[Nick Griffin]

Clyde, buddy, let me throw a few thoughts into this mix regarding this last posting.

I certainly agree with Tim and Mark on this, and most things, but something you just wrote has me bothered.

You wrote: “They don’t pay well (because a lot of other video productions are willing to take my place)…” and “…they have more projects for me waiting in the pipeline.”

Hmm. They don’t pay well AND they’ve let you know that there’s lots more work that doesn’t pay well. Does this sound like a winning combination? And if you’ve already done some work for them don’t you already have them for your demo reel and client list?

Did the information that they’ll walk if you don’t play ball come from them, or is it just your assumption? If it’s your assumption you should spend some time delving here through the archives of the Biz COW. And, as Tim said, you need better communication with your client. A little bit of salesmanship wouldn’t hurt either. If it’s not just your assumption and something they’ve actually said then you’re dealing with a grinder, a bully or a combination of the two.

It’s been a while since I’ve written out one of my little sales scenarios and, since I’m not a WGA member, here goes:

Client: “I’m going to need you to (pick one) _cut this rate in half, _throw in the editing time for free, _allow me to continually change my mind without consequence — OR we’re going to have to look at other companies for this service.”

You:“That might make sense,” (you state in a non-conforntational, matter of fact manner.) “That might be a way to shave a few dollars off the project, assuming of course nothing but the price matters to you,”

Client: “Of course other things beside price matter. We’re MagaCorp, our image and the quality of our message are essential to us.”

You: “Gee. If you’re sure you can easily get that from one of the discount video producers you’d be crazy not to take that deal.” (You are NOT arguing with them, you’re agreeing with their line of flawed logic. You are NOT trying to be smarter or cooler or anything but supportive. Bury your ego and play this role.)

Client: “Not everyone who gives me a break on price is what you call a discount video producer.”

You: “Maybe not. But if they’ve got that kind of extra time on their hands or flexibility of scheduling, don’t you have to ask yourself WHY?” (You just planted a very important idea.) “Look I’d love to work on this project with you and I know that with your ideas (a compliment) and our capabilities it could be great.” (Getting back to the factor which is most important to him.) “But given the fact that with our current workload, (pick one) _cutting this rate in half, _throwing in the editing time for free, _allowing you to continually change your mind without consequence — is not something we can do, how do you think we should handle this now? Is there a way for us to go forward on this or have we just reached an impasse?”

So what’s just happened here? We got the prospect to:

1) Say in his own words that price is not the most important thing.

2) Wonder about the quality and qualifications of those who are willing to drop their price.

3) See you as someone who shares his top priority — that of creating a product which will make him look good.

4) Recognize that cutting your price is NOT one of his options.

5) Put the burden on him to determine where to go from here. So you have left him feeling completely in control of the process, and therefore good about himself.

Is this approach going to work every time? Certainly not. But it will work more often than you think and you won’t be left to (pick one) _cut this rate in half, _throw in the editing time for free, _allow him to continually change his mind without consequence.

Speaking to you from the wings of the Sales Theatre, I’m Nick Griffin. (Any wonder I’m not a WGA member?.)

[Nick Griffin]

[Raymond Motion Pictures] When you”…see the inner sanctums, price is no longer the criteria – it’s something else.”

I’ve written here and in the COW magazine about this before and Ray has hit the nail on the head. Some inexperienced clients focus on price — usually because that’s the only factor they can wrap their head around. When you take the time to probe and draw them out you usually find out that price is further down the list and well below the actual first priority.

In a corporate environment looking good for your boss or bosses is almost invariably priority one. For the manager it’s pleasing his boss, the director. For the director it can be the vice president(s). Take it all the way up the chain and for the CEO and chairman it’s the board or stockholders and, for the really good leaders, the consensus of those who work for them.

What makes the people who hire us look good? As the last post says “no surprises.” If it was supposed to cost $10,000 then getting an invoice for more is a surprise. If it’s supposed to cover four ideas or four locations and it’s only about two, that’s a surprise. If it’s supposed to include all the key executives and one or two key players are missing, that’s a surprise.

I’m not saying that we, as providers of services, are supposed to give away freebies like extra shoot days or re-takes for stuff that’s not our fault. Instead what this is all about is COMMUNICATION. The better we are at making sure the client understands the process, understands that Tuesday is the day we’re shooting in Duluth so everybody who is supposed to be there WILL be there, in short understands THEIR part in the process, the better for the project, the better for us and the fewer surprises.

[Nick Griffin]

I don’t think that there’s as much of a gap between what Mark is saying and what Todd is saying as it would appear on first blush. Nobody wants to do “radio with pictures” but life is ohhhh so much simpler when you at least have something to lay down and start cutting to. Personally I start with the music track, add a few clips to see what works, then start adding in the voice over, then the rest of the video.

