You can’t order a Lada and expect a Bentley
One of the constant ‘hurdles’ I face with clients, is trying to explain how changing and upgrading their original brief usually means a change to quoted prices and timescales – known in the industry as a ‘Contract Review’. I’ve found that the following analogy works best. Imagine yourself in the following situation…
You visit the local showroom to order a new car, and tell the salesperson you have a limited amount of money to spend. After browsing through several brochures you find a model you like and the salesman offers you an option which falls within your budget. You agree to this and your order goes off to the factory where your new car, with a specification matching your budget, is manufactured and eventually delivered to the showroom.
The salesman calls to tell you your new car has arrived and is ready for you to collect. Off you go to collect your new car. Paintwork is just the shade you wanted but, hang on a minute, it isn’t metallic! There are no electric windows or mirrors, no CD player or MP3 connectivity, no leather seats, no SatNav, no alloy wheels and no alarm.
You complain to the salesman, who explains that the model you ordered, and which fell within your budget, doesn’t come pre-fitted with all of those optional extras. He goes on to explain that he’ll happily get these extras added to your new car, but that this will have significant additional cost implications.
If there is a moral to all this, it has to be ‘you can’t order a Lada and expect a Bentley!’ Just like the enthusiatic salesperson, most designers will ‘go the extra mile’ for a client – adding little extra flourises free of charge. However, changing your original brief invariably means changes to quoted prices and timescales. The more work a designer has to put in to achieve your brief, the more this will cost… Time really is money!
