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Rush and Holiday Fees
Hi Folks,
When a client comes to you right before you’re supposed to leave for a well-earned vacation and demands that you drop everything and do the (almost) impossible for them- I’m talking creating a 30 second spot from scratch to air nationally on cable starting in late December- how do you deal with this? Surely, said client really ought to pay a premium for one’s heroic efforts.
And of course, this is a client I like. I want to help them, even if they sometimes ask for very difficult things. So laughing at them and saying ‘no way’ isn’t really an option.
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http://www.geniusmonkeys.com
(818) 653-9144 -
12 Replies
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if it cuts into your vacation, yep.
if it’s while you’re open for normal hours, nope.
Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Biscardi Creative Media
HD and SD Production for Broadcast and Independent Productions.STOP STARING AND START GRADING WITH APPLE COLOR
The new Color Training DVD now available from the Creative Cow! -
Yep, not only cuts into vacation (pretty much kills it actually) but also causes tremendous year-end stress. By the way, Walter- your Color DVD is awesome.
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http://www.geniusmonkeys.com
(818) 653-9144 -
Personally I think you’re asking the wrong question. The question is, how MUCH do you like the client and how MUCH do you need the work? You’re not a slave, you get to choose which jobs to take and which to pass on. If you need a vacation, tell them you aren’t available. If you like the client or need the money, take the job. But by charging a large premium simply because the timing is inconvenient for you is probably going to damage your relationship with the client and isn’t entirely fair business practice.
Rush fees are another issue, and if that turnaround is too quick for your shop then by all means apply a rush charge. Nothing too out of the ordinary there.
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How intricate does the spot need to be? You should be able to turn it around pretty darned fast if they’re that desperate. Perhaps they can skip the annoyances like storyboards and put this on the approvals fast track.
The less people you have on their end the faster it goes.
Worst case, send them to a rival production company in LA. Hmmm…I wonder who you could call…
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Who the heck do you think you are taking a vacation? Sheesh!
Can’t you bang something out in a day or two with existing footage and maybe a quick shoot and give it to him for a Christmas present? He won’t forget that one.
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🙂 That’s EXACTLY what I did- we met, and cut storyboards, simplified things quite a lot, and generally reduced expectations. Now it’ll get done, before my much-needed vacation, and it’ll be good- not an award winner, but good. And given the mess they’re in, they client’s pretty happy.
Now the big trick- how does one turn a client like this into an informed, educated partner?
You know, the kind of client who doesn’t freak you out on a regular basis :-).
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http://www.geniusmonkeys.com
(818) 653-9144 -
LOL, you know what’s funny? That’s basically what we’re doing- reusing a lot of old stuff and diving into After Effects and Shake (with help from Imagineer Systems too) to do some nifty repurposing. It’s not gonna be awesome, but it’ll be good- and the client is thrilled (“What, you can extract an actor from this old commercial and put him in a new one?”).
The trick now is converting this client into someone who works WITH us, rather than someone who springs crazy on us at the last minute. Any tips for that? 🙂
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http://www.geniusmonkeys.com
(818) 653-9144 -
ps: Raymond, I know you were being a bit sarcastic. :-)))))
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http://www.geniusmonkeys.com
(818) 653-9144 -
[Patrick Ortman] “The trick now is converting this client into someone who works WITH us, rather than someone who springs crazy on us at the last minute. Any tips for that? :-)”
A frontal lobotomy? (He’ll smile a lot and be a perfect client) “How’s this breathing mask going to help me see my project in 3-D?”
“Don’t worry, this won’t hurt a bit…”
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[Patrick Ortman] “The trick now is converting this client into someone who works WITH us, rather than someone who springs crazy on us at the last minute. Any tips for that?”
Yes, Patrick, there is indeed a way to accomplish this: You ask them to come here to the COW’s Business & Marketing forum and give their views on why they think this is a good way to work, and we will play Point/Counter-Point with them.
Best regards,
Ron Lindeboom
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ronlindeboom
Publisher, Creative COW Magazine
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