That is brilliant!
And yes, sad, but unfortunately often true.
This is fantastic! I wish I could show this to some clients.
Thanks for the laugh!
Something I wish everyone thinking of hiring a designer could see — and see themselves in. So funny because it’s so true!
I’d love to show that to clients, but it may be insulting… almost as insulting as the client waisting my time. Everyone wants something for free.
Great video post David.
Painfully accurate. Also, why I don’t work as a freelance creative any longer.
Great find David, this is very funny, but sadly true. Wish I could show it to clients also (Maybe i’ll keep it on my iPhone just in case).
Hilarious & so true. If only the rest of the world knew what we really go through. Great post! I enjoyed a little break from the day with this.
It is good to promote such films because it is touching this problem in very catchy way. Next time I will send it to my client, before the meeting:D
funny video! Had a good laugh. Thanks David
‘This is an opportunity!’ That is my favorite line of all time!
‘Show us how you made it so we can do it on our own in house’
Remember you’re just a Photoshop & Illustrator user, nothing more.
Brilliant.
ROTFLMAO! Yep, I definitely had that happen on more than one occasion.
Wow. I have noticed so MANY posts on Craig’s List that solicit Graphic Designers with these types of bargaining. Great video. Sad but true.
COW….
Thanks for this one. Reminded me in a few encounters…
I have experienced the whole, “We want to do this in house next time. How does that work?” It’s tough out there, but it’s good to say No. Thanks for the video.
Ah, yes… had my fair share of each of those. Luckily I have my fair share of good clients so it’s a lot easier to say no.
Interesting to see how fast the “view count” on the video has increased. The file was uploaded to YouTube on the 22nd of May, six days ago. Yesterday there was just 1,000 or so views, but today it’s up to 43,000+.
I’d call it a great piece of viral marketing, but there’s no accreditation. A missed trick perhaps? Or someone doing a bit of testing?
LOL a typical day in our game too!
Shaun
I’m wondering if there’s a video when a client comes with a bunch of detailed plans, tells how he/she is excited and then runs away and never returns.
Great find! A great follow up blog would be sharing how you handle those kind of clients. Being a new freelance designer / logo designer I would love to know. I am running into alot of this.
And.. as I sent that last comment I just got an email from a potential client saying they found someone to do it significantly lower… gah!!
@Kyle Petersen
Just direct them to this page ;)
Ha! Love this !
Hilarious and true.
Totally funny!
These vendors are being a lot nicer than I would be.
Agreeing to their demands is like inviting a vampire into your home. (See: The Lost Boys, Let The Right One In) They can’t do anything until you give them that power. Once you do, there’s no going back.
Thanks David! Very REAL and true to life…something we all have to know how to deal with.
Hope all is well.
Pam
David, I really enjoyed that video. But it honestly made me nauseas with how true it is regarding the design world. Frightening.
-Mike
Haha awesome find David, this is so true and seems like it always happens.
@Andrew Kelsall
But then I’d have no clients. ;-)
LOL, I had a client call me up today and do that on a $90 dollar invoice… seriously.
Thank you for that.
It came at the right time.
David…no trick here…but someone posted a link to this video on clientcopia.com today…that probably drove a lot of traffic.
And of course: Genius video. I swear everything in there has happened to me, plus this one: we can’t afford you, but my teenage niece is learning how to do what you do, so we’ll just use her.
I am not a designer at all, but since I understand how it works (partly from reading clientcopia.com where I received this link). This video is so funny and puts the problem in a context that most people can understand. Perhaps you developers can accidently send this link to bad clients like this via an email address not associated with your business?
Thanks for the laugh. I notice this is up to 140k views on Youtube now.
I love the ” c’mon let’s do this! “, like the enthusiasm will get you on-board.
” Work for free! Woo! Yeah, lets gooo! “
Very nice. This is exactly what we as designers are treated like sometimes for our trade.
@Kyle Petersen, haha, point taken ;)
Really great, and sadly true… Made me laugh though!
Its really interesting and funny clip but its a fact.
This has been my experience all too often!
I love when clients ask for me to show how I made it so they never have to ask for my help again. I just hand them a calendar for 2020, and say might want to reschedule your appointments, 10 years of knowledge coming right at ya.
hit it right on the spot. Great video!
Interesting to see our relationships with clients translated into different field scenarios. Every client in the world should watch that.
Brilliant! Wish I could show this to some of my clients. So true…
That video was right on. Sometimes it can be tough trying to convince clients of your value when you have no set price for work, but that’s where a good portfolio, experience, and salesmanship come in.
This is geat and a good one to send to the sales team around the end of the quarter. Reminds me of this one:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3AUjQaOuiKA
Brilliant!!!
Sooooo true! And you are right about it sometimes being nessesary to say no. Unfortunately with the current economic climate folks are listening to the ‘everything is negotiable’ advice and applying it to design. The ‘we were at the taco stand’ bit rings particularly true for me. I set filet mignon dammit!!!
OMG! ROFLMAO! RIGHT ON! And the sad thing is those people who ask these kind of things REALLY thinks it’s ok!
YUP!! They think they smart for doing that. God please forgive them :D
What is your take on contests? I read about it on your site somewhere, but I can’t remember exactly where. I have entered some before where the winner gets a design on a t-shirt. The thing is, no money is given to the winner, so unless you win, is there really a point to entering? Is this considered crowdsourcing?
