- Imagine yourself, visiting your car mechanic.
They tell you that your car needs a new transmission,
brake pads, air conditioning unit, seats,
and window tinting.
Your first response, unless you are fabulously rich,
is how much will this cost?
Clients are no different
when presented with a long list of materials to produce.
In the instance of your car,
you may decide the window tinting can wait.
The exact cost savings approach
may also be best for your client.
There are some items that they cannot do without.
Like an online presence or a business card
and others that may be less critical
like the mug with a client's logo.
Some items are basic needs of business,
the website or stationary system, for example.
You can produce other deliverables
over a more extended period.
The nominal initial production cost
lessens the sticker shock
of making a vast suite of materials
and helps create a longer relationship
between you and the client.
How can you determine which items to produce when?
First you need to know what the target audience is doing,
when they do it, and why.
In this example,
for a marketing plan I created for a major university,
we looked at what a potential student was doing
and when to make decisions.
We then paired this information with specific items.
Previously, the school sent a large and expensive view book
to an extensive mailing list of potential students
in their junior year of high school.
The strategy created a great deal of awareness
with the audience,
but the large quantity and number of pages were expensive
and had a low rate of return.
I suggested producing and spending a less expensive overview
with broad information to the largest group,
junior high school students.
For most of them, choosing a university
was still just an idea.
Later, if a potential student responded with information,
the school sent a more detailed and expensive view book.
Focusing the more elaborate item
to an audience with a clear interest in the school,
saved costs on the number of books printed
and had a better return of students applying.
I use the savings on production to add deliverables
such as a certificate to celebrate being accepted
and a series of informational booklets.
I can create a budget with a rollout schedule
that anticipates when to whom and what.
I ask web developers and printers
for estimates and timelines.
At the onset, the specifications are an educated guess.
The cost may change down the road
if the deliverable is more extensive,
has more pages, or requires additional,
unexpected interactive development.
I can now assign a number and production time
for each element.
The stationary system will cost $2,000 to design
and take 10 working days to print
once I turn the files over to the printer.
A brochure may take $3,000 and two weeks to print and so on.
I don't know how much printing
or website development will cost exactly.
I don't have the specific information needed yet,
but this is a good start.
I lay this out in an easy to understand matrix
and sit down with the client to decide
where they should spend the budget
and when to release each item.
An easy to digest approach for client
is what we call the Chinese Restaurant Menu Approach.
There may be 30 items on the list.
I know how much each costs,
and if something will take longer to create.
My client then has the facts and flexibility
to make choices.
And that makes for a much happier client.