Header image is by our lovely intern, Shiva

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This is a post on how we price our design services – it’s applicable to service based businesses that are wondering how best to price their services as well as anyone keen on having our agency on their service list. It’ll give you an idea of how we work.

First up, I’m not saying that there is a right way or a wrong way for this.
Different agencies do it in different ways and this is a method we’ve found that works for us.

We price based on an hourly rate.

Our estimates include the time it takes to research, design, apply edits (we always give a recommended number of rounds of edits) and then packaging the file for print.

Some people have told me we give quite a detailed break down – and often they’ve told us not to include as much.

But what about the Picasso story?

Some people have talked to me about “value”. So rather than a value rate based on time spent, you do a value rate based on knowledge and skills. I think this is really valid – after all, Picasso didn’t sell his paintings based on an hourly rate.

Often, I’ll use this method to price up our consulting services.

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But why not with design?

Often enough, most of our design is quick turnover work (lovingly referred to as the bread and butter jobs!). The concept // thinking stage of the brief is only about 20% and everything else is just a straight forward roll out.

In that sense, I’d much rather say, that’ll take us 4 hours, are you good for us to roll? It gives clients a sense of how much ongoing projects will cost and they love the transparency.

How about no estimates?

No estimates are the easiest way to work – both for the client and for the designer. They’re fuss free and often cheaper than working with an estimate, because we really do just push an invoice straight from our time tracking system (Harvest is awesome for this – it’s what we use).

Generally, speaking, a lot of our clients slide into this mode when they’ve been with us for a few months and we just roll from there.

It depends on real trust – the worst thing for a client is when they get a bill they never anticipated, so it’s truly key that we are conscious of their trust when at this level.

Helpful?

I sure hope this was! Every business is totally unique and I know this isn’t a fit all solution
Thinking of working with us? Give us a call, I’d love to learn more about your company.

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