One of the things clients seem to hate is budgeting. I get it. Nobody likes to feel they’re the equivalent of somebody else’s Sunday dinner.
Last week, I had a client say to me: “I’m reluctant to give out a number for that project because I don’t want the vendor to keep loading it up with bells and whistles to meet my budget.” It was a refreshingly candid (and honest) statement.
So in a world of creative smoke and mirrors – where every job seems to be a custom job requiring (at best) “educated” guesses at costs and production timelines; how does an in-house marketing manager get things under control and make sure he or she doesn’t get taken for a ride by an unscrupulous ad agency or design boutique?
Believe it or not, the best process to use for controlling production costs on the client side is very much the same kind of process agencies should be using on their side as well … but more on that later.
The secret to controlling production costs is to take the guesswork out of it.
