I didn’t budget for that…

So a client calls…

Hey man, I want a super duper website, graphic, tv ad….
It’s got to be wicked cool, mad fly and totally awesome!!!”

I’m already excited at this point… (yes, I get excited easily)
OK, cool! This sounds great, let’s get started. It’s going to cost $20 and it’s going to take me 2 weeks.
I have already started spending the money in my head.. I’m going to pay off for this.. I’m going to by some new shoes.. I’ll do this, I’ll do that…

Oooh.. I didn’t really budget for that… Can you do it for $2? (big smile on their face)

Insert sound of recording scratching and me being jerked back to reality.

Hey, I know… the world economy is bad, and the famine and the drought and all the bad things in the world but I need to make a living.
I need to take care of my six kids. I don’t do this for fun.

Can you walk into an auto dealership  and say..”Hey, that price on the car is no good.. I’ll pay you 25% of that price.”

No you can’t…and you can’t do it with a number of other situations. So why do you think it is acceptable here.
If you want to pay me 25% of the price I ask then be ready to accept 25% of the work you ask for. Be ready to accept 25% response to your calls, emails and requests…

I have no problem with negotiation. Someone I worked with a while ago told me me that there are 3 prices. The price you would love to have ($22), the price you really want ($20) and the price you would accept with a little negotiation ($17)….

Let’s negotiate to $17…even $16… but please… have just an ounce of respect for my craft, my skill, my talent.. what ever you want to call it.

 

Types of Clients: The Dream

The Dream Client

I was thinking this week about the different types of clients you encounter as a freelancer and it struck me that they really are very different in almost every way.

They differ in their approach, their reactions and all else in between.

Let’s talk about the Dream Client today…

I am actually very lucky to have one of these. I call them the Dream Client because they are loyal and faithful to you even in you moments of weakness.

Let’s face it, as much as you try to deliver on time, or come in under budget, it’s not always going to happen. There are periods when you will be their shining star and their saviour and then times when you will be the bane of their existence…. ok, that’s a little harsh, but you get the point.

The main thing is that they stick with you. They praise your work and delivery when you excel and offer practical, meaningful solutions to help ensure timely delivery and satisfactory work when you don’t.

I have a client that has an office out of town. On more than one occasion he apologised to me for the location of his office and me having to drive up to meet with him. Of course, I don’t have a problem doing so, but I was shocked when he did.
A client apologising for me having to travel to meet him??!!

Most clients think that you should kiss their feet and stick your noses as far up their ass as possible when they grant you the ultimate privilege and honour to have them as your client. You should always meet them bearing gifts and accept whatever they say as word from God himself… Not this client.

A client that is respectful of you, your time and is willing to work with you to provide better service to them – my idea of a Dream Client.

 

Creative people are weird

Oga booga jooha fulle zaquh…

If you don’t understand what that means, then you are not creative. Take a deep breath and accept it…
In… Out… OK

Indeed, most of the people that I know that consider themselves to be creative are weird. The keep weird hours, the eat weird food, they have weird friends.
Weird, however, is a relative term. What is weird for one person or group is not necessarily weird for another group.

 

WTF?? Since Feb??

I checked just now and realized it’s been about 10 months since I wrote something here…

When I started this blog I said one of my reasons for writing was for some sort of theraphy I read about.

One of the main reasons I began a blog is because I read (was told, heard – take you pick) that blogging is very theraputic.
I think it is in some ways, but nothing beats telling that person that is irritating you exactly how you feel about them.

What does this mean? Does it mean the last 10 months have been great? Clients have been awesome? Paying on time? Accepting designs without demanding 4, 5, 6 revisions? HELL NO!

Don’t get me wrong, it hasn’t been 10 months of pain and torture… but it has been tight. I will admit I got overwhelmed at times, work came fast and furious. I slapped right, I slapped left, ducked, dodged… sometimes I hid. Well, not really hid… I chose seclusion. Just for a few moments. Just for some time to settle myself and get some strength in my knees.

Ah well.. all in the life and times of an entrepreneur.  If I knew it was gonna be this tough I would have stayed at 18

I’m not gonna promise brand new, amazing posts every week… but I can tell you I am a lot more focused now and maybe… just maybe I’ll be able to convince a client to take a design on a first revision and I’ll use that time to jot down some of my adventures.

Until… Peace

 

Burnout…

So I’m here again, ` together another post on this blog of mine that I started for some reason, I can’t remember.

I would like to write some more. Really I would, but there aren’t enough hours in the day, too many meetings to attend, too many urgent client requests….ahh  shaddup! I’m lying, I’m just lazy. I have lots of things to write about but hate the thought of sitting at my pc writing. In fact, I balk at the thought of having to sit at my desk for another minute more than I have to.
This, of course, is not really a good sign for someone in my profession. Spending time at the computer usually means I’m producing,which translates to billable hours  But recently, I look for every excuse to get up. Any little reason to not be ‘there’.

