Lessons Learned: Managing Client Expectations

MsManhattan

MsManhattan

Well-known member
It seems that a lot of the discussions that get started here are the result of misunderstandings or miscommunications between filmmakers and their clients. Especially among those of us seeking to build our reels, it seems that many of us take on projects for no/lo/deferred pay from clients who have never worked with filmmakers and are only taking the opportunity because they aren't really spending any money on it. The filmmaker may not truly understand what the client is looking for, and the client probably doesn't understand the filmmaker's work processes.

In that light, whether you are just starting out or have a lot of experience, what have you learned about managing client expectations over the course of a project? I thought it would be productive -- and make for good reading -- to share some war stories on these topics.

Here's one to get things started: My partner and I were approached about providing a large company with a 20-minute video that "looks and feels like a real movie" (client's words) to publicize a new product release. The idea was to show users of the product how much better off they would be using this product than they were without it. We came up with a really clever treatment (if I say so myself), and contacted a number of production houses to find out how much it would cost to produce on a soundstage with real actors. The soup-to-nuts final cost that we pitched to the client was $50,000.

The client, which hasn't typically spent much on video production, was a bit overwhelmed. That, in retrospect, was our fault... To cut to the end of the story, the client decided to go with its own in-house production team and ended up paying nearly the same amount of money for a single-camera, shot-on-the-fly, no-script, Betacam video with only company employees as the "actors." The final product was OK, but definitely did not look and feel like "a real movie."

Our lesson learned: We should have done more to educate the client on what their $50,000 was going to buy them. We should have provided them with a detailed cost breakdown, an explanation of why it was cheaper -- and higher-quality -- to go with a full-service production house vs. a piece-meal solution, why a soundstage would have been better than an on-location shoot, the man-hours involved, etc., etc. Had we taken the time to bring the client up-to-speed on the process, we would have gotten a great piece for our reel and had a client for life. Instead, the client is now less-than-upbeat about the whole video experience and will be even more difficult to sell future jobs to because they have the perception that videos are not worth the hassle.

Looking forward to your war stories, so please chime in!
 
this is an agreat point. Client expectations are often overlooked. Ijust signed contract with a client but it took some work. One of our brethren in the video production world told this client they could shoot the 5 min video for 7000. now they simply said hey I can shoot a video for 7000. they were the first to approach the client and therefore she had that number in her head. It was based on nothing. He didnt have a script, hadnt met with her, didnt say what he would shoot, just that he could do it for 7000. of course his stupidity became my burden. To do what she wanted i priced out at 12500. This included flying in a specific actor in from out of state (long story but it was a neccesary part) I knew she woudlnt go for it but i had to present it to her. She then came back with the 7000 she had been quoted. FRom that point on I had to be on the defensive. I had to convince her that what she wanted was quality and what I coudl do for her was quality. yadda yadda yadda. Ultimately I didnt skimp on the quality of the actual production but did reduce her expectations on the content. Instead of 4 days of shooting and 4-5 locations its now 2 days and 2 locations and one of them is my home. I still hired professional lights, sound and camera but it wasnt easy. making them see what they are getting for the money is tough but ultimately its the only thisng we can do. Thsi other guy made video production a commodity like selling tires. But its not. my camera and your camera will not shoot the same script. So sold her from the quality side of things. I didnt get the money i wanted but i was able to sel it for a lower amount without having to end up with a product i didnt want to show. Now if i coudl just convince my crew that they arent shooting Lord of the rings and that we have to be creative within a budget.. but alas that is a story for another posting
 
A well written treatment and proposal goes a long way toward making sure the client knows what to expect. I always include what I am NOT doing, if I can see opportunities for confusion. I always include some budget items at ZERO (or NOT INCLUDED), so they know that adding that would cost more. I do a high and low range for each line item. I have delivery, signoff, and payment milestones which are hard points (do not pass go until everything done to this point).

But if I think the client is not going to hire me anyway, I just throw out a number of $1,000 per finished minute, and let Michael worry about it...
 
