Backstage

Discounts

Why is it that clients think they deserve a discount?.. The scenic business is not a mass production industry where you can get a better price because of volume... The vast majority of what we do is custom, every time it goes out the door... Yes we have stock units, however they need either new fabric, or fresh paint, or new carpet just about any time they go out... In order to make that happen, I have to pay someone to do the work, and that too cost money... Why is it then, that clients feel they should not have to pay for the same unit they rented from me last month, when they want it again this month?... The entire concept makes my skin crawl... This runs along the same lines of clients that feel that this years show should not cost more than last years show... Hello?... My rent goes up every year on my shop, the trucks and fuel cost more every year, my raw materials keep climbing up in cost, and labor sure never gets cheaper, but yet, they feel they shouldn't have to pay more... All I get is sob stories about how we are pricing ourselves out of the competition... Guess what... If I'm pricing myself out of the running, why are they still calling me... Number two on that is that, fine, don't hire me since I'm apparently making too much money, and go with another shop that will generate an inferior product... I'm patient... They'll be back...
But, I digress... Discounts...
I worked for a company in the A/V side of production for a while... Companies live and die by the discounts in that area... They can do that, because the base price is so over-inflated, that even 50% discounts are still ok... The problem is however, that if you don't have the gear in stock, then you have to sub it from your competition, and if you're not getting 50% from them yourself, you're losing money... These fools also discounted their labor... You can not discount your labor folks... There isn't enough markup on labor ever as it is... I watched this company discount themselves almost out of business just so they could keep certain clients... Guess what... They should have stuck to their pricing, and let their competition take that client, so they'd still be financially healthy, ant their competition would be on the ropes...
I do not do discounts... I give my clients a fair price for their event, and if they choose to haggle, they don't get any place... Strangely enough they are all still calling us, and we pick up more every year... I do comp units now and again, and I will ignore the charge for a tool box or such now and again to make a budget work... I make very sure that they understand that that is a one time offer, not likely to be repeated. I have had a client who always seems to have a budget deficit of the cost of the toolbox rental... They no longer get any breaks... Fortunately, we're at a point where I can loose a show now and again if they want to get in a snit... They either come back and pay, or they find another company to try to abuse... Either way works for me...