Show me the money!

[glorybound]

I am always amazed at what people think you should work for. I mean, seriously! I am transparent when it comes to price, what I charge, and why. When I quote a price it is usually a per day fee, and the client knows the schedule. How can someone expect me to work 100% on their project, for 2 whole weeks, when the fee was for 4 days. I appreciate that the images we create sometime create more questions than answers, but changes cost money. At the end of the day their clients get a better product because of it. So, from now on, change is going to be a per hour fee. If I model fence A, but you decide fence b might look better after you see the image, that's a fee.

Okay, I have vented. Has anybody else experienced this? I guess, they see $200 rendering ads on Google, so when they pay you a fair price, they see it as a premium. But, do they really think someone will work for weeks on, let's say, $1000? Who can live on that? I have been good about saying no if they can't afford it, but this scope creep is crap!

[Neilg]

I dont think it's necessarily attached to a dollar value in their head - they're just in the business of pushing people to deliver as much as they can get. you just have to stand firm and not do too much too early.
If someone budgets for a weeks worth of work and the deadline is 4 weeks away, do not do 4 1/2 days of work in the first week.

[glorybound]

Most of my work is, "I need it tomorrow!" So, I don't usually have the luxury of 4 days worth of work to be completed within a month. I think most people think they are hiring a CAD Jockey and we are here to draft for them. I still hear things like, "don't you just drag/drop colors and hit render?". I think I manage things fairly well, and I am very clear, but they don't realize the actual work that goes into what they want.

My jobs have been running back to back, so I can't wait days for responses. I can no longer charge enough to space projects. I start working with one person, but end up working for a committee. If I would have know that a committee was involved, I would have charged accordingly. You can do exactly what someone wants, but then they submit it to a committee who has their own ideas, and finally the boss needs to sign off on it.

[glorybound]

Oh, and don't get me going about the phone calls. 4-5 calls per day... really? are you guys working mainly over email, or are phone calls normal? I am used to the initial phone call, which is important to see if you even want to do business, but not much more is needed after that. I can document emails, but not so much with phone calls. I take notes and email them after the call, but it just seems like a waste of time. I am not a Lawyer, but I don't make money when I am not working, and hour phone calls are just silly.

[Morne]

Some people just expect you to make it up as you go along because they HAVENT DONE THEIR JOB of designing the thing properly in the 1st place, then suddenly its your fault that it doesnt look like they thought it would (because you're a 3D artist, not a mind reader)

I have some sections in my contracts stating something in the lines of: "I need the name and designation of a single authorised representative to deal with from the company."
also "I need full and final approved plans......... any deviation from the original brief will need a seperate agreement and could result in additional costs"
and "where information is missing, I will use my best efforts and experience to "fill in the gaps" and use artistic freedom, but will not be penelised for this, and also should the client not be happy with my "design" it will cost him extra to fix it

[andybot_cg]

If this is also a slow paying client, then ditch 'em...

[glorybound]

first time client - they'll need to me educated

[duke2]

If they're asking for extras over the phone, then your approach could be to say "I can certainly do that" while noting it down, then send them an invoice at the end of the day/whenever you feel like doing it that day. They will quickly reign in their casual requests.

[Mokiki]

Yeah those expected changes for free always crack me up. So now most of the time we just set 3 revisions per project within a certain timeframe. This forces the client to focus on the important stuff and usually makes them react quicker and doesn't leave us hanging for 2 days without hearing anything. Ofc depending on the change they want extra money will be charged and that is made clear in the contract.

I think the biggest flaw is still that people think because its done on a pc all changes are just pushing a few buttons. A few month ago I had client sit next to me while modeling some stuff for an architectural visualization because the layout wasn't final. Normally I don't like being watched during work but at least they seem to be alot more careful now with what they want after they saw the work that is put into some of the stuff.

[glorybound]

The difference between a poor rendering and a nice rendering is time and talent. With Revit, SketchUp, and ArchiCAD, it is easy to produce a poor rendering. I get many people asking what software I use, because they want to produce the quality they see in my work, and I am quick to tell them that they should choose a software and master it; it has little to do with the software. People who use Revit, SketchUp, and ArchiCAD think that, because they just select a button, that is all we do.


My philosophy over the past couple years is if your project cannot afford a nice rendering, then you cannot have one. I have had large potential clients get sticker shock because they thought a render, for their 100 million dollar highrise, wouldn't cost more than a couple hundred bucks. However, on the flip side, I have had small shed designers pay top dollar for something that will help sell their design. I will not work my ass off for $5 an hour! They people who have fussed, where educated, and budgeted for a nice rendering on their next project, and they returned.