Maximize value, don’t just minimize cost.
Posted by Rick Sader on June 20, 2011 at 9:05 amWhenever the first question from a potential new client is “How much would it cost for ___?”, I know this project isn’t going anywhere. Why? First, Lone Eagle isn’t the cheapest shop. From Day One it’s been that way by design. I’ve always positioned Lone Eagle to be more of a Nordstrom than a Kmart, i.e., providing premium-quality product & service and charging accordingly. Second, I’ve found that the more discerning clients are always more interested in finding the right materials that would provide the best results for their project and then inquiring about the cost.
An example from my personal life has nothing to do with graphics; it’s about shoes. Whenever I’ve needed a new pair of running shoes, I’ve tended to look for the model that gives the best performance and then look for the best price. First I would look for the best fit, support, comfort, traction, durability, etc. Then, and only then, was it time to look for the best price for that specific model. Sure, I end up paying more for top-quality shoes. But in the long run, I know they’ll perform really well, they won’t cause me some weird pain or injury, and they’ll last longer than “El Cheapos”.
A recent example from my large-format print shop comes to mind. An amateur artist wanted to know what it would cost to get prints of her paintings. (Ah, see? The first question was “how much?” My Spidey senses started tingling). I explained that the first step was to scan her art at a high resolution and then retouch it in Photoshop so that my proofs would match her original. My charge for this is $225. She indicated that she would shop around for a ‘reasonable price’ and then have me produce her prints using the digital file she would supply. (“Hmmm…. I guess that makes me UNreasonable” I thought to myself.) I diplomatically explained that slapping her work down onto the glass of a scanner at the library was NOT going to produce a scan anywhere close to acceptable. Also, any scan would STILL require retouching in order for the prints on my combination of printer, media, ink, & other settings to match her original. For her sake, I hope she doesn’t waste her time & money going the “el cheapo” route.
Think of value as performance divided by price. Now compare the value of the high-end running shoes to the low-end El Cheapos. Even though the cost of the high-end shoes was higher, what I got for that price was much higher, so more value. If I had spent less for the El Cheapos and gotten big blisters (or worse), you can bet my first thought would NOT be the money I had saved.
Sometimes I’ll be asked why I’ve spent so much on something. My standard reply is that I always try to get the best quality I can afford, take good care of it, and make it last…. that goes for shoes, cars, and wives! So far, my strategy has worked out really, really well.