(upbeat music)
- Have you ever gotten a quote for a design project
from an agency that's just far too high?
Have you responded to that by walking away
and trying to find another vendor as a result?
Well let me stop you right there.
Design services are exactly that, they're services.
They're not an end product with a fixed cost
and therefore a fixed price.
Instead, there are many ways to bring down the cost
of a design service, because in the end,
it's all about man hours.
And you can reduce those man hours,
or reduce the type of people working on that project
to help bring down costs.
So if you're looking for a great designer
or a great design agency
and the price they come to you with is just too high,
the very last thing you should do is walk away.
Instead, take a moment
and have a candid conversation with them.
Let them know what your budget is,
and see if they can meet you either in the middle
or right at your budget.
They can find many ways to do this.
For example, let's say they quote you $10,000
for an animated video, but your budget is $8,000.
Rather than saying, you know what, I can't do this work
with you because it's 10,000,
you can say, my budget's at 8,000.
What can do you do for that 8,000?
Give the agency an opportunity to find ways
to reduce the project's scope or reduce the hours put in
so that they can meet you right at your budget point.
They might say, okay, we're going to do this
over a longer period of time,
so that our team can take on other work
and therefore bring your costs down.
Or they might say, okay we can approach this
by getting rid of the storyboard phase
and just talking through the scene direction,
therefore reducing the hours related to that project
and reducing the cost.
But ultimately, there's always room for negotiation,
because in the end, you are asking for a service.
So as you're approaching a design agency or a freelancer,
always consider the fact that they will lead
with their best possible solution,
and that best possible solution will be the most expensive,
simply because they want to produce
the absolute best work for you.
Don't run away if their solution
is like bringing a tank to a knife fight.
Instead, come back to them and say,
hey, it seems like this is a little bit more
than I need, here's what I'm hoping to spend,
how we can accomplish my goals within that spend?
A really good agency is going to come up
with great solutions for you, and if the budget is too low,
they're going to introduce you to a good freelancer
who can do the work instead.
Never walk away because the price is too high.
There's always wiggle room, and there's always room
for negotiation when it comes to design services.