Greetings all,
[I originally posted this under General Discussions, but thought it might be more relevant here.]
A friend of mine does high-end custom painting – faux treatments, custom artwork, murals and such. The work she does is excellent, the customers are always pleased, but where she gets into trouble, is with change orders. With such a subjective product, do any of you have advice on how to better define what the initial bid covers, and how to interact with the client when they start requesting variations.
Also, because my friend is so personable, her clients will start asking for additional artistic “consultation†– i.e. “Which lamp shade do you like better?†Which, of course draws her away from the work she should be doing, the work she bid on. Since she doesn’t use power tools, can’t just fire them up to drive them away. Plus, alienating the client might be bad for future projects and word of mouth referrals. Any suggestions on how to “get back to work.â€
I’m also wondering if there are any books that might cover situations like these?
Thanks,
Ken
Replies
Ken, I might be able to help out a little if you can fill in a few more details
about what your friend does. While I think anyone who knows me here would probably
say I'm a architectural woodworker-stair & railing builder what we really
do is "Distinctive Artistic Projects" so that encompasses faux treatments,
custom artwork, and murals (we're also into architectural metal work and the
finishes that go with that too). I came from a background designing and building
scenery for the theatre with an emphasis on scene painting. As I mentioned the
other day in the Diverse
careers represented at Breaktime discussion we'll even build scenery
for the home as well as trade shows and exhibits
(in this one there was 6000 SF of painted murals, the floor which was painted
to look like stone, grass, swamp, or dried lake bed depending upon where you
were and was 45,000 SF, and the mountain and volcano which unfortunately I no
longer have any pictures of were around another 4000 feet of 3D scenery which
had to be painted like stone and or volcanic pumice and ash).
Things that it would help to know:
she starts in on a faux finish?
or work from some other kind of sample? In other words how detailed are the
designs she shows to the clients before she begins actual in place work on
the project?
By the time I get back online tomorrow I am sure I will have been able to give
this some more thought and will have some more questions as well as some of
my own advice on the subject too. Off the top of my head you might get her to
pose her problems with this either here or over in the Professional Business
Discussion forum at MuralsPlus.com
.
Are you asking because she doesn't know she has this problem or she's not Internet
savvy? Two very different things to consider there too.
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“Systemize the Routine; Humanize the Exceptionâ€-
from Customer Culture: How FedEx and Other Great
Companies Put the Customer First Every Day
by Michael D. Basch
Jerrald,
Thank you for you quick response. I'm late for work, so I don't have the time to get in to the issues you bring up, but these few points - Interesting about your background as it's very similar to my own - Master Scenic Carpenter for Seattle Opera Scenic Studios.
I'm the one who's asking on her behalf due to her lack off internet / computer skills, and for many years I've known the best answers to a question can be found by asking my fellow "blue collar guys." She's the one who brought her issues to me.
Despite my background, my clients are not individuals, rather arts organizations, and the resources we have are far greater that her "One Woman Show." She does prepare detailed renderings, samples and such. To my knowledge, the clients’ response to her work is very positive, so the changes are not, I think, from misunderstanding, rather additional requests from the client. Her own comments to me are that she is too much a "people pleaser," to which, she has difficulty presenting the additional requests as change orders. For her, and understandably, the work is very personal and the relationship she has with her clients is kinda intimate.
I first posted this under the General Discussions and got an also great response from Frankie.
“This is a problem that anyone who does high-end work experiences. See, we are not hired only because we do fine work but because we are pleasant and trustworthy to have in someone's Home. We understand that we do not work on "Construction Sites" but rather in Homes.â€
Ok, now I’m off to do “artâ€
Thanks,
Ken
Edited 10/30/2002 9:47:02 AM ET by Ken Berg
Edited 10/23/2003 5:56:07 PM ET by Spudwise