Effort / Cost / Jellybeans

Ah! It’s scary to say the price of something to a customer. It’s tough to confront the hidden costs and face the fact that we gotta give up jellybeans (time, energy, money, reputation, etc.) to get what we want. In the effort part of the LOOTERS proposal, we are facing it all and laying it out so that we can collaborate honestly and harmoniously.

We can state how much work it’s going to take us (not as line items, but more broadly) eg: I’ll show up two hours before your guests arrive. I’ll take care of my own flights

We can also say how much is required of the customer besides their money eg: I’ll need to have a couple production meetings with you ahead of time just to make sure we get everything right

And, we can give the financial cost.

We’ve waited until this part in the proposal to make sure it’s clear that

1. we’re on their side (love)
2. we’re commited to a big thing (objective)
3. it’s possible (opportunity)
4. we have a solution (trust)

before we get into how much we’re all sacrificing to make an awesome thing happen.

We want to be expositional when sharing the scope of work and cost. We want to cover a lot so that it’s explicit. This transparency gives everyone confidence to move forward.

If i tell you you’ll spend 30 minutes cooking a recipe and you’ll have a meal for your family, you might not have trust for me. Instead, what if I say that i’ll talk to you to find out exactly what’s in your kitchen, I’ll create a recipe that takes 30 minutes from fridge to table. You’ll use my shopping list to pick out a few things next time you go to the store and the cleanup will only require a cutting board, a knife and a bowl. The cost in the second example is higher, but it makes everyone feel more secure. Everyone has the same expectations and we can get thru the cost now, instead of costly surprises along the way.

Take action: write down a few things that cost you jellybeans from a common gig that you wish your customers understood and appreciated.