I try to be up front with all my clients and pretty much ask them if they have a budget in mind. If they do then thats always a good starting point to either getting realistic with what they want to achieve/expect and means your not wasting your time (or theirs) trying to pitch something that will never happen in a million years because of budget restrictions.
 
Hey, guys, great tips -- thanks for posting. Galt's points about giving highs and lows for each line item and showing what you are NOT including as well as what you are including are right on the money (pardon the pun). Would love to hear from more of you!
 
Back when I used to seek wedding gigs regularly clients would always call asking for a firm price. A lot of event videographers around here list exact pricing on their sites/brochures with no breakdowns of what that entails. I eventually learned to meet with the client (usually the bride) and find out about the usually lofty fairy tale expectations she might have before throwing pricing around.

For example (keeping in mind that around here weddings range from about $1,000 to $2,500), I once had a wedding planner call wanting to hire me for a wedding shoot. I drove almost two hours to meet with the planner and bride, and learned that she had this high concept wedding in development involving a parade, floats, and a script where people would play various parts announcing her as she arrived on a float dressed as Cinderella. By the end of that meeting I could see that this was definitely not going to be a typical 2 camera shoot, and there was no way I was giving a quote off the top of my head, so we scheduled to meet again at the actual wedding location.

I did a cost breakdown based on the extra cameras and audio equipment needed, sent it to the client a day or two later, and then drove the two hours again to meet the bride at the "location." This location turned out to be a large traffic triangle in the middle of downtown Atlanta! She called it a small park, but it was most certainly not. It was a small patch of grass with a NOISY fountain, surrounded on all sides by even noisier constant traffic. A sound nightmare not only for me, but for the wedding guests in general. We couldn't even hear each other speak while looking at this location. This thing was so involved that I was going to have to hire the kind of crew and equipment that I normally use for feature work, not weddings. No problem for me, but nothing the bride had seen on local price lists prepared her for the cost.

Anyway, the price to shoot this thing obviously ended up being quite high, especially after she walked me through the "blocking" for all these characters. It's difficult to convey the insanity of the plans, and I sometimes wish I had booked the gig just for that, but I ultimately turned down the job when she wouldn't budge beyond the "high end" average of $2500 that she had been quoted by various people completely unfamiliar with her needs.

Not a fantastic story, but I see people post on here regularly who are getting into weddings and other event video. While you will be okay posting a publicly available price list most of the time for standard gigs, be sure not to back yourself into a corner! ...and regardless, be prepared to show (if necessary) why your prices differ from the fly-by-night quotes of people just trying to low-ball a job at all costs.
 
Very good tips guys.

Seems like there's a common theme here:

Do NOT quote your clients until you know what they want, and prepare a cost breakdown so they can see where the money would go.
 
dj200423 said:
Very good tips guys.
prepare a cost breakdown so they can see where the money would go.
Click to expand...

I've always found that thats a recipe for disaster. That document
then has the potential to become a menu or service bureau price
list, open to negotiation. The focus can turn to specific areas for
'justification' rather than working with the client to agree to a
number that everyone is comfortable with. I think it also breeds
an atmosphere of 'negatives', based on what isnt affordable
to the client rather than a healthy focus on the fact that they
are going to get exactly the project they need.

Those 'breakdowns' can end up *haunting* you for years with
return clients. If you ever put down on a piece of paper that
X costs you Y... expect to be called to do that piece for Y and
no more at some point in the future.

I know that if I just upgraded gear, the cost is passed on to
clients. Same goes for whether I'm busy, desperate for work
or have a lot of favors owe'd to me. Those things can skew
the numbers and its really not anything the client needs to
be privvy to.

I tend to bid out work on a flat rate basis, with some laid
out costs for overages, but in the end if I want the work,
almost magically, the budget for it works out and matches
what they are willing to spend.
 
I suppose I should retract my statement then. lol

So you think that flat rates are better than changing quotes? It seems like going with a fixed rate, you're just as stuck with your pricing as you would be if you were to quote someone, but I suppose you know about the change in price ahead of time and it puts the client at ease knowing they're locked into a cost.
 