For example, here is a contest by the skateboard shop, ccs.com. The contest is for Boarding for Breast Cancer. Why don’t they just pay a designer? I mean, the hardware and software is very expensive. It doesn’t really seem to make sense to enter. Could someone give the pros of entering, and why a company holds a contest? Thank you. —— http://shop.ccs.com/promo/default/promoId–5003437/?/SID–6136?cm_mmc+affiliates-_-Housead-_-Side-_-B4BC/
Noah, Personally I am against crowdsourcing, although the one you mentioned puts 100% of it’s profits towards breast cancer. So if you’ve got a bit of spare time, go ahead and enter it. I think charity-based open design competitions are a good for students…
On the other hand, if it was simply a revenue-generating exercise, designers should do the rest of the industry a favour and let the amateurs tackle it. That way the company gets what it pays for (or doesn’t pay for), and will understand the value of employing a professional graphic designer…
If all professional designers would steer clear of competitions like this, the quality of entries would be crap and the company would reap no benefit.
Fantastic! Really funny :O) but unfortunately as so many folk have said pretty right on the money… or should that be lack of it! Although it can be a struggle, if nothing else I’ve found its a really good challenge and what can seem like some of the more difficult relationships to start with can actually grow to be your most treasured out of which your best work comes and you learn the most. Best advice I had was not to take it personally (although this can sometimes be tough!)
I found “The Graphic Designer’s Guide to Clients” by Ellen Shapiro interesting as it not only looks at this relationship but also the difference the clients’ field of business seems to make and also the notion of pro bono work etc…
Noah, like Gene says, contests that give 100% of the proceeds towards charity are very different to the “spec” websites that are crawling up. If you search my site for “contests” or “spec” I’m sure you’ll find a lot of chat about it. Cheers.
Thank you for the feedback :-) I went ahead and entered yesterday.
Ohh dear. This is why I’m wary about going into freelancing! I have no backbone lol :(
I don’t know if I should laugh or cry…
When I saw this I immediately thought of an architectural designer who pulled this exact thing on me a few years ago. The worst part is when they ask you to teach them to use the software so they can do it themselves…free of course.
Yo Dave,
OMG! I know the antagonists were actors, but I found myself wanting to punch them in the face.
This is so true. I’ve been in this situation ore times than I care to admit until I grew a huge pair and began to respect myself, my art, and my time.
If you can’t pay… We don’t play. I’m a self-taught designer and I’ve worked too hard for someone… anyone to diminish my skills, talents and passion.
So for all those that may be in this situation now…
Grow a Pair, Real Clients Are Out There!
Classic! Who made this ad and what for??
Have to deal with this everyday. I specially love it when clients want something done but don’t want to pay for it. “Can we have this tomorrow, don’t worry we’ll pay next week.” ;-)
Always take the money upfront, at least 1/2 otherwise you’ll be taken advantage of.
If client refuses to sign an agreement that simply states paying terms and schedule better leave that client, find a new one.
If client refuses to sign agreement don’t do business with them you’ll be out thousands of dollars and weeks of lost time.
Great video, I’ll link to it on my site.
LOVE IT! Brilliant :)
All you have to do with clients like that is just don’t even get into a discussion ‘explaining’ in detail what great value you are.
Why waste your precious time explaining, they either want to pay or they don’t, you could be spending that time finding clients who do attach appropriate value your offering.
It does take some guts when faced with this … plus in the early days if feeling a bit desperate for work, it’s so so tempting to give in. Don’t give in!
A designer that is just starting out freelance recently told me how they gave into this sort of thing last week and regretted it and vow never to repeat.
I don’t know where you found this but you got some major points for this one! Thanks for sharing. It made my day.
I think this is the only video that sums up the entire experience of being a designer and dealing with clients. Every designer has been through all these scenarios at least once.
The only way it could have been better is if the guy at the restaurant proceeded to give the chef suggestions on how the dish could be better then wanted a discount because he helped.
Hi David,
I just come across your site yesterday after trying to find the best way to construct an interactive web form – stumbling across your feature onn Adobe LiveCycle Designer – very useful information. Just getting to grips with the program. Just trying to work whether there is a way the client can save the form if they havent completed it and return to it in Adobe Reader, or whether they have to complete and submit it in one sitting?! Hope taht makes sense.
Your site is brilliant, some very interesting discussions – especially about the term ‘freelancer’ I’m glad I haven’t called myself a freelancer on my business cards and letterheads.
In reply to this video, have you seen any of these series of animations they’re brilliant, and sadly soo true! – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCjcwBGQtiw
Keep up the great work.
Regards
Andrew Convery
Web/Graphic Designer
Carlisle, UK.
This is incredible… i AM going to show this to every prospective client that starts to do this, and doesn’t seem to understand when I try to nudge them in the right direction. either they’ll humbly be corrected, or they’ll be offended, and at that point, if they’re not going to budge, i don’t care if it offends them.
Eugh, I have this happen to me ALL THE TIME at the bar I work at.
People will be having a great time for hours and hours and hours and suddenly they get their bill and claim I cheated them and there was “no way they could have had that many”
BUT THEY’VE BEEN HERE FROM 7PM to 2AM!!!!
I can’t even f**king get you a beer unless I ring it up you idiot!
This video was top notch! But… I was selling cars in 1987 and a man came on to the lot looking at rather plain Buick Centries. They where listed at $18,000.00. The guy offered 12,000, becuase, “I am going to buy more than one.” No matter what the product, if people perceive they don’t have to pay what’s asked for whatEVER the reason they get the nerve to try anad weedle you into penury. I also had a woman who wanted me to close in her backporch (when I was a carpenter) and as I was nearly done, she found she had a leak in the roof. Since she had to pay to fix the roof, she didn’t want to pay me more than the third I’d gotten up front…. Oh, please people, get a clue! Now I’m going into Graphic Design and the same thing is going to happen. Fortunately I’m older and I hope wiser now. “No tickee, no washee”.