My partner, singer-performer Theo Bleckmann, gave me a great analogy: He said that it’s like saying to a singer, “You sing only the high notes. I’ll take care of the rest.” In other words, it’s as though your client were saying, “I want to get it as cheap as possible, and I don’t care about sacrificing your integrity, creativity, or talent in the process.”
A Few Examples
Invitations: The client wants to buy invitations from you but hire someone else to do the calligraphy for less money. Danger: You lose control of the quality of the final product.
Flowers: The client loves your design but has a cousin or uncle who can get the flowers wholesale; so, you’re hired only to do the arrangements. Or, as in yesterday’s blog post, someone else can get flowers cheaper. Danger: You might get poor quality flowers, or the flowers may arrive late. You lose control over the process.
Music: The client likes your band but wants to bring in a cheaper DJ. Danger: Regardless of how great the musical entertainment is that you provide, if the DJ sucks, that’s the only thing guests will remember. You and the terrible DJ will be linked in everyone’s mind.
Planners: The client loves your planning ideas and talent but only wants to hire you for the day of the wedding. Danger: I do not understand how a planner can manage to do in one day what normally takes months to plan. In fact, I think this is a huge mistake, and I will address this in Thursday’s “Common Mistakes” blog post.
Caterer: The client likes your food but, in order to save money, strips your menu down to only the bare minimum and asks for minimal staffing. Danger: The client will get what he or she paid for, poor service and small portions.
Linens: The client likes your monogrammed napkins but wants to buy the napkins from his or her own sources. Danger: Because of chemicals, you should wash a new napkin before using it. Also, be aware of the possibility of late shipping.
Planners or designers: The client loves your idea for favors, which work wonderfully with the design of the event. However, to save money, he or she wants to have a friend or relative shop around and put the favors together at home. Danger: As much as I love the loving gesture, I hope and pray that the final product looks exactly the same as your design.
Photos: The client wants to do his or her own prints, after making selections from the photos you took. Danger: Good luck with this one.
Cake: The client wants to use fresh flowers to decorate the cake instead of using your beautiful sugar flowers. Danger: The guests might end up eating the thorns and chemicals that are in some flowers.
First and foremost, I am always extremely respectful of all of my clients’ budgets. At times, there are going to be clients who can not afford certain design elements, and they will certainly try to stretch a dollar as far as it can possibly go.
However, besides the obvious fact that you might be cutting into your profit, I strongly discourage these practices for a few very simple reasons:
Ultimately, you are responsible for the end result. I cannot tell you the number of times that I have agreed to this type of scenario, only to then have something go terribly wrong. And guess what? The client and their guests will blame me and my company for the final result, good or bad.
Here are a couple of suggestions for dealing with clients who want to go this route:
1. Get it in writing that you are not responsible for the final outcome. (Not that this matters much, because guests might still leave thinking it was your mistake.)
2. Explain to your clients why it’s very risky to involve additional sources or vendors when you are trying to give them the best service and product possible.
Most of the time, you should try and accommodate your clients’ budgets. However, you also need to be cautious and ask yourself at what cost to my business and my reputation am I doing this?
Have you ever experienced a similar situation with a client? How did it work out?
PREVIOUS
George Bernard Shaw once said: “You see things and say, ‘Why?’ But I dream things that never were and say, ‘Why not?’” That quote embodies how Preston Bailey approaches every event.
Birds of a Feather Events
March 29, 2011
Love this! Thanks Preston!
Rachel
March 29, 2011
As a cake designer, we always try to be as specific as possible when writing the contracts for our large wedding cakes. However, most of our business is in smaller event cakes, where writing a contract for each order would be too cumbersome. I can’t tell you the number of times we’ve had clients reference a specific photo in our gallery to get a price quote, then make multiple changes to the size or design, only to get angry at the price when we quote them for the exact order. Also, we do have clients who want to order a cake from us and then decorate it themselves with cheaper things they’ve bought separately (plastic toys, etc.) We can’t control what a customer does with a cake when it leaves our hands, but our reputation is on the line. (Similarly, we sometimes get design requests that are just downright ugly, and we have to make it work.)
