The Ones that Got Away

[Mike Jackson]

OLD FORUM POSTS:

The Ones that Got Away Posted by Janette Balogh on November 29, 2001

It's said that if you get all the jobs you bid, you are bidding too low.
Certainly, as with all of us, I've lost many jobs for various reasons. Usually I don't sweat it.

Still there are a few that kinda creep back to "haunt" me from time to time. Ones that I look back on with regret, and still shake my head wishing they'd have seen the light of day.

One such job was a large delivery truck that I was going to splash one of my favourite logo designs all over. Had a killer layout for it, and actually HAD the job scheduled! I had to postpone the job for a trip I was making, and when I got back from the trip, they had changed their minds about doing it. I was utterly deflated about that, and still look back on it with a sense of loss. Sure did miss the money I had already "banked in my head", but jeeez, that thing would have looked so killer in my portfolio!

Last month I lost another one that I'm disappointed about for different reasons. I met with a customer whom I have had some difficulties with in the past. The guy has a very short fuse, and blows up easily and unnessesarily when I can't meet his unreasonable demands. (like, bringing me a van at 5:30 in the evening and wanting it by 6am the next day ... no joke!) Unfortunately, he also gets disrespectful in his tantrums.

I told myself that I'd walk if he started "getting weird" on me the next time. Well, "next time" came, and when I started seeing the veins poke out of his head, and his voice raise, I told him I wasn't going to put up with it. He quickly dismissed me, and I quickly took the invitation and left.
I know I did the right thing, but it still leaves me shaking my head. Sucky way to lose a nice paying job.
Luckily, I rarely have the occasion to be well versed on such negative experiences. Whew, thank goodness.

So, anyone here have any "ones that got away" that you still crop up in your thoughts from time to time.

Janette

Posted by Billy Bob on November 30, 2001

Some people actually like conflicts and trouble. And if the can't find any, will create some! The sign biz would be great if these clients didn't work so hard to ruin it!

Posted by Mike Jackson on November 30, 2001

Ha! I thought you were going to talk about fishing. I remember that one 18" Rainbow that I had right up to the net this year and flipped off at the last second.

It's funny, but I really don't store those kinds of stories much in my little brain. Since we usually got a deposit for the design side of a project, we often got the job when the next step of doing the actual project came up. There were proably a few we sold in which the customer took the lesser of the three tiered pricing--when we really had expected them to take a better one. That never bothered me because we usually made the most dollars per hour on the simpler ones.

I gave the deposit back to a couple of pain in the butt customers over the years because I could see the remaining portion of the project was going to be a nightmare if it was going to be anything like the intial design phase. All in all, we stayed so busy doing jobs at hand (usually rushed and behind schedule anyway), that losing an occasional job we had expected was a relief!

Onward!
Mike Jackson

Posted by Raymond Chapman on December 03, 2001

Over the years there have been a few of those jobs that got away that I thought would have really turned out to be dynamite projects, but were lost due to time restraints or lack of funds.

Usually, as soon as I start talking to a customer the wheels start turning in my head about what a neat layout I could do for them. Some of those lost ideas used to to bug me, but now I am satisfied with the ones I get and don't worry about the ones that get away.

One job that got away I was happy to loose. After discussing an idea for a fleet of trucks the customer wanted to know how long it would take to do each truck. He already knew how much each would cost, but wanted to know how long each would take to do. This was back when I was hand lettering and told him that I would need each truck for a whole day. That wasn't what he wanted to know - "How long is it going to take to actually letter each truck?". My response was...what difference does it make if it takes one hour or eight, the price is still the same.

He said that he would never pay anyone more per hour than he made himself. Needless to say, I didn't get the job. But, probably it was a good thing. He was a lot like Janette's customer - just a little hot headed, so I probably saved myself a lot of hassle.

You can't get'em all. Don't worry about the ones that escape. It may just be the best thing that has every happened to you.