TIP: How to deal with cheap people

[Ocean Designs]

OK so you already know that your prices are the best in town, especially if you operate out of a home base. You keep your overhead low, you are not too cheap and of course you have the best quality, right?

But still it NEVER fails!! In through your door, on the phone or even in the street, you run into them ... Mr. I want it for far less if not the for free, guy" (AKA - Mr. Cheapie".

Having had a few clients of this nature I have learned a few things. I am sure for the most part, you may already know this. But none the less, here are a few things to consider.

Option 1 is to cut them loose before they bleed you dry.
Mr. Cheapie will never take into consideration your time. Time is money!! They run a business didn't they know this? For the amount of time you have spent going back and forth, design after design and the I will think about it's, you could have gone 3 stores up and sold a 3x4 printed banner for far less but made a heck of a lot more.

Option 2: Let them believe you have a different price schedule.
When you meet with them and the client asks for a quote. Ask them "Do you want the normal price I regularly charge, or do you want your price?" Of course they will answer for their price. You tell them a price that is much higher then what the real price is that you would normally charge , but for you your price will be xxxx (still slightly more then what then what your regular price will be), adding in "because I have a feeling we are going to be doing more business in the future."

EXAMPLE - "The price I would charge a regular customer is $50, but for you, because I have a feeling we will be doing a lot more business in the future, your price will $35."

Of course the odds are that Mr. Cheapie will still ask for a better price. That's when you tell them with a DEEP Sigh

"(SIGH) OK but this is virtually at my cost but for you then it will only be $25."

What Mr. Cheapie doesn’t know is the final price you gave him was the actual price to begin with. Instead Mr. Cheapie feels special now because he won you over and more importantly he got a better deal then anybody else.

From that point forward every price you give them you always start off with saying "your price is ..." Then end the quote with a reminder to not tell anybody else because that price is just for them.

Keep in mind in order for this to work you NEED to know a few things such as market price for what is being sold and a base understanding of their business. Not to mention, it is always helpful to develop a business relationship with them first. But all that is a tip for later

Hope it helps
Vince

[Barry]

Great post Vince...

[mastersignwizard]

Great post and good advice Vince.

[NitroStickers]

good advice! funny thing is i was recently dealing with a fellow named Vince that was so cheap! I had to cut him off.

[GregT]

Very good post.

[Checkers]

While negotiating pricing with a potential client is an important part of the business, it can create more headaches than it's worth. Any future dealing with this type of client will result in the same scenario. Chances are, he'll be beating you up for a better price every time.

So, this is how I would approach the situation...

Customer: How much for a 2' x 10' banner?
Me: $250 including the design.
Customer: Wow, that's a lot of money! Is there a way you can do it cheaper?
Me: If you compare the cost of this banner to other forms of advertising, you'll find that $250 is a bargain. A phone book ad can cost $250 a month. This banner can last a year or more.
However, I can try to save you some money. How much are you looking to spend?
Customer: Well, I don't know, but I don't want to spend $250.
Me: The easiest way for me to save you money is to make a smaller banner and cut back on the time I spend on designing it. This will save you about $50.
Customer: Well, that's still a lot of money. Is there any way you can do it cheaper?
Me: Not really. If I make the banner any smaller or cut further back on the design, this form of advertising will become ineffective. The banner will not effectively communicate the message you're trying to convey. So, you might as well throw money out the window.

From here, anything can go. The potential client can walk, try to negotiate some more, or agree to the terms.
If he walks, I am comfortable in knowing that I tried to sell the client an excellent form of advertising that would make his business money. If he goes to another shop down the road, hopefuly he will consider what I shared with him and he'll make an educated purchase from someone else.
However, if he wishes to negotiate even more, my last suggestion would be to bring me an output ready design that I could reproduce. I would provide him with a digital specification sheet, describing the types and sizes of files I can use for the reproduction.
The last option is if he agrees to the sale. More than likely, I have just started a long term relationship with a client that will consider my advice when making any future purchases. On his next purchase, He will, more than likely, have a budget number to work with. He'll probably trust my recommendations and the future sales will be a lot easier.

Finally, this is one of many scenarios that can play out while working in this business. While I have a lot of experience on both sides of the counter, I am happy to admit that I have not experience them all. And that's what I like about this business. Even though it's the same stuff, different day, there is always someone out there willing to challenge you in one form or another.

