How to get another 15% off

There is a long standing tradition in the corporate video industry whereby an additional 15% is added to the cost of a quotation. This extra cost might be hidden or disguised in any number of ways, but you still pay it regardless. Here’s why.

Video companies know from hard-won experience that towards the end of a video project the customer will want to make changes.

And these changes cost money. It may involve an extra shoot, extra voiceover or graphics or whatever. Either way the video company is almost 100% certain that you’ll want these changes. 

After all, most customers do, don’t they?

To avoid the embarrassment of adding extra costs at the end of the job, it is a common practice is to put an extra 15% on the job right at the beginning. This is not unusual. After all, nobody gets hurt, and, those last minute changes you suddenly specify have to be paid from somewhere, don’t they?

In some media courses they even teach this, that you should add 15% to the quotation to allow for late customer changes.

So how do you, the customer, avoid this hidden 15% cost penalty (because that’s what it is)?

The answer is to look for BS5750, ISO 9000 or equivalent. 

ISO standards are quality production standards that can apply to any industry, including the corporate video production industry.

Proven Quality procedures mean getting it Right First Time at every stage in a production. 

A proven quality procedure ensures last minute changes rarely arise. After all you wouldn’t think much of a car manufacturer who sometimes stuck an extra 15% on the cost of their car because there were production slip-ups that week. Would the same apply to a printer, or a housebuilder, or a software house?

The question to ask yourself is this:

Do you think a corporate video production company should be considered differently to any other manufacturer? 

Should video companies be exempt from the time and budget commitments that everyone else has to comply with?

If you can save 15% on your next video, this will amount to £2,000 off, say, a £15,000 production, a reasonably large sum of money.

So next time you want a video, ask the video company if they have a Right First Time quality procedure. 

Ask them to clearly demonstrate that there isn’t a hidden 15% in the bill. Put the burden of proof on them. Ask them what percent of their jobs come in precisely to time and budget. Be pushy because it’s your money.

Now click to see how to get an additional 5% off

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