We see all manner of articles on how to provide people better service and all that, but sometimes, business owners need to be told how to be a good client. Allow me.
**note – this is somewhat skewed towards working with service providers like myself, but most of the tips can apply to anyone.
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When asking to hire me for a small job at a cheap price, please don’t try and tempt me with the promise of “later” work.
This trick doesn’t work, because I’ve heard it nine million times. It seems every client who can’t afford a $200 sales letter or three pages of good web copy is magically going to have oodles of high paying work soon after. You know who gives me lots of work later? Professional companies that pay my initial (and fair) rate and are happy with my work. And you know what else happens? They usually get a discount on that later work. I’m good like that.
Don’t negotiate a price for a big job, then balk and offer me a smaller job to start out, but expect to keep the big job price ratio.
This is right out of “Negotiating for Dummies“, but I don’t like it. Negotiating a 20 page job at a certain price, then getting cold feet and wanting to start with four pages at 1/5th the 20 page price (because it’s one fifth of the total pages) is amateur hour. That 20 page price was negotiated because it was (wait for it…) 20 pages!! A week’s work. Four pages is simply going to be higher “per page”. That’s business – big jobs / big orders get better pricing. I understand wanting to start smaller (really, I do), but you have to understand the price (in a “page to project price” ratio sense) will go up. And, like mentioned above, I’ll give the discount on the later work.
Don’t be surprised at my rates. They are plain as day on the quote page you used.
I list a rate range of $125-$250 a page right above my quote form. You can’t miss it. I do this to save time, for both of us. Still, people contact me thinking I’m going to write ten pages of web copy for $200. This has always puzzled me.
Pay me fast, and I’ll treat you like gold.
There is no easier way to my heart than through my wallet (in terms of business, anyway!) Here’s a tip: If you are a small business without an accounting department, pay my invoice as soon as you get it. If you do this, you’ll rise right to the top of my client rankings. If you are a larger business that has to do 15 or 30 days, that’s fine, but pay me consistently (meaning without fail, I get a check within 30 days). If you do these things, I will (figuratively) move mountains for you.
That’s enough for today. Hope you all have a nice weekend.