The DSVP Blog
The problems of “Quotations”
This blog is based on an article I wrote on Linkedin in June 2017.
Just to be clear, this is not about Shakespeare, Churchill, Red Adair, Tony Blair et al. It’s the email that says “can you give me a quotation?”
The quotation that does spring to mind is “How long is a piece of string?”
The vast majority of us at some time give or require quotations for work and expect them to be in the right ballpark. On the same basis I’m sure many have given or received quotations/estimates, only for the “specs” to change sometimes with disastrous results.
A recent scenario involved an email received from an admin assistant from a charity asking for a quote to make 8 short videos showing their work.
I replied by email stating that in order to give an accurate quote, I would need more details and to this end would be happy to attend their offices to establish their exact requirements and to assess the filming time involved. I also gave an indication over the coming days when I would be available to discuss on the phone and when I was away, if that was more preferable. I also indicated that as they were a registered charity I would give them a discounted rate.
I received a second email a couple of days later, which basically said “but I need a quote to show my manager”…to use the phrase of a dear departed colleague who was a former train driver, “let go of the dead man’s handle” meaning just put the brakes on and by implication call it a day.
I replied and much to the dismay of a business coach I was speaking to a few days later, explained my reasoning was set out in the first email and “I don’t do Diane Abbott numbers”. I make no apologies for not always doing diplomacy but by the same token, I make no apologies for always endeavouring to provide the sort of service to my clients, that I would want if I was a client, whether it be for a simple film or tape transfer or a corporate promo.
Others may take a different approach:
1 Provide a meaningless quotation so broad they it has no point ie “£1K to £10K”
2 Provide a quotation knowing it could be well out in either direction.
3 Continue discussing with someone who is not a decision maker, who does not understand (or does not want to) the complexities of quoting for “a piece of string” and whose boss must surely (hopefully) appreciate that providing misleading information would be all too easy and achieve nothing.
In contrast in the same week, I was asked to quote for a filming project, in one location and editing with simple graphics. I was able to give an accurate figure and the job was done two weeks later.
Sure, I can sell you string but I do need to know how much and how thick.
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