(article previously published in May 2016)
Have you encountered any problems when hiring a viewing company?
This article will help you.
In any contractual relationship, there are no problems if there is goodwill on both sides.
Problems, if they arise, are easier to solve if everyone is willing to be fair and assume their share of responsibility in the process.
Unfortunately, this situation is not as common as we would like it to be.
These are the recommendations I suggest to my client:
1. Think about the globality of the project from the beginning.
Whether the services requested are static IMAGES or ANIMATION, any quotation must take into consideration the scope of work from the beginning.
Normally, the more services ordered, the lower the individual cost of each service.
This logic is well understood with the example of the physical model:
If you want to take a photo of a model, you have to build the entire model to be able to take the photo. If you want to take 10 photos of the model, the cost of building the model is divided by 10. Although the cost of 10 images is higher than the cost of one, their individual cost is much lower.
That is, think, from the beginning, what material you will need for the marketing process. For example: 2 exterior images, 4 interior images and a 2-minute animation. In addition to
2. Agree on a clear delivery and payment schedule.
Because of the process of elaboration of the images and animation, the viewer prefers to deliver everything by the deadline.
However, as the process, depending on the complexity of the project, can take weeks, it is in your interest to receive the information gradually.
This way, you don’t have to wait until everything is finished to start your marketing actions.
Set a calendar with the viewer. Something along the lines of :
⇒ Start of work
⇒ 15 days after the beginning of the delivery of the external images
⇒ 30 days after start of delivery of the interior images
⇒ 60 days after the start of delivery of the animation
It is even more advisable to set other intermediate deliveries to verify that everything is going well.
This schedule should commit both parties to the delivery of the work and to the partial payment of the work.
3. Define the conditions for changes in the project.
It is very difficult for a project to be perfectly defined from the beginning. The project, by definition, is alive and undergoes changes. What you have to understand as a client is that this risk cannot be assumed by the visualization company.
The company can take responsibility for its own mistakes, but not for those resulting from changes in the project.
It will mean working two or more times. In addition to the effort, there is an inevitable increase in the time spent on the project and, therefore, the delivery date is affected.
He thinks it may affect the company’s viewing schedule with other customers.
4. Do not start without definitive plans
Our experience tells us that neither party is interested in running. It is preferable to think things through a bit more than to start and “then we’ll see what we decide as we go along”.
That time that seems lost is gained at full speed in the visualization process if the information does not change.
5. Decide how to deal with the decoration: project or trust.
The visualization company may be very good and imaginative but you can’t ask for miracles.
The ideal is to provide you with a complete decoration project. Although the cost will be higher, you are guaranteed, if the company is capable, that the decoration will be to your liking.
But, normally, you won’t make that effort.
You’ll want to delegate decorating decisions to the visualization company and then make changes. Those changes will be very expensive.
I recommend that, at the very least, you give indications of how you want the decoration. A compilation of photos on Google can save many hours of work and minimize a lot of mistakes.
6. Reduce the number of people who give their opinion
It is true that four eyes see more than two, but nevertheless, an excessive number of “opinion makers” can clog decision-making.
Decisions related to technical issues (information on materials, construction details, etc.) are usually solved quickly with the architect.
Issues related to the decoration, texturing and even the lighting of scenes are usually more problematic.
Keep in mind that changes in décor are closely linked. Changing the color of a rug can cause coordination problems with other elements of the scene such as sofas or curtains.
I recommend that, even if you talk about them among several people, the interlocutor should be one person.
My best recommendation, though, is that you find a visualization company that you have confidence to delegate to. Think that there is no single solution for excellent decoration. Don’t get set on a particular solution. It will cost you more time and money without ostensibly improving the final result.
7. Learn to mark a period
Linking with what was said above, learn to say enough is enough.
Sometimes you can’t find perfection by thinking things over a thousand times.
Trust the professionals who have been doing this for a long time.
Focus on other parts of the process. Learn to delegate, everything will be better.
As you can imagine, if you trust us, you won’t even have to think about these seven keys.
Time will prove us right. You will see.
Here is a more extensive guide on how visualization influences the buyer’s final decision.