“Overtime” rates for rush jobs?

[Tim Frechette]

Every good business person must value their time.

Just before Christmas I had a fairly good client call and want a RUSH job done. I told him I could do it but would have to reschedule my other jobs and this would cost him extra. He was very adamant and agreed. I had to actually put in time on Christmas eve day as well as Christmas. He paid for this but not the full boat.

When he received my bill after he was very very happy with the product, I gave him a discount for being a good customer. Not a loyal one since he has his crap commercials done my the local news crew.

We spoke about the bill and I explained all the details, time, etc, and he understood. I am not the cheapest but I am one of the best in my area because I care about quality. This is why he hires me for the specialty jobs.

Your time is worth something. Ask yourself if the situation were reversed would your client send out a repair man on the weekend under the weekday rate? Would he give you an extra special deal, probably not.

You are not in business to break even but to show a profit for YOURSELF.

[Shawn Marshall]

Well, we sent our invoice to the client and they didn’t bat an eye. They replied by saying “Thanks for stepping in in our time of need!”, and we just took one of their drives back to them and everyone seemed very happy, so it was probably just my insecurity which prompted this thread.

As I said initially, we have worked with this client four or five times in the past, and we have 6-7 year relationships with one of the producers and their in-house graphics guy. We’d like to be doing more work for them, but they don’t seem to have as much overflow as our biggest client. We’ve done two other super-quick turnaround projects for them, charging comparable rates to this latest job, and things went fine. I think they know us enough to know that our billing would be fair, even though it came out pretty high for this job.

Here’s sort of a philosophical question. When a client comes in with a quick turnaround job, is it the duty of the vendor to volunteer their rates up front, or is it the responsibility of the client to ask for that up front? My thinking is that if the rate’s important to the client, they’ll ask up front. However, if it’s more important to get the thing done, they’re not going to haggle about rates, within reason. I’m sure that if we’d decided to charge $2000/hr for our work then we’d had a problem, but I think they knew us enough to know we’d be fair.

If I walk into a Toyota dealership and say I want to buy a Prius, here’s $50,000, is it their obligation to tell me the sticker price is only $24,000?

And it’s not like this is an everyday problem. This scenario springs up once or twice a year for us; this was the first time it encompassed such a large volume of work in such a short time, which is what prompted my initial inquiry.

Thanks for all your input and suggestions.

Shawn Marshall
Marshall Arts Motion Graphics

[David Roth weiss]

[Shawn Marshall] “When a client comes in with a quick turnaround job, is it the duty of the vendor to volunteer their rates up front, or is it the responsibility of the client to ask for that up front? My thinking is that if the rate’s important to the client, they’ll ask up front. However, if it’s more important to get the thing done, they’re not going to haggle about rates, within reason.”

Shawn,

Its all about the objective. There are times when the objective is just to get the project done. When there’s a deadline looming and its “balls to the walls,” the client has simply got to pay the added tarrif. In that situation it often just goes unspoken because there just isn’t time for formalities and “cheaper, faster, better–pick any two” certainly applies.

David

David Roth Weiss
Director/Editor
David Weiss Productions, Inc.
Los Angeles

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[Steve Wargo]

When you’re in a restaurant and the server says “Do you want sour cream with that?”, is it their duty to tell you that it’s $.50 extra or is it your duty to ask if it costs extra?

It’s their duty to tell you, just like it’s our duty to tell the client that the rate is higher for nights and weekends.

I usually say “Is there going to be any issue with the higher weekend rate?” This is a polite way to open the door with a question rather that slapping them with “Hey buddy! You are going to pay like hell to get me out there on a Sunday”.

Steve Wargo
Tempe, Arizona
It’s a dry heat!

Sony HDCAM F-900 & HDW-2000/1 deck
5 Final Cut (not quite PRO) systems
Sony HVR-M25 HDV deck
2-Sony EX-1 HD .

[Rennie Klymyk]

In my old studio I used to have my rates framed on the wall where clients would see it for sure. I think I need to find it and put it up here also. It might be a good idea to email your clients your “New Rate Sheet” for spring 2008.

It is so easy to forget about ourselves. We read in the news paper how grain is DOUBLING in price globally and when we go to market we understand why a loaf of bread is $5.00, Not to mention gas is $1.17 per liter (we’ve heard on the news it is expected to reach $1.50 this year… so we just pay at the pump. We also need to adjust for cost of living escalation.

How about the sign in the local automotive shop that reads:

SHOP RATE: = $50.00 PER HR.
If you watch: $60.00 PER HR.
If you help: $75.00 PER HR.

“everything is broken” ……Bob Dylan

[Jeremy Doyle]

[Steve Wargo] “When you’re in a restaurant and the server says “Do you want sour cream with that?”, is it their duty to tell you that it’s $.50 extra or is it your duty to ask if it costs extra?

It’s their duty to tell you, just like it’s our duty to tell the client that the rate is higher for nights and weekends. “

I have never had a server tell me that the sour cream is extra. I have always learned after the fact by seeing the bill. Now it has become customary for me to ask. Maybe that’s just a Minnesota thing.

[Steve Wargo]

Minnesota too, huh?

Steve Wargo
Tempe, Arizona
It’s a dry heat!

Sony HDCAM F-900 & HDW-2000/1 deck
5 Final Cut (not quite PRO) systems
Sony HVR-M25 HDV deck
2-Sony EX-1 HD .

[Grinner Hester]

I have a very simple rule of thumb and all of my clients know about it.
Stuff thats easy on me comes out pretty cheap. Pains in my butt are expensive.
This means, while I charge by the hour, if I have a client whos company I enjoy, I round 6 hours and 15 minutes to 6 hours. If I have a grinder int he room making me wish I had gotten a real job, I can very easily make lables well into 7 hours…. 8 if they babble alot.