Business as Usual
I’ve had this exact conversation with a client before because people really do try and pull this shit.
CLIENT: We’d like to go ahead and book you to handle this year’s edition but, of course, we’re in the middle of a tough recession. So we’ll only be able to offer you about 50% of what we paid last year.
ME: I gave you a heavily discounted price last year as an introductory deal. I said at the time it was a one-off and included a quote at the full price to illustrate.
CLIENT: Yeah… Anyway, we’d like you to get to work immediately, since the deadline is
this time next week.
ME: You had a three-month lead last time.
CLIENT: Uh-huh… Moving forward, we want you to treat this as urgent. Oh, and we’ll be paying you when the project comes into profit, of course.
ME: So, you want me to do three months graft in a week, on the promise that when or if you make money out of my work you’ll pay me less than half what my time is worth.
CLIENT: To be honest, we thought you’d be more grateful.