Havin' fun,

Checkers

[KenB]

Hi all..my first post on my first day of signing up here.
Good advice in these posts.
How about a non-profit or church type quote? Do you give any special consideration to those types of organizations? They seem never ending around my area and I guess I "feel" for them. But where does it end?
One thing I tell them is that I have a list of jobs to do for regular customers, and can they be patient on delivery times? ( I'll do it cheap for them when I can get to it.) Any other ideas welcome. Thanks.
Ken Beyer
Signs That Work !
Eagle Bay, BC

[VINYLGUY52]

Hi Ken and welcome

I like church and non profits because they are groups. In other words they have members. ie, Congragations, players with parents who all work somewhere or for someone. Networking at its best. One of my largest volume customers came from a parent of a player in a church baseball youth league.
We did some fund raising decals and a banner for the church. Next thing you know We are asked to do a few technical decals for his companies products and we have been Doing all their warning, instructional, and wiring diagram decals for all of their machines for the past 5 years. They just fax a PO and we send an invoice about 20k a year. I try to be excited about every opportunity even when I am not because you never know what job or customer it can lead to. Repeat and referal. It is just my Wife and I so we
only have so much time. But thank God we traded in our pc60 for our versacamm because we now can produce three times the jobs in the same amount of time and the versa camm turns nonprofit labor intensive jobs that we used to want to pass up into high profit quick turn around jobs we love to do. We never charge artwork fees for area churches or Schools.

Welcome to this great forum and Happy printing
vinylguy

[KenB]

Thanks vinylguy. Yes the referrals are one thing I have experienced also but not to the extent you are indicating. I did one Lion's club job and since then 2 different Lion's members have done business with me. Goes around...comes around. THanks for the welcome. I like it here.

[Jmass]

Originally Posted by Checkers

While negotiating pricing with a potential client is an important part of the business, it can create more headaches than it's worth. Any future dealing with this type of client will result in the same scenario. Chances are, he'll be beating you up for a better price every time.

So, this is how I would approach the situation...

Customer: How much for a 2' x 10' banner?
Me: $250 including the design.
Customer: Wow, that's a lot of money! Is there a way you can do it cheaper?
Me: If you compare the cost of this banner to other forms of advertising, you'll find that $250 is a bargain. A phone book ad can cost $250 a month. This banner can last a year or more.
However, I can try to save you some money. How much are you looking to spend?
Customer: Well, I don't know, but I don't want to spend $250.
Me: The easiest way for me to save you money is to make a smaller banner and cut back on the time I spend on designing it. This will save you about $50.
Customer: Well, that's still a lot of money. Is there any way you can do it cheaper?
Me: Not really. If I make the banner any smaller or cut further back on the design, this form of advertising will become ineffective. The banner will not effectively communicate the message you're trying to convey. So, you might as well throw money out the window.

From here, anything can go. The potential client can walk, try to negotiate some more, or agree to the terms.
If he walks, I am comfortable in knowing that I tried to sell the client an excellent form of advertising that would make his business money. If he goes to another shop down the road, hopefuly he will consider what I shared with him and he'll make an educated purchase from someone else.
However, if he wishes to negotiate even more, my last suggestion would be to bring me an output ready design that I could reproduce. I would provide him with a digital specification sheet, describing the types and sizes of files I can use for the reproduction.
The last option is if he agrees to the sale. More than likely, I have just started a long term relationship with a client that will consider my advice when making any future purchases. On his next purchase, He will, more than likely, have a budget number to work with. He'll probably trust my recommendations and the future sales will be a lot easier.

Finally, this is one of many scenarios that can play out while working in this business. While I have a lot of experience on both sides of the counter, I am happy to admit that I have not experience them all. And that's what I like about this business. Even though it's the same stuff, different day, there is always someone out there willing to challenge you in one form or another.

Havin' fun,

Checkers

Absolutely the best way i have ever heard it bing explained.
I will most certianely make use of this tid-bit of information.

Hi, Justin, by the way, signed up today after trolling for a while.
You guys have more info here than i could have wished for.
Taking reciept of a VP540 in the next week and found this forum to be the proverbial well of information.

Chat soon