Sometimes offering exceptional customer service is hard to balance with maintaining your brand integrity and reputation. I wish I knew better how to balance it.
Angela Parker
March 29, 2011
Thank you for this! It can be pretty aggravating to explain this to the “budget” brides. You try to explain quality and professionalism, but they only see dollar signs. I have to wonder if they do the same thing to their doctors, lawyers, or other professionals. I’m sure they try to penny pinch their mechanics though.
P3
March 29, 2011
I had a bride trying to cut costs because her mother insisted on paying for the wedding. The mother and aunt showed up with church flowers that were plastic!! I ended up tearing them apart and using my own money to put real flowers up. I just could NOT have fake flowers at one of my weddings. The bride never knew and the mother and aunt said thank you!
Angela
March 29, 2011
I totally agree. I had to put my foot down and insist that we wont do a one day event planning or co-ordination job. We may have lost out on a few jobs but protecting our name was very important to me more than any money that will be paid for coordinating what you have no clue about or what was discussed. This painful decision had to be made when we decided to coordinate a job that was planned and handled by the bride. The hotel had been advised by the bride to get lunch ready by 2.00pm while the church service held by 10.00am. Guest were already at the Reception venue by noon and the guest had to wait for an hour after for lunch to be served. Not a good experience.
Shirls
March 29, 2011
As a Caribbean national, I am so proud of you and your AMAZING work and talent. I am part of a planning committee for our first High School Reunion that will take place in the Caribbean December 2012. We would greatly appreciate if you can point us to sources of your work where we can pick up tips to plan the centerpieces for reunion banquet. The girls’ uniform was burgundy and white and the boys’ uniform was khaki and white….so we would like to decoration around those colors with a dash of gold and have a tropical theme that can utilize local products. We welcome any direction you may be able to provide.
Donna Frazier
March 29, 2011
I needed to read this today. I was just speaking with my husband about this paticular issue I encountered just yesterday. Very timely.
crismarcuyares
March 29, 2011
Quizás quisiste decir: Preston, yo pensaba que esta situación sólo ocurre en mi país Venezuela. Me sentí identificada con este artículo y el anterior
Escribe texto o la dirección de un sitio web o traduce un documento.
Cancelar
Escuchar
Leer fonéticamente
traducción del español al inglés
Preston, I thought this only happened in my country Venezuela. I identified with this article and the previous.
Usually when this happens with my clients, I say an absolute, firm and huge: NO. “If I did not design the entire wedding and not hire me every decoration products, unfortunately I can not help you. ”
Some time ago this happened to me with a party of 15. I agreed to decorate some rooms and the rest did another agency. The result: A desatre all about flowers and combinations. The culprit? -by: Me.
So I thought this did not happen again.
It is true what you say … these situations threaten our existence as practitioners of … Preston What can we do about it?
Victoria (Numily Creations)
March 30, 2011
Your example on cake is exactly the same situation I faced. Since I’m new to Singapore, I took on a wedding cake order even though the bride didn’t want my sugar flowers on the cake. This order came through a relationship I had with the wedding planner. How do I make sure the wedding planners I work with and get referrals from are completely pushing my product which is sugar flowers? Please help!
Connie Mak
March 30, 2011
Hi Preston,
Greatly appreciate these tips you shared with us. I have a bride-to-be client wanted to bake her own cupcakes favors and she is not the expert. Her reasons: to give something she makes her own an importantly save cost. How do I talk her out of it?
sharon jackson
March 30, 2011
Hi Mr Preston! I came across people who would want to bring in ideas only create problems, Here’s an example: My relative asked me to decorate for her party, but insisted on getting the items at a cheaper store. I totally disagreed and wished her well. But, a week later she called and said it wasn’t a “pretty” site and some of the “flowers” looked dead and her friends knew it wasn’t my work…………………She said it was a “wake up” call to always have a “professional” do what’s necessary when planning………………Amen!
Mindy Rossignol
March 30, 2011
I experience this ALL the time. Usually I have built enough trust with my clients that they listen to my concerns. I am also a master of finding other areas to cut the budget that wont compromise the quality!!!
