Thursday, April 09, 2009

People Expect Me to be MAGIC

Excerpt from an actual conversation:

Client: This is simply too much money, we have to cut the cost.

Me: Not a problem, there are plenty of things we can remove to lower the cost.

Client: OH NOES!!!! All of those things have to be kept, but the price has to be cheaper.

Me: You want me to lower the cost WITHOUT removing anything from the project?

Client: You're the professional, that's your JOB!

Me: You do realize that these things are TANGIBLE items, they are not IMAGINARY?

Client: Why are you such a smartass?

Me: You are asking me to BE MAGIC.

Client: You have been up until NOW.

Please take the time to comment.

7 comments:

ChristinaJade said...

so you are having an interesting day. nice.

:)

been there, got out said...

So based on personal experience, I'm guessing you are designing a school, university building or something to do with the social "sciences". the client is someone who has never contributed to the GDP.

Paul Mitchell said...

How about a house for a public school teacher? Dang, you called it close, though.

been there, got out said...

It ain't rocket science.

I have a friend, a builder. He will not work for teachers, lawyers or most civil servants, they simply don't understand value of money or contracts. Think about that.

Get your design fee quick, my bet is that house will NEVER be built. There are simply too many decisions to be made and the consensus seeking teachers cannot handle that.

Paul Mitchell said...

Oh, the house is going to be built, of course it will take longer and cost more because they are the way they are.

I am certainly choosing my clients more carefully now, but this person is a personal friend, soooooo......

And to bolster your point further about the contracts, the bonuses at AIG certainly support your friend's ideology.

been there, got out said...

It ain't rocket science.

I have a friend, a builder. He will not work for teachers, lawyers or most civil servants, they simply don't understand value of money or contracts. Think about that.

Get your design fee quick, my bet is that house will NEVER be built. There are simply too many decisions to be made and the consensus seeking teachers cannot handle that.

Two Dogs said...

Oh, the house is going to be built, of course it will take longer and cost more because they are the way they are.

I am certainly choosing my clients more carefully now, but this person is a personal friend, soooooo......

And to bolster your point further about the contracts, the bonuses at AIG certainly support your friend's ideology.