What gets up my goat!

G'day Majorpanic,

The way I operate is:

• client briefing;
• quote;
• by enalrge as it's mostly gov' work I then get a verbal approval or it'll be a purchase order;
• present concepts (which are only started and left with them once an approval has been given
• client makes changes to layout (rare);
• present new layout or get 1st set of alterations, client is charged for alterations thereafter
• as 90% of my work is gov' I know I'll get paid within 7 to 30 days.

There are other bits but that's the guts of it.

Only had one client engage me who I realised were out to milk me so I cut and ran and chose to make a small lose than a larger one. All work is repeat business. Still I love what I do and I get paid for it.

As you pointed to the single most important thing is to give value by way of client service then they'll come back. Good clients drop a word in for you which means new clients and those new ones themselves by association with the first client have always been good clients in turn, the wheel keeps on turning.

And my boss won't sack me. :D

I reckon you look at the broader picture, work is largely referal for most small businesses. Who do you want to attract? the PIA client tends to have PIA mates so do a job to their satisfaction means more of the same, plus they tend to be very slow payers and not all pay.

On the other hand the client who is patient, organised and prepared to wait often has friends the same. They might not complain but if you want their referals you do need to get work out on time and within their expectations.

My experience is the more they expect, the more inconsiderate of others, especially those in before that you may have on your books etc then the harder to deal with, the more difficult to pay, and the hardest to please.

I'm inclined to tell them that they are being difficult, that what you have spelled out at the start is the deal and if they are not happy to go make life difficult for someone else. The outcome is satisfactory if they leave or stay.

Just my two bobs worth
JohnC

Forget about the 2 days work, call that OJT (on the job training), you are the boss, you are in business, it is business training that you got 'on the job'.

Learn from it.

1. Do you want the customer?
2. Do you need his work?
3. Will you go broke if you don't get paid for the 2 days you have lost?


What I know already.

1. You can get in trouble if you ring him up & tell him that you don't want his work. :(
2. There's nothing in the Trade Practices Act that says anything about taking his order & then ignoring him til he's got moss growing on him. :D


If I have to spell it out....
I've had customers like this too, go & do something more productive.

To add to Gumby's Dad's quote, here's a few more....

'fill your orders before you do your qoutes'
'don't let the bastards get you down'
'you are running a business, not a charity'
'you only get what you pay for'
'divide your customers into 4 classes, A,B,C,D, get rid of the D class customers & do you A & B class customer's work before the C class ones.'
'if your monthly outstandings exceeds your monthly takings, shut the door til they don't.'
'work smarter, not harder'

G'day Cliff,

All valid points and I agree with them all.

"fill your orders before you do your qoutes" before one job goes out completed it always good to have a quote going out with the prospect of work to replace the one going out.

Strueth, I am surprised my topic has brought so many posts.

All said and done, tomorrow's another day and another dollar.

Like my avatar says' Work to play" :D

When I am dealing with commercial customers, mainly builders, they don't want a quote only an hourly rate. They understand the terms and conditions well.

With private customers I always give a written quote or estimate even if the job is being charged hourly. Just about every job I do I improve my Standard Terms & Conditions. Once bitten twice....

Its nice to really help people out but you have to have an in-built "tosser detector". Sometimes (as already put) some jobs are just not worth doing.

Just send the guys a fair bill for your time and see what happens.

Cheers

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Waldo

..."fill your orders before you do your quotes" before one job goes out completed it always good to have a quote going out with the prospect of work to replace the one going out.....

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Pinch of salt, it's a quote, it's not mine but it makes sense to me.
If you have plenty of work, do it, don't pizs about looking for more.:rolleyes:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Waldo

...Strueth, I am surprised my topic has brought so many posts...

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It's a real problem, you ain't Robinson Crusoe.:D

G'day Cliff,

"If you have plenty of work, do it, don't pizs about looking for more.
"

It comes to me I've never had to look for it. All my clients say that it's the speed I deal with their particular jobs/questions etc. that is one way I add value above others.

I'm OK, just annoyed at the time considering what's involved.

Good, call him D class & ignore him, you'll live longer. :D

As a sideline I'm getting into work, where you have to charge by the hour, you can only estimate, pretty close though, how long it will take.

My fee structure is as follows.

Base rate
+ premium if likely to be a slow payer
+ premium if a pain in the arrrrrs
+ premium if it takes me away from normal work but they really want me.

Works so far

G'day Outback,

You've got it there. I do a similar thing on occasion.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Gumby

A few beers fixes the ugly problem too ;)

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In NZ the kiwi would drink the beer. In Australia its the sheep that needs the beer.

if they look like they might be more trouble than they are worth, then price it accordingly so that if you get teh job it will be worth it. sometimes one slips past me but usually i spot them when i'm doing the quote. i once got a job i tripled the quote on cos i could see it was going to be a pain. they were a pain but i sure made money that day. seems all the others who quoted on it didnt want it even more than me

Every time i have ever won a GOVT job..........i have always wondered what i did wrong :)