Saturday, January 22, 2011

Value

Design service is very fragmented . It is hard for client to compare 'apple to apple".
Many a time, I lost  potential clients because someone down the street can do  a few dollars cheaper.
Typically client just focus on cost instead of value.
I think the best way to educate a client to see value is to list all the detail services we are going to provide.
For Example:
Instead of saying " Site Visit", we should expand it to :
  • Do I go alone or will I bring a survayor and civil engineer ?
  • How long are we going to spend at the site ?
  • Do I charge for any extra trips ?
Instead of saying " Preliminary Design", we should expand it to :
  • Do I provide  freehand sketch or 3D CAD ?
  • Any cardboard/foam model ?
  • How many hours to be spend on concept design ?
  • What kind of software will be used ? ( show samples of  cheap renderings VS high resolution renderings)
  • Are we providing any preliminary cost estimation ?  

If we explain our service in details, I believe a reasonable  client will see the additional  value  instead of additional cost. But again, trust your gut feeling about a client. Sometimes  it is best to walk away from a project no matter how much the client wants to pay you.