Solutions | Voices while you sell, vacation and take in the majority of the profits. ROY GETZOFF Owner Cynsational Weston, Florida PPAI 531159, D2 Q A Distributor Asks: A problem client wants to see the supplier’s invoice. What should I do? Tell them “No.” Plain and simple. They are buying from you, not your supplier. Never let a customer dictate/ negotiate your margins. There are plenty of fish in this sea! RUDY RICO Owner RAR DESIGNS Menifee, California PPAI 680768, D1 You could say, “Hmm … I’ve never been asked that before. What on my invoice is going to help solve our issue? You realize I do make a profit off of the goods I sold you, correct?” This is going to start a never-ending question of everything you do in the future. If they insist, I would show them and then say we can’t do business anymore. They need to have some skin in the game. Just think of what they would ask for next. LESLI HERBERT COVELL Owner Proforma Extraordinary Promotions Richmond, Texas PPAI 533771, D1 Q A Distributor Asks: A good client asked me to update his logo. After a 30-minute chat, I sent him the design costs of $189, and he flipped out. He got very upset and refused to pay. Since then, they’ve ordered from me twice. Recently, his wife asked if I could do them a “favor” and design the logo for free even though I dropped the price to $149. I don’t want to lose a good client over this. Any advice? Artwork is always touchy. It’s an extra step, but a quote up front, stating a minimum charge for logo creation, could avoid this pitfall. I’m guessing there are different versions of the logo for various processes, so there’s that, too. LEANNE SCHILLINGER Account Executive American Solutions for Business Great Falls, Montana PPAI 701094, D1 Are you willing to lose this client over $150? See what price he thinks is fair, and it can’t be $25, as that’s not a fair price. Then over the next several jobs, tack on $5-$10-$20 to set up, graphics fees and shipping for their other projects. Make him feel like he won and got a deal while still paying you a fair price. MIKE FERRETTI Owner Ferretti Marketing Solutions Huntersville, North Carolina PPAI 718784, D1 Let her know that you’ll do it because her business means a lot to you and average it in over the next few orders. Customer acquisition cost is real, so it’s cheaper to maintain a good customer relationship than having to go out and get a new one. Think about how you can get ahead of these things with them in the future by averaging it into orders, or maybe offer two hours of free design time for them each year. I’d make it a habit to figure in a surcharge for design on every order to gain back a little bit each order. JAMIE CALDWELL CEO UBU Brands Stuart, Florida PPAI 786807, D3 Never let a customer dictate/negotiate your margins. There are plenty of fish in this sea! —Rudy Rico PPAI • APRIL 2023 • 39
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