Taking the Proposal to the Client

From Principles of Applied Arts

Now you must take your proposal to the client and explain to them the details. Big mistakes can be made at this point I will explain. If your customer likes the proposal, that’s great; but the biding process is not over yet. Once you get approval on the proposal you now must get approval on the decorative finishes you are going to do on the job even if they already picked a sample finish from your portfolio that you have done a million times. You must make a sample board specifically for this job duplicating the exact procedure and colors to be used. If you don’t do this it can lead to disaster. Sometimes you may have clients that will ask you to make 5 or more sample boards and then decide they don’t want to do it after all. For this reason it is good to get a small monetary commitment from them (a retainer) to cover the time you are going to spend in your studio working on their job prior to a set contract. Other wise you will loose money and time if the potential job falls threw. The retainer could be $100.00 -$500.00 you must decide this when making your company proposals.