Very often we get to talk with fellow designers, printers, fabricators and installers who really know the business. The biggest complaint we come across is that customers expect too much for too little. We recall one of our vendors saying, “We live in a Walmart World”. Meaning that everyone wants everything for nothing. Too often customers want everything under the sun but don’t want to pay for it. There is some truth to this but it is human nature to get the best quality at the best price. When we go shopping for new jeans we don’t want to spend more money on what seems to be the same product. The same rings true for design clients. Clients will only spend more when they feel like the are getting more. That is where you need to separate yourself. Being as we are selling a custom product that is made from scratch every project is different and every designer handles that differently.
We always try to convey to our clients that more often then not, you get what you pay for. Do you want a fast turn around, high quality and effective graphic or an inexpensive price tag? You only get to pick two. We always want to offer our clients a very fair price but for the level of quality and customer service that we give, we put in a lot of time. Sometimes even working around the clock to meet client’s deadlines. Unfortunately, if you want something done in a faster than ordinary turn around, at the high quality that clients have come to expect, that costs more money. It also works the other way, in that, if you want a high quality design for a cheap price that doesn’t happen over night. We are typically working on several projects at one time and have to address every client in the order in which they come in. The same goes for our vendors. When we finish a design and pass the project along to a printer they are also busy serving other customers and we have to jump in line and wait our turn. This is unfortunately the reality of the world we live in. If large companies can slam out work in a short time span, at a very low price, then it probably means that someone didn’t spend a lot of time thinking about your project. Sometimes designers use templates and give you a modified “cookie cutter” version of a hundred other logos they have done.
We never want to disappoint our customers so we prefer to error on the side of their best interest. Each project is different and we dance a fine line to achieve excellence in order to have our clients leave happy. No designer can get it all right but we are always working towards perfection. Customers like to come back when they can see that you are working hard for them. We feel that today, more often than not, design companies can’t wait to crap out your project and move on to the next one. When you really try to put yourself in the shoes of your client, to understand their problems and what excites them, it is very gratifying to see their project be a success. Always remember your client’s success is your success. The longer they are in business, because of what you do for them, the longer other people see your work and appreciate it.