by Logan Cummins
My father-in-law (Jim) is a lot of things.
He’s extremely intelligent. He’s incredibly fiscally aware. He’s passionate about his interests and his work. He’s able to approach all situations from multiple vantage points (specifically from both a technical approach as well as with strong business acumen).It’s the combination of these attributes that have made him successful within his career.
Of all of the valuable lessons that I’ve learned from him over the years, there’s one that has become part and parcel to my day-to-day performance as both a project and account manager: Spend the client’s money as if you were spending your own.
I’m beyond fiscally aware. I’m down right cheap. Just to give you a frame of reference, I regularly purchase close to 100% private label groceries. I have an incredibly hard time spending a gift card to a department store because I just can’t justify the price tag on the items. My wife has learned to cut hair because Great Clips was too expensive for an every-six-weeks cut—even with a coupon.
So, how exactly does this mentality benefit my clients, you ask? Quite simply, if this mentality is applied on all levels throughout the life of your relationship, the client will know that you’re looking out for the highest level of return on their investment.
Applying this mentality is when the minor details count the most. Here are a few suggestions on how you can tighten the reins on spending:
1. Work smarter, not harder. If the timeline can accommodate, hold off on revisions until you get consolidated feedback. This will allow you to avoid additional rounds of labor, resulting in incremental charges. Let’s face it, if an electrician quoted you $2500 for a project but ended up charging you $4000 because of additional work that he wasn’t aware of, you’d be upset—even if the extra labor came as a result of your lack of complete information necessary for the work to occur.
2. If you’re traveling for business on the client’s dime, it doesn’t give you carte blanche to channel Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous. A little more Holiday Inn, a little less Ritz-Carlton. A little more Outback Steakhouse, a little less Morton’s The Steakhouse. A per diem for food/beverages is merely a suggestion, not The Price Is Right’s Showcase Showdown; the goal isn’t to get as close to the actual amount without going over. These may seem like small nickel and dime items, but nickels and dimes add up to dollars.
3. Tighten your estimates so that prices are prices, not a “starting at” price. This is tricky because estimating is just that: estimating. It will never be dead on, simply because you’re attempting to put a price around something when you don’t have all of the relevant details.
The approach that I’ve found to be most effective is to outline every single assumption and dependency that you’ve made in compiling estimates so that there aren’t any surprises to either you or the client at the eleventh hour. And if there are, it’s very clearly documented that the surprise wasn’t anticipated, and couldn’t have been estimated for from the start.
The end result is that your estimate will be accurate to the defined scope, and as more and more projects are executed without increasing costs (change orders), the client will continue to gain more confidence in your estimating and pricing.
Issue yourself a challenge to incorporate these changes into your day-to-day work. I believe that the end result will be a more open, honest and transparent client-agency relationship.
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