Parc Entertainment - A Video Production Company - Birmingham, AL

Business owners, freelancers, marketing personnel, public relations officers will at one time or another have to deal with projects and/or products that simply aren’t working right. And clients who have given their time, trust, and money, will be looking to these individuals to correct the situation. They aren’t interested in excuses. They’re interested in solutions. In a previous post I gave out some advice on how to respond to a client’s concerns. Number one on that list was “Respond Promptly,” but in this post I’d like to add one more point to that list - “Be proactive.”

Case in point: I recently signed up with iContact.com to distribute my monthly e-newsletter. A few days ago, I tried to access the site to work on my newsletters, but the site was down. It wasn’t long before an email popped up in my inbox from the CEO of iContact. The company had taken the time to write their customers and explain to everyone what was happening. That email was followed up with others that detailed what went wrong and how their team was correcting the situation. They also used their Twitter account to post real-time updates.

I was thoroughly impressed with the way iContact handled the situation. I’m certain that a potentially disastrous PR scenario was quickly diffused because they took a proactive approach and kept everyone well informed.

If you are responsible for client relations, regardless of your industry, maintaining open and ongoing lines of communication between your company and your clients will reflect positively on your brand.

The office phone rings. You pick it up and on the other end is someone interested in hiring you for their services. You grab a nearby notebook and pen and start jotting down notes as he/sh discuss what their company needs. As the conversation continues, you start to realize that this will be a very exciting and very profitable project. It’s a great moment for a small business owner or freelancer, but sometimes even quality leads can fizzle. It’s the nature of the business. Projects get put on hold for various reasons - no money, new CEO, a new board rotates on, the committee can’t agree on details, your contact gets distracted, etc. Once I was very close to signing a contract with a potential client, but the project was shelved when the company started dealing with some major internal issues. Some leads are extremely courteous and will let you know what’s going on. Others simply drop off the face of the earth. What can you do as a small business owner or freelancer when projects get put on hold?

1. It’s Out of Your Control - The first and most important thing to remember is that you can’t force your contact to sign the contract and send in a deposit. It can be horribly disappointing when you are on the verge of landing a big job, but sometimes you simply have to shrug your shoulders and move on. It’s out of your hands.
2. Don’t Put All Your Eggs In One Basket - Just because that golden carrot is dangling out there in front of you, don’t neglect your other marketing efforts. Do all that you can to develop new business. Don’t count on that one project to sustain you, because it might not be there when you need it the most.
3. Fix a Limit on Your Bids - When submitting a budget to a potential client, I always insert a note that says something to the effect of, “Bid valid for up to ninety days beyond the submission date.” Over time, both the market and your rates will change. The budget you submit should reflect current conditions so that you can earn what is fair. This clause protects you if a project is shelved for many months or even years.
4. Keep Your Name at the Forefront - If you’re contact is MIA, don’t be afraid to keep your name in front of them, but this must be done in a very subtle manner. You never want to appear desperate for the job. The best way to do this is to sign your contact up for your free monthly newsletter. It lets your contact know that you’re still out there by keeping your name in front of them.
5. Check In Via Email - Don’t do this often, because (as stated in #3 above) it makes you look desperate. Usually if the contact needs your services, he/she will let you know. However, it’s okay to check in via email every few months, just to check on the status of the project. If there’s no news after three follow-ups, I wouldn’t contact the company any more regarding that particular job. I would, however, write to them if you have a new demo reel or portfolio available, or if you have some announcement related to your business.

Projects are often shelved because marketing and advertising is the first thing on the choppping block for many businesses. Try not to let it discourage you. You never know when that job might re-surface.

In the world of video production, projects can span several months, depending on the complexity of the job and the amount of people involved. And during that time, a TON of emails will pass back and forth between the client and production company. Whether you work for the client or the production company, it’s important to save and organize those e-mails. Doing so will help both parties maintain clear expectations as the project moves forward.