 

What a year

Whew! What a year. 2009 is in no more, 2010 is here.

Have you stopped partying? *hic
Hey you, get me another drink! *hic

Seriously now… Welcome to 2010. I am officially dubbing this the year of  the Customer
If you ask a lot of Guyanese about the state of customer service and the culture of customer service you might get a few responses like these:

• Customer what? Dese people ain’t know about that!
• Customer Service?!! hahahaha that dead! People does behave like if you begging dem fuh sell you..
• Customer service dead budday, don’t even worry with dat!

These are some actual quotes, not just some random scribbles from my demented mind. And I believe it accurately reflects the current culture across Guyana. Customers no longer feel as though they are appreciated. They are no longer regarded as the ‘bread and butter’ of the business but rather a nuisance. Someone that came to interrupt whatever the sales person was involved in at that time…

Let me give you a recent example…

Last December I hopped online with my fresh-issued MasterCard to purchase toys as Christmas presents for my son and daughter.

Found two great items at ridiculously low prices and bought them instantly. Sent them to a mailbox service I use to have them delivered to me here.

On Christmas Eve I received  call from the service that my package (singular) was here. Arrived and realized that only my daughters package had arrived.
I was mad!  But… it’s was Christmas, the staff there had no control of shipping the items coming to them, they were just processing them so shouting and screaming at them would not have done any good.They told me another package was scheduled to come for me in the next week. I said OK and left. (with my one package)

On Old Year’s Day (or New Year’s Eve if that’s they way you want to go) I received another call from the company around 11am to collect the other package. I was also informed that they were closing at 1.30 on that day. I was busy at the time so I couldn’t rush down right away. When I arrived at the location at 1 pm, I attempted to pay for the shipping and duties with a cheque (I had made multiple cheque payments before to this same company).

The Supervisor collected the cheque and inquired from a a junior staff if he had accepted cheque payments from me in the past, to which he responded in the negative.
She them came back to me and told me that she would not be able to give me the package unless I have cash. WTF!!  Seriously WTF???!!!

>> But I have paid you with cheques in the past, what is the problem now?
Idiot Supervisor: But the guy here is saying that you have never paid him with a cheque
>> I have paid you with cheques twice in the past, even before this staff member started working here!
Idiot Supervisor: Well de account done gon so I cyant do nothin!
>> Listen I was here since on Christmas Eve day when both of my packages were supposed to be here and they weren’t. Now that they have arrived separately ad I have to pay separate shipping charges I did not complain now you are refusing to give me my package? This doesn’t make sense.
Idiot Supervisor: If you get cash I can give you the package.
>> It’s December 31st, I can’t get cash from the ATM now. Even if I tried I won’t be able to make it back before you close for the day and I would really like to collect my package.
Idiot Supervisor: Look look, is old year’s day, I ain’t able wid dis
>> Is this the way you treat all your customers? I have been shipping with this company for almost 3 years and now…
Idiot Supervisor: Listen I can’t help you. I ain’t able with stress today…

At this point I had to make a decision,
A: Get furious and trash the whole f^%king place
B: Save myself some stress and possible jailtime and walk away to deal with this another day.

I chose B.

Notice that throughout the entire conversation, neither the supervisor or the junior employee was concerned about my satisfaction. This is why people usually tell you that customer service is dead (because it is). Luckily I took a CPR course (which really means I watched something on TV when they were talking about CPR) and I am going to breathe some life into customer service. To be totally honest, my behaviour last year wasn’t much different from this, in some cases it was almost on par but no more.

No more… I hereby dub thee the Year of the Customer. The customer is not always right, but the customer is always the customer. They are the backbone of your business, without them there would be no business, just you dressing up everyday, sitting in an office twiddling your thumbs. While this might some like fun, there will be no income, no wages, no salary, no bonus… So go out there and do something nice for your customers. Smile when they walk in, stand to greet them, go that extra mile for them. It pays off in the end. More customers = more work = more money = more stuff…and that’s what it’s really about, isn’t it?

PS. I still have gone back to collect that packages as yet. I am dreading having to deal with that miserable woman again.

 

Tips and guest posts

Do you have a tip you would like to share with the few people that bother to read this collection of my rambling thoughts?
Send it to businessgy@gmail.com and we’ll share it.

Just don’t cuss too much.. you know, some people are prudes.. Not me of course, but those people.

 

On the road to mediocrity

My post today is inspired by some recent events, which I will most likely go into later.
It was also inspired by something I read on Seth Gobin’s blog a short while ago.

On the road to mediocrity

Along the way, we settle.
We settle for something not quite right, or an outfit that isn’t our best look, or a job that doesn’t quite maximize our talents. We settle for relationships that don’t give us joy, or a website that’s, “good enough.”

The only way to get mediocre is one step at a time.
You don’t have to settle. It’s a choice you get to make every day.

Hmm.. mediocrity. This is an interesting word.
I think sometimes even though we aspire to greatness, we don’t realise that indeed we do settle for mediocrity many times.