Of course you slide voice over all around to accommodate your footage. That’s why we all went non-linear all those years back. And, in terms of creating the VO to fit the material, it’s important to have a good idea at the outset what you’ll be doing and what material you have available. I’ve also been in situations where I’ve had to go back to the talent and have them do a few additional or different lines as pick-ups. (And here’s where it helps to have a good relationship with the talent.)

What hasn’t been discussed is the importance of producing / directing the VO session. Maybe it’s because I’m almost always the writer on my projects but there is simply no way I would ever have a client hand me a CD of a narration over which I’ve had no control. Voice over is a very sophisticated and highly focused form of acting and if it’s my project, I’m in control of that highly critical part. It’s also how I protect myself from: “Did I tell you that my best friend does opera — so he’s got a really great voice,” or “My little brother is a DJ on weekends, he has all the equipment and everything else to do this.” Gee, sorry. We’re a signatory of the AFTRA union and therefore we’re bound by contract to use union talent. And wasn’t the quality of our work what brought you to us in the first place?

Scratch tracks can also be highly problematic and almost always result in additional editing once the real VO is brought in. Maybe it’s just me but I find it very difficult to use a non-pro read to accurately predict the timing and rhythm of a professional read.

That’s my over-stated and slightly off topic answer.

[Nick Griffin]

Industry giants, huh? In my case I guess you are referring to girth. (See. I don’t need Stinton’s jabs. I can insult myself.)

David is stone cold on the money with his advice. The best thing you can do is NOT look and act like you know everything. What you should attempt to convey is your process for identifying and solving problems.

You certainly have to be competent in the areas you claim to be. It never ceases to amaze me when people say they know all about something only to prove the contrary with their answers to a few simple questions. Honesty pays. Dishonesty shouts “NEXT.”

Along these lines, don’t think that just because school is over you can slow down on learning new things. If anything that will be the time to intensify the process. This will also be a time to broaden your skill set. An editor who also knows web development is more valuable than an editor alone.

You also have to be friendly and likable because these days, in this business, for every one open position there’s probably a couple of hundred applicants to chose from. Who’s going to get the job? The person who seems like they’ll best fit in with everyone else and be dependable.

Oh, and one other thing. A post-interview thank you letter is fairly important. Keep it brief but use it to summarize the high points of the meeting and to demonstrate that you’re a follow-through kind of guy.

Best of luck, John. Breaking in may take a long, long time so don’t get discouraged and don’t give up.

[Nick Griffin]

Okay, is it because I’m on a Mac and using Firefox, but I can’t get ANYTHING to play. Or am I missing some critical part of the interface?

[Nick Griffin]

Sneaking is one of the more powerful, and less discussed, aspects of business and marketing. Welcome, Todd!!

BTW- great article in the current COW mag!

[Nick Griffin]

Andy –
For what it’s worth, I had Marco’s people do our installation after getting the whole thing blessed by my web engineering guy. We do a lot of stuff here, but code isn’t among (oh, sorry, amoung) them.

[Nick Griffin]

[Marco Solorio] “but it’s understood that any feedback/approvals will be made by one person.”

And that, my friends, is always one of the bigger problems many of us face when dealing with clients — explaining that THEY must appoint a single point of contact and THEY must speak to us with one voice. Otherwise we’re put into the administrative function of assembling and resolving notes from multiple sources and HOPING to build a consensus. Personally I’d much rather be shooting, editing, mixing, writing, or even having a root canal. If Media Batch makes it easier to coordinate and resolve multiple inputs by giving the CLIENT a tool for managing the process, all the better.

[Nick Griffin]

David –

Your blog post was what prompted me to look at Media Batch in the first place! I looked and looked again a week later at the demo movies and then decided to take the leap.

I FULLY agree with this last post. Media Batch is elegant and deep. (But I won’t even get into the Mac / Windows thing since there actually ARE some things on the PC that meet or exceed the Mac experience. Not many, but some.)

My biggest regret is that I approached Media Batch as a user instead of as an investor. Hey, Marco – I’ve got a few bucks in our IRA account I could see using as an investment. Interested?

[Nick Griffin]

Marco-
Obviously you were writing your reply to Rich while I was writing mine. And since you seem to be considering my 30 day free then time-out offer I believe I’m owed a marketing consulting fee. 😉

One thing I really like that I had not commented on before is the history thing — the ability to actually SEE that Ms. Smarty Pants, who always makes it seem like she’s waiting on us, has or hasn’t even taken the time to see the work. I know better than to bring this up with her, but it’s fun knowing.