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Dream clients
You know, we get a lot of threads here about bad clients, problem clients, idiot clients, grinder clients. It is starting to depress me, just a little. How’z ’bout a few mentions of AWESOME clients, DREAM clients that some of you have had. There must be a few…
….Right?
Give me something to dream about on a cold night:-)
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26 Replies
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I spoke at length about my dream client in the latest article I wrote for the Cow. In fact I have multiple “dream” clients now.
They started showing up when I started saying “no” to the grinders. It’s simple really. Have fun while you’re in the shop and respect us and what we do for you. Break one of those rules and you’re done working with us.
Can’t say I have a problem with any of our clients. Life’s too short to work with anyone but “dream” clients.
Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Editor, Colorist, Director, Writer, Consultant, Author.
HD Post and Production
Biscardi Creative Media“Foul Water, Fiery Serpent” now in Post.
Creative Cow Forum Host:
Apple Final Cut Pro, Apple Motion, Apple Color, AJA Kona, Business & Marketing, Maxx Digital. -
[walter biscardi] “I spoke at length about my dream client in the latest article I wrote for the Cow. In fact I have multiple “dream” clients now. They started showing up when I started saying “no” to the grinders. It’s simple really. Have fun while you’re in the shop and respect us and what we do for you. Break one of those rules and you’re done working with us. Can’t say I have a problem with any of our clients. Life’s too short to work with anyone but “dream” clients.”
Like you, Walter, we *used* to be kept on edge by people who were not fun to work with, but we no longer tolerate it. When you won’t put up with it, you attract the kind of client that doesn’t want to put up with it either.
As long as people make excuses for grinders who want you to work for nothing and people who make your life a living hell, that is exactly what you will have. When you quit accepting it, the answer is simple: you won’t have any of it, anymore.
Best regards,
Ron Lindeboom
Creativity is a type of learning process where the teacher and pupil are located in the same individual.
Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.
– Antoine de Saint Exupéry -
My most recent client is a “dream client” as well. For over a year now, they consistently are getting grants to continue a very worthwhile (2) year project, know what they want, never haggle about rates, are very easy to talk with and relate to, pay promptly for every shoot and edit session, and the project keeps growing in scope and deliverables every month. That being said, I think it is both naive and foolish to think that just because you decide that you won’t suffer “bad or difficult clients” that other clients will magically appear at your doorstep (studio). In this economy, with all the competition out there, few post houses can afford to turn away clients that aren’t “dream clients.” You can always have a “warm dream on a cold night”, but that is reality.
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Our clients aren’t all “dream clients”…. but fortunately none of them are real “nightmare clients.” At least not any more. We learned our lessons and tried to weed those out a long time ago.
We do have one “dream client” that stands out. They are a financial institution (not a “bank,” they’ll be quick to tell you), and have a large marketing department… basically an in-house agency with probably a dozen or so employees in the department. However, they trust us to help them determine what they need in way of broadcast advertising, and we always concept their television commercial campaigns as well as write and produce them.
I’d say the things that make them a “dream clients” include… the fact that they are not “stuffy,” which is odd for both a financial client and one that is a multi-billion dollar company to boot. They love creative ideas (even crazy way-out-there ideas), have a really fun staff, have us produce lots and lots of projects for them, love our work, trust us implicitly, barely even ask what a commercial project’s budget might be (“Just whatever it takes, we want it to be good”), come to shoots but only to observe (never hear a peep out of them), never come to edit sessions until there is a darn-near -polished cut to see, and literally start hounding us for invoices as soon as I yell my customary “Thank you for the day, people!” so they can get the check in the works.
I wish I had a bunch more just like them.
Sadly, we just have the one that gets marks that high… but fortunately a bunch of others aren’t too far behind.
T2
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Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com
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I’m happy to say that we have several dream clients — most of the time.
The main contact point in our largest client is one of the most reasonable and even-handed people I’ve ever dealt with because he knows that a deal has to work for both sides to have real value. He lets us be creative with very little interference. He gets our invoices pushed through quickly and he does his best to protect us from the not so nice people in his organization.
In fact, virtually all of the people we work closely with are friends and would be even if we didn’t have a business relationship. It’s one of the things I look for in going after new clients. Not to say that this is the primary reason for picking prospects but it has, at times, come down to the deciding factor, even as recently as this summer. If you can see up front that you don’t like someone’s basic MO and don’t get a sense of trust from them, WHY get involved?
Just this past week the leadership team of one of our dream clients drove a few hundred miles to our offices in order to discuss several new ideas. After a couple of hours of debate on whether the word “all” should be replaced with “any,” or even deleted, I was going a little nuts. Then I realized that the fact that these people, at this level, cared this much about their ad message was a reason they deserved our sincere appreciation.
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[Christopher Wright] “That being said, I think it is both naive and foolish to think that just because you decide that you won’t suffer “bad or difficult clients” that other clients will magically appear at your doorstep (studio).”
No one said that great clients magically show up at your doorstep, Christopher.
What we DID say is that we STOPPED WASTING TIME working with grinders. In doing so, not only did the desperation level dissipate, but the confidence level rose greatly when we stepped out of the self-flagellation machine that grinders usually bring along with them, for your use — free!
You are free to feel the necessity of maintaining your need for them, if you wish.
Like Tim Wilson, Walter, me and some others have said here a number of times over the years: (to use your metaphor, Christoper) when we gave up the circle jerk with the idiots, the warm dreams on cold nights stopped, too. But you are free to see the need for it all.
