andydidyk.com

Let me start out by saying that I love being a “vendor” working for a “client” 99% of the time (a good vendor is usually called a “partner”).  If you are a good match for your client, you get to do great work, shake things up a bit, and everyone, vendor included, will see valuable returns on their investments.

But being on the agency side, you also get exposed to the occasional bad apple, the type that wants you to itemize every dollar spent on an inexpensive  project and then spend a half-day meeting nitpicking every detail to see if any individual item could be “done cheaper” (and yes, that was a very painful, personal experience).

Selling services is always a tough gig, because no matter what your industry you’re always selling ideas and time, rather than widgets.  At an interactive agency, the great ideas and time produce a deliverable, but if you are in the business of selling “websites” rather than creative, engaging experiences, your product is very easy to commoditize.

But I digress.  What I love about this video is that it pokes fun at what the bad (or let’s just say inexperienced?) client is prone to do – try to get something for nothing, or try to devalue the service after it’s rendered.  True negotiation, on the other hand, is an everyday part of doing business.