Clients are exasperating.
Been playing email hide and seek with one client. A simple "please confirm" email takes a week to get a reply. Usually with something like "I'll have an answer for you by Wednesday". Which translates in practice to receiving a cryptic email on Friday evening. Fortunately they're not the type that expects you to drop everything and work on their job the moment they reappear. They are the type to send what they call final text which turns out to be a brief outline in dot points, with "more text to go here" in key sections. *sigh*
Then there's the "I'd like you to do the updates to this job, it was done by someone else originally, so I don't have the files." No problem, we chat about how to get the files, copyright concerns and then he tells me that he's looking around because he feels the price quoted for text updates to existing designs was unreasonable. I happen to agree with him based on what he was asking for. I didn't give him a quote, just mentioned that I'd be significantly less expensive and that the next step for him was to find out about getting the files.
I got the email last night saying the other designer has dropped their price, so he's using them for now but will do work with me in the future, thanks for the advice. I'm disappointed I didn't get this project, but I think-I hope-that thanks to being professional and open with him I will get the future projects. Alas, that doesn't put money in my bank this week.
Ah well. Another prospect looms and I have hope. Yay for the life of a freelancer.
Then there's the "I'd like you to do the updates to this job, it was done by someone else originally, so I don't have the files." No problem, we chat about how to get the files, copyright concerns and then he tells me that he's looking around because he feels the price quoted for text updates to existing designs was unreasonable. I happen to agree with him based on what he was asking for. I didn't give him a quote, just mentioned that I'd be significantly less expensive and that the next step for him was to find out about getting the files.
I got the email last night saying the other designer has dropped their price, so he's using them for now but will do work with me in the future, thanks for the advice. I'm disappointed I didn't get this project, but I think-I hope-that thanks to being professional and open with him I will get the future projects. Alas, that doesn't put money in my bank this week.
Ah well. Another prospect looms and I have hope. Yay for the life of a freelancer.