Defining the Scope of the Project

When a potential client calls, interested in hiring me to produce a video, they usually go over the basic scope of the project. I am always diligent to take notes and ask questions during this initial conversation. As we draw closer to signing a contract, I always send an email, outlining the project, to make sure I understand everything correctly. Having all of these details recorded in an email is a valuable asset, because it’s much easier to reference an email than try to recall what was or was not said in a phone conversation.

Changing the Project

If a video project is under the oversight of a committee, the scope of the job might change several times before the contract is signed. Here again, saving and organizing every email is important, because it can get very confusing very quickly if changes are being made constantly. Contradictions can become a serious problem unless you have an email that you can refer to. Those emails are a clear record of what was said, by whom, and when.

Obtaining Materials for the Project

Many times a client will email me a signed contract. As the project moves forward, they might send me all kinds of materials for use in the video - scripts, photos, links, titles and other graphics, etc. I will always download these to my hard drive and store them in my project file. However, I will always archive the emails containing these attachments, in case something happens to the files on the hard drive. You always want your client to have faith and confidence in your abilities and your work ethic. Having to ask your client to re-send materials over and over doesn’t exactly send the message that you are organized and efficient.

Conclusion

I use Gmail as my email client. I find that when it comes to organizing, archiving, and searching for messages, Gmail works best for me. And it offers plenty of storage space. I usually hold on to conversations for about one year before deleting them, just in case a client needs to refer back to a specific job. Remaining diligent in your record-keeping will be of great benefit to your client relations.

A few weeks ago I was contacted by a client in need of some footage that was shot back in 2005. I went through my archives and found the footage in question. It seems that my client, during a recent office restructuring, had misplaced their original copy. They indicated that they would be happy to pay for the replacement copy.

I made the transfer, packaged it, and shipped it along with an invoice that reflected my standard charges for time and materials. I received a call shortly thereafter from the client who was surprised at the cost of the transfer. I could tell she was unhappy. I did my best to explain my rates and why she was seeing this particular amount on her invoice. She paused, then said, “Well, seems like there’s not much I can do. I guess you’ll be getting a check.”

I could tell that the conversation didn’t end well. She just wasn’t satisifed. I hung up, the tone of the discussion still looming over my head. “I need to make this right,” I thought. This particular client had given me an opportunity to do some work for them back in 2005 and were pleased with the results. Now they have expressed interest in hiring me again for upcoming video projects. I didn’t want to do anything to jeopardize this working relationship, so I sent my client an email, along with a revised invoice. In my email I apologized that the price caught her off guard and that I wanted to maintain good relations with her company by reducing the amount of the transfer.

It’s important to get paid for the work you do. And it’s important to know what you’re worth. But what’s most important of all is customer service and the rapport you build with your clients. Exceptional customer service will go a long way and it will prompt your clients to hire you again and again for future work. You can afford to make short-term sacrifices for long-term gains.

Many of my larger projects are built into phases. This is done mainly for two reasons: it helps my client’s budgeting needs and it provides them with peace of mind, knowing that I am making constant progress on the video. If you are working on a project that is built into phases, it’s important to thoroughly describe each phase in the contract and when that phase will be completed. Be up front with your client in regards to payment. I usually request a deposit when the contract is signed and then partial payments upon delivery of each phase. Asking for progress payments will help your cash flow and will help defray production costs and the cost of your time.

When that first phase is delivered, however, it’s important that you and your client are both on the same page before the project moves forward. It would be disastrous to move toward completion of a project when your client hasn’t even approved phase one. That’s why, in addition to the original contract, I always provide my clients with written approval agreements that they must sign before I continue with the project. These don’t have to be complicated. All it needs to say is that the client acknowledges that phase one was delivered on schedule, that they have thoroughly examined all elements, and that those elements meet with their approval. This will give you the green light to continue your work, knowing with certainty that the client is completely satisfied with the project thus far.

Remember, never assume. Even if you talk with the client over the phone and they say, “Hey, this looks great! You’re on the right track. Keep going,” you need to get their approval in writing. I have learned this the hard way, dealing with clients who give verbal approval, only to recant it later. That resulted in more work for me, for less pay (because I still had to stay within the specified budget). Maintaining good client relations is all about giving due diligence to proper communications.