So you're in love, a beautiful woman/man/hermaphrodite/strange Japanese pillow has come into your life and all you want to do is feed them your blood...or suckle upon their teat.. for whatever strange reason you do.
Want... to do that. um...
Anyway, you are in a happy place of joy and bliss. Nothing can go wrong. You see him/her/heshe/it on a daily basis. You text, you Sext, you gush over sappy poetry and send each other cute little emoticons expunging on your love.
Then the shit hits the fan.
Smack, in the face. The romance is over, she now wants you to not speak to your friends any more or go drinking with your buddies because they happen to be swimsuit models and she just doesn't trust you around tequila and tits.
Or, they keep insisting they love you while seeing other people eventually breaking your heart and tossing it..err ok you get the point.
Love is tough. Relationships are even tougher. There are some nasty ups and downs that are NOT for the faint of heart.
Business relationships are no different.
They can seem wonderful at first.
Then they, much like the nun punching the shark. with...a Gobot in the background for some reason, err... punches you back! Reallll bad! In the face! On the nose where it really really hurts for some stupid reason.
Suddenly you take a huge nose dive, and the one who loved the most, gets hurt the most!!!
Business is pretty much like this. Except, in this relationship, you get hurt where it really matters, your Wallet.
So, don't be a pussy, and let's carry on. I will equate business relationships with personal ones often so if you start to get wispy and teary eyes thinking of your recent dumping by your girlfriend, that's your problem, not mine.
Ok, back at it.
If you want to hold onto that romance, you gotta work at it.
It's a lot of work. (Thicken that skin and that 99 percent perspiration thing will be my standard throwbacks)
1) The Rejection (or so you might think)
In business, you make a contact and start working on a project. They like you, you like them. You deliver a good product, and they shit on it.
Why? It's their money, so why shouldn't they?
I've known many an artist who, after having a big steaming pile of "I don't like it" put on their chests, they wrap up and go work at Toys 'R' Us.
How many times have you gone up to someone of the opposite sex/other species (hey I don't judge) or online avatar, and been rejected?
Well, imagine getting past that point, in bed, post coitus, only to be told you really really stink at it?
Do you get all pouty and upset? No you get back on the horse and try again.
She or the client will question your actions and every time question your invoice. err resolve, invoice I mean.
What you have to do is be steadfast in your resolve. If they like you as a supplier, they will probably give you more than one chance to either fix a mistake or deliver a better product.
Don't be afraid to work a bit beyond your quote, give the client more than what they are asking for.
Like in a relationship, giving more than what's expected helps to ground and strengthen a solid foundation.
2) Establish a reputation of consistency
To be successful in a relationship of any sort, you need to cultivate deep roots.
Sounds like a lot of work!
One client, I love her to death. She is gorgeous, funny and great to be around. I formed a fast friendship with her, but developed a strong business relationship by not only delivering what she wants but doing so on a consistent basis.
I don't let quality fade, nor do I let he criticisms go unanswered or unquestioned.
Her friendship is important to me, but it also serves another function, in that, it helps drive my bread and butter. She is an A list client for sure, and not just because she has a pretty face but because she is consistent too.
Having clients, like relationships, is a two way street. If they are inconsistent (refer back to my post on having a Thick Skin) then why would you keep them around? All they'll end up doing is costing you money and time.
So, being consistent requires both parties to be accountable to each other. You give work they like, they pay you Simple.
Being consistent also helps out when you do screw up.
I had a long render. It was a mess. Nothing was working right, big glitches,
long delays. I forgot to turn on a transfer mode and it looks all chunky and garbage.
So I had to ask for more time.
She said yes, happily.
Why?
I delivered consistent work and she knew she could trust me to do it again, and if it means waiting, she will wait.
NEVER EVER EVER allow something you are not proud of to go out! Ever. Your credibility, and consequentially, the clients faith in you, will be gone.
3) Give more than just what's expected
YES! I did say be consistent. Deliver consistent quality of product. I didn't say anything about not going above and beyond what they ask for.
If she wants copy on the screen, add some glint. She wants glint, add a damn flare.
One up, or TEN up the client. At worst, all they do is ask you to take away from what you built. It's far easier to turn off a layer in your time-line than it is to build whole new elements.
Deliver more!
That means more work from you, but when you actually do this, you will hold onto that client!
Ever feel like you give it all to your significant other and they keep expecting more and more from you? That's business. You deliver A, now they want A and B and so on.
The good thing though, and if they are a credible business, is that you can start charging more for the better work.
If all you do is deliver exactly what the client wants, they will dump you so fast, you won't even know it.
Give them more, they will crave EVEN more.
Sometimes it's hard to do that.
I just did a quick animation. The budget was for 2 hours of work. That's what they got. The end.
Suddenly they wanted changes, they didn't like the branding, etc etc. So it went from 2 hours to 6 hours of back and forth and additions and changes.
Do I charge for that?
Damn sure right Skippy.
Because I went out of my way to add more AFTER they gave me a set time-line and expect to NOT be charged? yah.... ok.
If the client establishes all the rules and regulations, how and where are you going to grow?
4)It takes two to tango, or in this case, to haggle.
You have to stand up for your company. If the client is dictating to you all the rules, how will you ever get anything done in your favour?
You are the supplier, and you answer to you, or your shareholders or whomever.
Your client also answers to you. Do not compromise your business or even yourself to satisfy the whims of a whiny client. There is only so much you should do to make the client happy without a return on you.
They should never get from you more than you get from them. Simple math.
Hopefully they can then make money from what you sold them.
Simple business.
So that means, do not work 24 hours a day to get a project done worth 5 hours.
Do not over promise either.
Tell the truth with a good markup and you will be laughing to the bank.
To be continued.
(I'm tired now)
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