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Deposits from clients for mockups
I’m sure that this would have been discussed at some point but I wondered what everyone does regarding deposits in 2018.
I tend to take deposits on smaller businesses and anyone I’ve not had dealings with before, sometimes I ask for full payment upfront depending on what my gut tells me.
I get asked a lot to send over designs/mockups and in the past, I have done these with no deposit and no real commitment from the client. I’ve now come to the conclusion that although I tend to get most of my work that I mockup for, I’ve wasted soo many hours designing and not getting anything out of it.
Just wondered if you guys do designs/mockups before any money is exchanged?
I’m now thinking of asking for a £30+vat non-refundable deposit, i’ll then get a design/layout sent over in 24 hours and the amount will be taken off their total bill, that is unless I actually have to design something and not just do a layout.
What are your thoughts?
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14 Replies
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It’s a difficult one, and I nearly posted the same thing last week.
90% of our enquiries are via email, or telephone, and increasingly through facebook.
We get the typical vague "How much to sign my van?"
We know that, prices vary hugely, from a small taxi door sticker, to a full wrap for a LWB sprinter.
So you ask what budget they have in mind, and we usually get told "as cheap as possible". :bangshead:
If we happen to have them in our unit, we show them some examples, and agree a price, deposit and off we go.
If it’s via email or worse facebook, then it’s a toss up.
Stick a price in with no visual, loose the job to someone quoting £99, or spend an hour quickly chucking something together, to accompany a quote?
That van, will cost £xxx? You will always get those who take it elsewhere to see if they can get it cheaper.
We’re trying the 2nd option, but if there are any amendments we take a deposit. We don’t redraw logo’s etc for initial proofs.
We only give credit accounts to a handful of customers, who a frequent customers.
Under a set amount, it’s 100% upfront, above that a minimum 50%
Customers we have dealt with for years, but only order once every 2-3 years no longer get credit.
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So I tried the £30 non refundable deposit idea and the customer completely understood and agreed to pay. I know I will lose some business but I’m gonna stick to it for a little while and see how I go.
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I assume you agree a budget prior to drafting anything?
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Nope. I’ve done work for them in the past so they know I’m reasonable and the reason I started with this customer was due to doing a couple of designs in the past and they either got rid of the vans or decided to not go ahead, this should give me a little more commitment. It’s trial and error at the moment but at the moment it’s 1 for 1. I do think I’ll supply a few mockups giving guide prices and if they question my price I can always give the deposit back or try to sell the benefit in using me/us.
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It’s tough and I’ve yet to find a foolproof way of dealing with it.
I rarely take a deposit before doing a quick mock up, though I have insisted on the odd occasion I felt I was on to a hiding for nothing.
Any mock ups, even if using their own logo’s or sketch will always go out in a copyright / proof box with the simplest of terms written in, ie. No unauthorised use of this proof / artwork blah blah, unauthorised use will result in an invoice being sent for the artwork time at £x per hour + a £200 copyright transfer / release fee.
Sometimes I don’t give a mock up if the customer has simply shown me what they want, if they request the proper mock up the invoice comes out.
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So customer who agreed to pay the deposit yesterday has now decided not to. Their response was…
We need to get 3 quotes to comply with our ISO and although you are an approved contractor, the other 2 have done it free.
I’m now thinking, if I’m approved then why look elsewhere? And is it whoever does it cheaper wins the business?
My second thought are regarding copyright, let’s say everyone submits a design without seeing the others work and they all are pretty much the same, who ever loses it may feel their design has been copied?
Thought?
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quote Daniel Evans:So customer who agreed to pay the deposit yesterday has now decided not to. Their response was…
We need to get 3 quotes to comply with our ISO and although you are an approved contractor, the other 2 have done it free.
I’m now thinking, if I’m approved then why look elsewhere? And is it whoever does it cheaper wins the business?
My second thought are regarding copyright, let’s say everyone submits a design without seeing the others work and they all are pretty much the same, who ever loses it may feel their design has been copied?
Thought?
Just put it in then, if they use you, great, if not, keep a careful eye on their vans and bill them if they use elements from your design or layout.
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I have this above my computer and point to it when i feel they are wasting my time or are new customers
Attachments:
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So I have agreed to submit a mockup without any depost.
I will add some information about copyright on the quote and up my £60 charge to £200 as you put it.
I have never heard of this ISO 3 quotes thing, I’ve heard of company policy asking for 3 quotes.
Lets see how this goes.
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A quotation should be just that – an offer to provide a service. Artwork comes later as part of that service.
My argument has always been if three people are all providing artwork in a quotation – two are always going to lose out so will effectively work for free and this time will be subsidised by the jobs that do go ahead. So the fairest way to deal with all enquires is not to include artwork at the quotation stage.
The sign industry is particularly bad at this. If you wanted an architect to design a house do you approach three and expect them all to submit their designs at the quotation stage? Of course not. you realise that what you are paying them for is the actual design.
This is why many new sign businesses often fail. They end up being busy fools not charging for their design time and consequently find they aren’t earning enough to make the business remain viable.
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Phill, this is my point exactly, I value my time and why should we work for free.
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I concur, we shouldn’t work for free.
From the customers point of view, if they get your quotation for £300 with no visual, or another quote for £300 with a visual, I’d guess they’ll go with the one where they see what they’re getting.
Best way would be to agree a price bracket, then take a desposit, but I’ve found that works best face to face.
Or limit your time on a design to, 30mins?
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I know where your coming from David about the fb messages. Saturday night about 8 o’clock and my phone pings with a message. Someone asking "how much to sign my van" complete and utter waste of my time.
I was on ashby trades website and seen a good idea that I might try to my own website. A multiple choice option. That I thought you could try and put a pricing structure on.
Click on the size of your van. Small medium large. Click on the design you like basic, immediate, part Wrap, Full wrap. Then at the end it will give them an idea of the cost.
Martin
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A little bit of market research will be helpful… see how the competition deal with it.
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