I read somewhere quite a long time ago that that which you are selling is only worth what someone else is willing to pay. Many people might only want to pay for $50/hr for your video production service for depositions, while others will undoubtedly be perfectly happy paying $250/hr for exactly the same service. Obviously, the client has to perceive that they're getting good value because of their dollar.
When I was in the marriage video deposition business, I chose to focus on affluent families. They certainly were willing to pay for upwards of $3000 to $5000 per video whereas the middle- income families were typically not willing to pay for any more than $1500 for exactly the same services. There clearly was literally zero difference between the total amount of hours or the grade of our product. (I needless to say felt our videos were always worth the $5000. I just had to find the appropriate customer that saw the value exactly the same way I did.)
In the corporate video business, large companies will typically pay several thousand or thousands more for exactly the same services as smaller businesses. Small businesses will micro-manage every penny and not want to pay for more for anything, whereas larger businesses will typically boost the scope of a task while you are working on the project, resulting in a more profitable project and overall relationship.
I believe ultimately, it boils down to your degree of confidence along with your abilities and the value you can create for a client. legal video deposition Texas People who wish to thrive in the future, rather than surviving, try raising your rates throughout the board by 10%, 20% or even as much as 35%. Are you worth every penny? I believe so. Typically, clients won't even spot the difference.
The one's who do will understand if you position the rate increase by saying "In order for me to higher serve you, I must increase our rates. New equipment, technologies, labor, etc. are which makes it necessary to boost rates."
Whatever or nevertheless you position it, just ensure it makes legitimate business sense as to why you're raising your rates. You might lose a couple of clients, but the one's you keep plus the newest business you'll receive under your new rate structure can make you far more cash with less effort overall. Go ahead. Raise your rates on all upcoming projects. When you have success doing so, you may never look back.
Another way to begin on the right track is to modify your payment terms. Many years back, I had trouble getting clients to pay for on large projects in an acceptable amount of time. The effect was that I was broke with around $50k in receivables that never seemed in the future in when I wanted it. The remedy: Our contracts now call for a 50% deposit at the beginning of every project with the total amount due upon completion and delivery.
This has drastically improved my monthly cash flow but a couple of clients have adapted to my terms without any problems. The important thing is to appreciate your clients expect YOU to tell them how to get your services. Not another way around. We can't head into Wal-Mart and tell them that we'll pay them net 45 but that people need the coffeemaker today can we?? Why should we be responsible for financing 100% of a client's project until it's complete or until they want to pay?
Some larger businesses have accounts payable policies that you can't bypass no real matter what, but my experience has been that even the greatest of accounts can pass your invoice through quickly if necessary. The secret is always to be sure that they understand that "that is your policy on projects higher than $3000 or whatever amount you intend to set." Whenever you start projects with half the money in to your pocket, you feel good about working on the account, the client gets better service and they are motivated to finish quickly because they've already invested.
Should they drag their feet, who cares? You have a great part of the money in to your pocket. Just make sure to manage it properly in case your client drags their feet for months or even over a year. Also, ensure you wait to money that you haven't utilized in project hours if/when your contract states they could pull the plug anytime provided that you'll get ample notice. Usually, your contract will state that they need to pay you for work completed so it's always in your absolute best interest to accomplish just as much on the project as you are able to early.
We have a couple of clients that get excited, pay us a bunch of money at the start, then cool off for 6 months or more. It's almost comical but I have my video production manager contact them once weekly reminding them that we need to get going on the video project. We charge enough time it requires to achieve this for their account. They'll bypass to us sooner or later but meanwhile, they understand that we have to charge them for almost any activity we have to decide to try keep their project moving.
Opmerkingen