I just think that in the end, you ar either quoting a flat rate or in rare cases, hourly/daily rates if you're dealing with the end client. That potential to be exploited starts
slipping in when you itemize.

Heres an example... if you put together a budget that has a DP rate and camera
rental rates and the DP ends up bringing some of his own gear, you've got one
choice... charge *more* for the DP and nix the equipment line item. Ideally that
DP is going to get more, but are they going to get rental house rates? Probably
not.. but that extra money isnt yours to pocket.. you broke it down for them and
having done so, that isnt 'extra money' due you your connections and wise choice
of a DP.. it should go back into the coffers of your client as a line item that was
unnecessary and therefore a discount.

Now you can give them an 'estimated' cost breakdown and find other ways to
refer to what you give them as non-binding, but unless you want the items to
be negotiated, dont put them there because they will be referred to :)
 
What I generally do is come with a basic flat rate per day for Shooting and a seperate flat rate for editing. The shooting portion generally includes Audio , Basic Light Kit , Camera ,tripod Etc. Now I will add extra charges in depending on what they want in the project. The only thing that's negotiable for me is my labor fee. I tell them that everything else is market rate and that it can go up or down.
I mean when you go to the mechanic they give you the price of the items but it's not negotiable the only thing that could be haggled is the labor.
I also don't budge on my workers fees as well. For instance if I have to hire an extra person whether it be audio,video or lighting. I pay them there normal rate unless we worked something out.
 
************************
Dear Client,
Here is what I think it will take to produce the end-result as described...

Low Estimate High Estimate

PreProduction
Production
Post Production
Review
Final Production & Replication

The preproduction time is the most important. We have to do a really good job in Pre Production of planning what end-result we want and how to do it. That is the time we can adjust Production costs (the number of locations or days of production or scenes shot) to reduce costs or increase viewer interest. Also, if we develop a good final script during preProduction, post production costs should also be at the low end of estimates. If a lot of changes are made to the script after signoff, post Production costs could be even higher than the high estimate. We may even have to go back to reshoot something. The later in the process we make a change, the more expensive the project becomes. If we have significant changes requiring more than one review, post-production costs will be higher than estimates.

To meet the delivery date you mentioned, we should be having our first pre-production meeting no later than (date). Can we get any needed project approvals that fast?

*************************

If any detail lines have big variable costs (actor salaries, location costs, etc) I break them out. But I list production costs as a per day rate, including any/all of my equipment and one assistant. I do not discuss the assistant separately. It is stupid to not have one IMHO for anything more complicated than seated interviews or b-roll.

The proposal is not about babying or fooling my client, but making sure that I spend the right money on the things that are important to them. Maybe they would rather downscale their talent, or use their granddaughter. Maybe they will shoot at their home by the pool so they can spend more on special effects. I want them to be as happy as possible as cost-effectively as possible. Then I become the no-bid vendor of choice for future projects.

Keep in mind that I never left the room or hung up the phone from the pre-proposal meeting without knowing what their budget range is. That is the critical thing to know before you can propose or estimate anything. My proposal may be higher than their range, but still pretty close. If I did a good job during the first contact, they are prepared for a number between my low and high estimate. In fact, I sometimes really pare down the project on the low estimate if I have to, to be under their target or expected price. If they are not overly surprised when facing the details, that really changes the conversation to one of partners instead of negotiators.
 
SilverWolf said:
The only thing that's negotiable for me is my labor fee.
Click to expand...
I was thinking just the opposite. I generally will not negotiate my rate, but will downsize the project as needed.
 
When I quote clients I quote them the high rate that way when they haggle I can go down some if i feel like it and they feel like they recieved a deal
 
When dealing with corporate clients you need to break it down because they live their lives that way. Everything is a statistic and measurable so you need to come up with something that they understand to sell the job. I used to do the flat rate thing with them or even hourly thing and when they get the bill at the end they are like WTF is this? Then you wind up having to break it down for them anyways.
I think clients are more trusting when they can see whats happening with their project. Even if some random rate is agreed apon, I would break it down and tell them where i had to skimp to bring this in on budget. Of course I would tell them this before starting anything and have them sign off on it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top