Kimberly Sevilla
March 30, 2011
I had an experience with a client who unknown to me had a friend went to the floral market and bought arm fulls of hydrangea to an event for which I was creating the decor.
The bride’s father asked me to arrange the flowers. I politely told him that we were not contracted to work with those flowers and they were not ours.
They sat for a few hours, wrapped, but out of the water, before her friend got around to arranging them which she did in about 10 minutes (It would have taken one of my designers about 30-40 minutes to arrange).
I still cringe when I see the pictures. Half dead, wilted hydrangea, jammed into a huge copper pot in a rushed fashion…what I should have done, I am still on the fence about that.
YOUR NAME
March 30, 2011
Weww! This topic is really happened to me just now.
I’ve found this kind of people was tried to hired me only for the D day. Because he knows that i’m good about design and quality control. He decided to use another decor (contractor) and designed by himself but don’t have a person to check the final decor on the wedding day.. (the real reason that i know is he wants to minimize the budget), since he is the upcoming Groom..
And the bad news is he already mention my name as his decorator..:( Now, i’m proceeding this to his cousin which is my friend, to cpstop ysing my name.
Thanks Preston for your thoughts.. I just saved from huge mistake from the business that i just build since 2 years ago.. God bless me n you!
Jeania Derricott (Blessed Events of Va)
March 30, 2011
Thank you so much. This was very helpful. We have experienced some of these situations with clients and sometimes it gets frustrating.
Savannah (Pearls and Pages)
March 31, 2011
Great topic and points, Preston!! A job shared can be a job half-done. And, as the adage goes, “You really do get what you pay for.”
Ancerohor
August 10, 2011
Karen Millen Clothing Becomes 1st Choice For Ladies During Shopping
Attention all bargain ladys!Brand Karen Millen Dress Clearance Sale has been held once again this July 1st and 2nd at our Karen Millen Dress Outlet Store. With every item once more going out the doorway, patrons are certain to find a most sought-after item. The quality of the Karen Millen Dress is much more superior than ever before with donated clothing being brand, factory or used however in excellent condition.
Using the local economy still attempting to make ends meet on the household level, any savings that may be made really are a blessing. Lifeline Sunshine Coast Business Manager Ian Ezzy said fresh clothes is definitely an expense that lots of households just can’t entertain or it is often at the end from the household budget.
Karen Millen have constructed a variety to enable you to get more closet with a few key pieces that are wearable through the seasons. Order Cheap Karen Millen at reasonable price here, they’re simply worthy of each and every penny. Amy seemed to be experiencing the opportunity to be featured within the magazine, pouting and posing her way with the shoot – and also at one point sitting precariously on the bollard on the street while resting her feet on the crate.
karen millen outlet ebay
Ancerohor
August 11, 2011
A Story about Karen Millen & Students
As a student,i didnt know more about the fashion dress,but by some dress,i knew the Karen Millen Dress. Someone call a wild girl for dress. Maybe. regardless of it’s lace dress, chiffon dress, or dress with hollow out, all they are my favoriate. in fact in recent days, I love the style of dress that your fair maiden usually wear, but sometimes, I wish to try the style of Europe and America series, but I don understand what the design and style of Europe and America is precisely, so it just like that, like the combination of Jeans, T-shirt, leather clothing? sometimes, I want to try differnt style of dress, like the British style, or the grace French, or recover the classic style, but I cann grasp their connotation. so hope you guy may help. but the dress is my speciality.
Almost a lot of women are still wild about purchasing new dress, new clothers. still remember when I did some shopping on the street, then went into a karen millen dress shop, there’s a young lady who had been trying a skirt and looked into the mirror, down and up.
Now i’ve interest in Karen Millen item, and bought it online. And frequently introduce this dress to my mother and my aunt.They also vey enjoy it. Karen Millen dress is committed to shaping the women’s physical beauty lines have demonstrated a sense of femininity silhouette. Karen Millen of clothing everywhere are close to the body from the cutting.
karen millen block dress