I belong to a Yahoo group and read the posts, but haven’t posted there yet, so most people there who’d know me, don’t know I’m there. Recently there was a post by a client of mine who said some nice things about the design work I did for her.
Another guy I’ve once spoken with in another context writes to ask client how it was to work with me and what the fees were and mentions that he’s having a tough time with his current designer and might switch to me.
Client writes back with some really nice words. Mentions that her first designer was hard to work with and cost her $XX,000 at $100/ft while I was easy to work with (I did a redesign) and cost $10/ft.
Now if you look at the numbers, you know no archy charges 100/ft. The guy she used first (before I was doing designs for other people) is around 10/ft for conceptual design w/o construction drawings. And I’m nowhere near 10/ft. by a long shot.
So….
While I’m happy she said really nice things and that she appears to be a satisfied client, I’m not happy to have my fees discussed in a forum, almost worse is having the wrong number mentioned. If people see the figure she mentioned and don’t realize the math is waaaay wrong and don’t call me be/c they think I’m too expensive, then even her kind words have hurt my prospects of new clients.
But if I write to correct the info, either privately or to the forum, I’m sure to make both the client and the prospect self-conscious, since they don’t know I’m on that group. So, what to do?
Replies
Have a friend who IS on that group, make the correction.
Cut me some slack here
Quittin' Time
Have a "friend" who IS on that group, make the correction, maybe in generic terms.Excellence is its own reward!
I agree with remaining anonymous. However I would try to be a little more sly having third party correct the mistake. Instead of having the friend come right out and tell your client she's wrong. I suggest using the back door approach. Have them say, are you sure that number is correct because the rate he charged for me was less, you may want to double check... yada yada yada.
Interesting twist, Scott. Thanks. And Luka and Pif.
I found a prior happy client on the list and wrote an email to him, but haven't sent it yet be/c if I'm not careful, I could end up with egg on my face.
Tim, I'm with you. I don't yet know how to make the call.
Damned if I know ! I cant make a money call here , tugging both ways .
Tim Mooney
Just log on with a ficticious name and say something to the effect of..wow most designers charge.. XYZ amount thats standard in the industry are you sure cuz it doesnt seem like thats right.....be nice but let them be able to correct themselves . Just to see what they do.
Darkworksite4: When the job is to small for everyone else, Its just about right for me"
take Ron's approach one step farther and log on...fake name..and say...U 2 must be mistaken becsue I just signed a contract with Cloud and his current rate is $XX.XX.
Put what ever the sticker price is. Simple....and everyone knows what to expect from ya. Jeff.......Sometimes on the toll road of life.....a handful of change is good.......
Or....log on witha ficticious name and say, "Yeah your right...Cloud does charge $xxx, but damn, he's worth every penny of it! Shoulda seen the job he did for me!"
Who knows, you might establish yourself a nice pay raise!
Just a thought. ( Don't take me too seriously.)
Davo
Hey Jeff,
Perhaps your byline your read :
"...Sometimes on the toll road of life...Your'e forced off the road and gotta take it in stride...Yeehaw!"
Really enjoyed your "close call" story.
Hope all is well with you and yours in the " Burgh."
Davo
I think you should try to get whatever correction is made fairly general; if your surrogate quotes an exact figure, you could be stuck with it for awhile.
Plus, one always has to be careful about discussing fees with potential competitors, or even looking like you might be doing that. It'a an anti-trust no-no.
May I ask where it is in Yahoo? Ive got Yahoo messenger. My name is Dewalt.
If I could be of any help I would be happy to. I would also like to read where they are ,....???
Tim Mooney
By introducing new numbers anonymously, such as "Cloud worked for me and charged $XX per foot" you can possibly dig yourself a nasty hole.
If she said you charged more than you do, then introducing a new number may get her riled...thinking she was overcharged...and she may hurt your referral base.
If she said you charged less than you do, you're going to have trouble getting your price, as people seeing her post are going to want her erroneous price.
The best bet may be to state directly to her that "Someone brought a forum posting to my attention...a favorable one, I might add, so thank you for the kind words...where you wrote I charged $YYY for ZZZ square feet of space. The numbers I have for your project show $HHH for ZZZ square feet of space. The person who related this to me didn't mention what forum this posting was on...but for the sake of my business, would you consider reposting the correct numbers?"
And Cloud, just so you don't have to fib to her:
There's a post on some forum...I can't recall which forum it was on...where some woman posted erroneous numbers regarding your fees. T'was a favorable post, however...you may want to contact a certain past customer and see if she won't correct those numbers for you. By the way...
I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU CHARGE THAT AMOUNT OF MONEY!!!!!
Best of luck fixing this.
Thanks for covering my tracks Mongo, and thanks for the offer, Tim. Second client apparently saw the post and had first-hand information that allowed him to issue a correction in generic terms. How fortuitous, huh? Other client wrote that she was sure the archy she first used charged 100/ft. I asked...I mean, I hoped for...second client to let sleeping dogs lie, and hopefully no more will be said and people will realize the 100 number is wrong by a decimal place and, etc, etc.
The old waitum out routine . MMM , pretty good.
So you didnt have to play your hand after all. Wise indian !! Make good catfisherman too!!! A vegatarian means poor fisherman in indian terms.
Tim Mooney