This happens, not only in our personal lives but also in our professional lives. We settle by not leaping out, in faith or in desperation :)
One of the best decisions of my life, was to leave my job and start working fulltime on my own company. I have never regretted my decision.

Yea, there have been some rough months, months when I wanted to shout and scream at all the clients. Smash my computer against the wall. Cry out loud and pull my hair out because of the stress, but… as with most things those times have passed and I’ve moved on to calmer seas…
I had to paddle hard to try to get out into this part of the open sea, and I’m still not as far out as I would like to be, but inertia helps me forward now.
My little credibility (which has taken some blows) helps me forward sometimes. Sometimes my smile does.. who knows.

I said to an associate of mine once, “If you want to catch the big fish, you have to pull up anchor and start paddling out into the open ocean. Only the small fish can be caught in the shallows.”
Sounds fancy eh? I say it alot because I think it makes me sound smart

Anyway… back to work…. What ever you do, don’t settle. Don’t just accept what you are getting right now. At least stretch out your hand and see what happens… Peace!

 

Hard work, lazy man – terrible combination

The days are longer, the fees are paid on time and with little or no fuss. I recently returned from a vacation in the Bahamas and last time I checked my accounts I was pleasantly suprised by how much money I have….

Aaahhh.. How sweet would it be to start a real blog post like that…

The reality is, the days are short as hell. Last Friday when someone mentioned the day I nearly shat my pants. I couldn’t believe it. I was operating under the impression that it was somewhere around Wednesday. The fees are so so… Some clients pay on time, some pay a little later than promised, but then there are some that just hang up the phone or give you the finger. Those are the ones that make life sweet. How boring would my life be without them.

Anyway, I’m rambling, the real intent of the post is to… I can’t remember. Right now I have a lot of work to complete, and a load of errands to run tomorrow. How the heck is it all going to be done?
Again, I stray. This is the story of my life. The inability or willingness to focus on one thing for too long. I think the medical term is ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder), in Guyana we call it Stinging-Nettles or in the creative industry we call it eccentric.

I’ll try to remember what this post was supposed to be about and compile it soon. I have lots of stories, some sad, some boring and some downright hilarious. Hopefully, my clients will never come across this blog and recognise their story and kick my ass to the curb.

 

Will I ever learn – Part II

Remember this guy?

So Andre has promised to check on the invoice for me.

Being the gullible trusting person I am, I expected Andre to be true to his word. I called his office a few days later to find out if I can collect the payment.
The Admin Asst. had no idea what I was talking about. I told her that Andre told me that he had already forwarded the invoice to her for processing. She said nothing was forwarded to her. What the fudge??!!!

Andre is at it again… I sent an email asking Andre what was the position. He reponded with something about his life being hectic (who’s isn’t?) or something like that. Come on Andre! All you have to say is that you didn’t a chance to send it as yet… The actual money is not as important as the principles involved in a respectable business trasaction.
I think the thing that irks me the most is that Andre and I are ‘friends’ outside of our professional relationship.

I contacted Andre again a few more times about the payment for the domains, the excuses were unique and equally funny each time.
Frustrated at the constant excuses, I decided to write an another email to Andre. (yea now I’m getting tough, hahah).
I carbon copied the letter  the Admin Asst. that was being blamed and the companys CFO.

Entire mail below

Subject: A simple transaction

Andre:

I am writing to inform you that I am very disappointed at how such a simple transaction between the two of us has become so convoluted and complicated (redundancy, because one didn’t seem to describe the situation well enough.)

It’s been exactly one month since I sent you the invoice for the domains you requested I register for you.
On multiple occasions, you told me that you were going to send the invoice to your Admin Asst. for processing right away.
After enquiring with your Admin Asst. more than once I was given the proverbial run-around.

I was told she hadn’t received it, then it was ready, then I was told it wasn’t signed, then I was told this, then that, blah, blah……the usual
I was transferred to the CFO today who very indifferently told me that I will be called when the payment is ready.

Had you been another customer and I had not known you personally I would have cancelled the domains a long time ago and not put up with this.

Again, a simple transaction.

I register a domain, I send you an invoice, you write a cheque, I collect it.

Bear in mind, the money is not substantive issue, rather the principles involved in a basic transaction.

regards…

Andre responded:

I will call you in a bit … Driving, will read details first …

The next day I was carbon copied when Andre was sending the invoice to his Admin Asst.

My response:

This, after I was told that it was prepared and waiting for a signature.

Andre:

My apologies. The email just got buried in my tragi-comic hurly-burly of life. The Admin Asst. did prepare a cheque based on her conversation with you and that was indeed waiting for signature. I expect that she should call you shortly … next time I make a request I will send an email copied to them so that your invoice goes to them and bypasses me altogether …

Many thanks still and apologies again …

I received the payment about 2-3 days later.
Finally… and just in time to buy some milk for my kids and some gas for the car. Thanks a lot Andre!