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I agree with Lynne, there doesn't seem to be much upside to chasing this
client, especially if you are already worried about protecting your rate.
I would simply send back a nice reply, stating that of course you would be
interested in future projects. If you feel so inclined, and think it might
be received well, you could include a gentle suggestion that a longer lead
time would be advisable. But I probably would just forgo that. If you want
to continue to court her, send her a holiday card, or some sort of other
standardized communication to stay in her thoughts.
If you have a better relationship with the project manager, you might want
to also send him a quick email, letting him know that you are sorry not be
working with him on this project, and that you hope to do business with
Blue Supply in the future.
One of four things will happen -
1) They managed to hire someone who has either no idea of their worth, or
someone from India, who can actually write decently, and is willing to do
it for almost no money because of the exchange rate, and the manual is OK
(unlikely)
2) The widget manual is awful, but they don't notice or care, because they
aren't worried about having a good manual, just something to stuff in the
box and check off a list (likely).
3) The widget manual is so bad they realize they need it fixed, and they
contact you to fix it. This might happen immediately, or after customer
complaints, and a huge uptick in calls to customer service to help them
with things that should be in the manual.
4) They choose not to fix the manual, but realize that they need something
better next time, and contact you for that.
If she does contact you, simply provide the same rate as in the past, and
if the deadline is absurd again, choose whether you want to even go after
it, or just say that you are too busy to take on these last minute
assignments, but are willing to discuss something with a longer lead time
in the future.
On Thu, Oct 12, 2017 at 9:57 AM, Wright, Lynne <Lynne -dot- Wright -at- kronos -dot- com>
wrote:
> Why would you want to pursue a client who has already demonstrated that
> they're going to expect you to meet impossible deadlines under unreasonable
> conditions, and not want to pay you what you're worth?
>
> You can't convince clients like that that cheaper = poorer quality, since
> they can't tell the difference between mediocre and effective writing.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: techwr-l-bounces+lynne -dot- wright=kronos -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com [mailto:
> techwr-l-bounces+lynne -dot- wright=kronos -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com] On Behalf Of
> Chris Morton
> Sent: Thursday, October 12, 2017 9:35 AM
> To: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
> Subject: BIZ: Dealing with price resistance?
>
> *** LONG QUERY AHEAD ***
>
> *SCENARIO*: Jeannie is the marketing director of Blue Supply, a smallish,
> high-tech industrial supplier in the hinterland. Through a LinkedIn
> ProFinder feeler placed almost a year ago by her digital marketing guy,
> I've been courting Blue on and off ever since.
>
> To date, Blue has OEMed widgets from others, stuffed them in their own
> boxes, and sold the latter to global industrial concerns. Blue only ever
> shipped the destructions, er, user manuals furnished by its OEMs.
>
> Now Blue has developed its own widget. Jeannieânever having entered this
> realm before (and not knowing much about project management and realistic
> timelines)âbegan looking for a freelancer to magically whip up a ~50 page
> technical user manual over a two-week period.
>
> Yours truly has done this many times over and has the chopsâalong with a
> rock-solid portfolio and written recommendations singing my praises. Its
> apparent that Jeannie only looked at the sample manuals I provided, never
> bothering with the recommendations nor taking a few moments to look at my
> extended LinkedIn profile that tells the whole story.
>
> Jeannie kept me hanging for several weeksâtime I could have used to create
> her manual, which will ultimately form the basis, it appears, of others to
> come. Anyone who knows InDesign knows that it's critical to set up the
> first go-round (that will become a template) correctly. This is all Greek
> to Jeannie.
>
> She wanted me to give her an estimate as to the number of hours I thought
> it would take me to complete her project. I told her a reasonable number of
> hours, perhaps less, but that it's near impossible to estimate never having
> seen the widget (nor having any notion of Blue's culture, expectations,
> etc.). Much also depended on the ready availability of subject matter
> experts to assist my when I got stuck documenting the widget's
> hypergymballic mode when exposed to sulfur-induced cryptonium at 2000
> degrees.
>
> Although I offered to meet in person or speak by phone, Jeannie has always
> kept me at arms length, only communicating via email. I've only had the
> opportunity to speak by phone with AJ, the project manager; it sounded like
> he was firmly in favor of me.
>
> Although I kept trying to get the engagement commitment, Jeannie put me
> off for yet another week. Attempting to meet her absurd deadline now meant
> working exclusively on her assignment around 24 x 7, putting off all of my
> regular clients, not sleeping, nor having any downtime to do anything else.
> All the while, Jeannie doesn't know what Jeannie doesn't know, and her
> initial whack at a newly-designed user manual incorporating Blue's branding
> is already set to miss the mark.
>
> Finally Jeannie sent me the inevitable email late yesterday:
>
> *Thank you so much for your interest in working with us and for your
> patience as we reviewed candidates. We have decided to go with another
> writer for this particular project due to timeline and budget. It was nice
> connecting with you and I am happy to keep you in mind for future projects
> if that is of interest to you.*
>
>
> *Thank you,*
>
>
> Because of her hemming and hawing, coupled with my multi-year sales
> experience, I'd seen it coming. I wasn't surprisedâjust really POed to have
> spent so much time courting her and the company only to be treated like
> this. I know full well that Blue Supply isn't going to be well represented
> by the "other writer" (likely a chainsaw repairman) who agreed to both the
> ridiculous deadline and gave her some absurd cost estimate.
>
> To add to my head-spinning, after sending me this kiss-off note, she
> finally accepted my invitation to connect on LinkedIn and also viewed my
> profile!
>
> *QUERY*: If I even elect to pursue Blue Supply, how would you go about
> standing firm with your hourly rate and, more importantly, politely and
> professionally convey the notion that, "When you finally realize you've set
> the project up for failure and also determine that the person you hired
> doesn't know Jack (if she ever wakes up to that), you'll know where to find
> me."
>
> Are there any good books you can think of that address this issue in a
> similar context? That is, Jeannie can have any two of the following: Cheap,
> Fast, Good. And to quote a friend:
>
> "She can have it fast and good, but it won't be cheap, and that's what
> you're willing to promise. If she insists on cheap and fast, you're not the
> right fit because you won't do anything that doesn't include good. Or she
> can have it cheap (relatively) and good, but there's no way in hell she's
> getting it before Thanksgiving, from you or anyone else."
>
>
> Apparently Mr. All-Too-Eager Woodrow the Woodsman has promised Jeannie all
> three.
>
> Chris Morton
> (click logo â for details)
>
> <http://t.sidekickopen68.com/e1t/c/5/f18dQhb0S7lC8dDMPbW2n0x6l2B9nM
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> 10670%2F&si=6020636811198464&pi=954606cb-5d5b-417c-e784-84b410461031>
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