If that is your reality, who am I to argue?
I don’t buy it and because I don’t, I don’t act from that mind-set and therefore, I do not create that reality for myself.
You are free to yours.
And no, it wasn’t always like this. I have fought through many a time where I was flat broke, not a dime to my name, desperate as hell, and I learned my lessons the hard way, thank you — and nobody’s belief that it can’t be done is going to stop me.
And you can believe whatsoever you wish.
Ron Lindeboom
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[Christopher Wright] “That being said, I think it is both naive and foolish to think that just because you decide that you won’t suffer “bad or difficult clients” that other clients will magically appear at your doorstep (studio). In this economy, with all the competition out there, few post houses can afford to turn away clients that aren’t “dream clients.” You can always have a “warm dream on a cold night”, but that is reality.”
They don’t just show up at your door. You have to go get them or you have a situation like mine where the good clients beget other good clients. You know as well as I do that word of mouth and reputation is much more important than any ad campaign you’ll ever run.
So I have very good clients who get an excellent rate and excellent service from us. They also have a great time while at our facility. They talk to other Producers in the area who then come out to give us a try.
“In this economy” means nothing in terms of dealing with clients. That is reality. “In this economy” is a tremendous opportunity for those who are willing to embrace it. In my case, we’re expanding the company by purchasing land or a building because the market allows me to afford much more than I could have even two years ago.
“In this economy” we are succeeding because a few years ago corporate clients started cutting back so we cut back on our marketing to corporations. We’re now almost exclusively broadcast and independent film driven.
“In this economy” I started planning to take control of my own destiny four years ago by developing my own projects so I would not have to rely 100% on clients to pay the bills. We have three original television series in development with strong interest already in two of them.
“In this economy” there is great opportunity for those who seek it.
Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Editor, Colorist, Director, Writer, Consultant, Author.
HD Post and Production
Biscardi Creative Media“Foul Water, Fiery Serpent” now in Post.
Creative Cow Forum Host:
Apple Final Cut Pro, Apple Motion, Apple Color, AJA Kona, Business & Marketing, Maxx Digital. -
Most of my best friends started out as clients. In spending so much time together, talking about our families, life, evolution, aliens… lol
well, we become best buds after a while. This is what I mean when I say I’m in the friend-making business. Once it comes to this level, there really is no competition that can steal a client. After a while, they are simply goin’ to grinner’s.That said, man I once had a client call me back when they saw my invoice. It was a consuting job, designing a program at a college and they allowed for a certain amount of budget to be spent and my invoice was not that number. Ever have this happen?? They called and insisted I double the amount.
uuuuhhhhhh. ok.
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[grinner hester] “I’m in the friend-making business.”
Very well said, Grin! If you’re going to spend a lot of time with them it’s important that you like them and they like you. Otherwise it’s painful and fake and nowhere near as productive.[grinner hester] “Once it comes to this level, there really is no competition that can steal a client.”
And that’s the money part of your post. Relationship selling is the highest level of business. Especially when they’re no longer shopping price, but are interested mostly in positive outcomes. -
Like Nick has stated, almost all of my clients are also my friends, and they have in turn referred other clients, both good and “difficult” at times. I have also taken potential grinders and difficult clients others in my market wouldn’t touch, and have actually been able to gain their appreciation and “educate” them about the post process, thereby changing the dynamic from “self-flagellation” to profit, and again making lasting friends in the process. My current “dream client” is a case in point. Three local production houses refused to deal with him. I feel that they just didn’t take the time and patience to LISTEN to him. There are the clients that allow you “creative freedom” and “respect you and your work” but who take several months to pay and take several emails and phone calls to finally acknowledge the invoice EVERY TIME (usually ad agencies). They always end up paying, but I would call them “difficult” clients. There are those that pay before they leave the studio, but want to micro-manage every cut and text placement etc., who end up doing exactly what I had already edited together for them eight hours earlier. I would call that a “difficult client.” There are also those that are inveterate grinders that I won’t touch with a ten foot pole. (The “do this one for free and we’ll catch you next time, this one will be good practice for you or good for your reel” etc.) You can usually spot those from a single phone call or face to face meeting. Having been in sales for so many years, it is fairly easy to whittle out the hopeless cases. I am very happy that Walter is doing so well that he needs a new building and more employees, but Atlanta is a major broadcast center for the whole country and he is in a larger market with more broadcast business potential than many here on the Cow. His business model seems to be growing a small corporation. I have had the building and employees before, been there done that, and you can have that business model, thank you. I don’t want the hassle, paperwork and overhead of a new building and employees, nor do I call that “success” in the area of (as one poster put it), creating art and achieving self-actualization; the real reason I chose this profession in the first place. All I can say is I have seen several businesses that are at the level Walter is at now who went the major expansion route and now are hurting or out of business. As they say, pride comes before the fall, and Walter has that in spades. You can almost see his chest and head expanding with every post. Being a small shop like Grinner’s is my preferred and comfortable modus, and by keeping it small, I have kept busy and happy. “But each to his own, different strokes” as Ron says. There are always opportunities and new clients to pursue, and I doubt that many of us don’t at least have a few projects we are working on ourselves without “waiting for a client to bring the business in.” The fact is that we are in challenging economic times and I think it is just over simplistic and a disservice to say that grazers should only accept “dream clients” in their business plan. The power of positive thinking is great, until you have to pay the bills.
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