HOW TO ESCAPE THE 'VENDOR' TRAP

Brands and big business avert your eyes, this is for my agency brothers and sisters, my freelancer fraternity, my creative crowd.

Friends, freelancers and creatives, are you sick of being treated like a 'vendor'? I HATE that word. Its purpose is to put you in your place, to let you know where you sit in the hierarchy, to remind you of your lowly rank as a mere supplier of services at the beck and call of the 'client'. It is designed to disempower you, undermine your expertise and devalue your experience, all of which are detrimental to your work which, presumably, the client actually wants you to do a good job at, so why do they treat you this way? Well, as the cliché goes, it takes two to tango but let's start with the client.

I have worked in the US, UK, Singapore and its surrounding countries and I can tell you there is a large cultural component to this issue. I can tell you first hand that, in America, you are more likely to be treated as a colleague, co-opted into the same mission as the client, working hand in hand to deliver a joint solution (at least until you cock up!).

In the UK, you're a partner; you sit outside of the inner circle but are still valued for your unique skills and contribution to the team. But, in East and Southeast Asia you are most definitely a 'vendor' whose job it is to simply to do as you are told. Why?

Across Asia hierarchy is rife and rigid. It would be deeply arrogant, nay colonial, to proclaim this as 'wrong'. As I constantly remind myself when encountering unfamiliar work practices in other countries, it is not wrong it is just different. There is comfort and order to be had from hierarchy. Everyone knows their place and exactly what is expected of them. It's just that your place, as a vendor, comes way down the pecking order, which can leave you feeling frustrated and worthless.

But this too has its benefits for the client, particularly procurement. If they can convince you that you are simply one of many vendors they could go with and that your skills are not especially unique or special then you are more likely to drop your prices to compete with the other options they claim to have. However the irony is, although they claim you are just like everyone else, they still want original work from you that is unique to them. You can't win! Or can you?

Despite cultural precedent and predatory procurement practices you CAN crawl up the ladder, past vendor, over supplier and towards partner. Here's how...

SHOW UP LIKE A BOSS

Let's start with the basics. If you are late, if you are unprepared, if you are inappropriately dressed, if your f*cking camera is off then you are asking to be treated like a vendor. If you are trying to make a multinational corporation your client then you are going to have to meet them halfway, that means mirroring their behaviours in exactly the same way as you do when trying to impress a potential mate. They need to feel confident that you are a professional, that you will deliver and you won't cause them to lose face in front of their colleagues or bosses. Reduce that risk by showing up like a boss.

MAKE YOURSELF MEMORABLE

If you are trying to convince a prospect that you are worth a premium because you are different, special or unique then you'd best be memorable. When I conduct my 'Commercial Skills for Creative People' workshops the first thing I do is stand by the door and greet everyone as they enter with a handshake and offer a polite, "How are you?" 99.99% of participants offer me the same response; a brief, limp handshake, almost no eye contact and a sullen "fine", making no impression whatsoever.

I don't care if you are introvert, cultivate what my wife calls her "conference mode" and engage. Your entrance and first words are your first chance to make an impression so for goodness sake come up with something original to say! Tell me something about yourself, your journey to work, your breakfast, whatever, and ask me something in return. Show me you are interesting and interested. This goes double when you're online. Throughout the pandemic I had a habit of wearing Hawaiian shirts on Zoom calls to ensure I stood out as more than just another head in a box, and I always asked what people were binging on Netflix rather than simply how they were (this applies to emails too - stop signing off 'Kind regards' ??!)

COMMUNICATE THE WAY THEY WANT

Here's a simple truth; by and large the people that control budgets are old(er), and the bigger the budget, they older they are likely to be. Old people (like me) like to write emails, talk on the phone and sometimes even meet up #IRL. If they cannot communicate with you via their?preferred medium, they may not communicate with you at all. WhatsApp is just one of many tools to communicate, make sure you are providing your prospects and clients with all options they'd like too.

BE BRIEF

Clients are busy. Respect their time, respond quickly and get to the point - they don't want to have to chase you down or cut you off.

HAVE A PROCESS

Don't just show what you do, show how you do it. Demonstrate some rigour in your practice, a method to your madness. Clients don't like the idea of paying you to sit around on beanbags drinking coffee and daydreaming (even if that is how you do what you do). They want to feel like there is effort and expertise behind the solution you propose.

STOP DROPPING YOUR PRICES

For goodness sake learn how to negotiate. Every client asks for a discount and that's their prerogative but that's not negotiating. A negotiation is about value not price so if at first they try to lower the price, increase the value. That doesn't mean throw in some freebies, it means offer them something that is low cost to you but high value to them such as long term cloud storage, broader usage rights or access to raw files.

If they still can't pay you what you want, work out how they can make that value up to you another way. With up front payment perhaps? Or a commitment to volume or longevity of work? An introduction to their counterpart in another department or country maybe? Think strategically about what your business needs from them in the long term and get creative in your value proposition, not just your work.

BE INTERESTED

Not just in the person you're meeting but in the world at large. Companies hire creatives to help them connect with culture so show them that you are, in fact, connected. I'm not a football fan but I always keep an eye on the results because many of my clients are and I want to be able to talk to them about something they are interested in. It only takes 15 minutes scrolling a well curated X/Twitter feed everyday to stay on top of what's happening in the world so make it a part of your routine.

This is not an exhaustive list but it is a glimpse into what you can learn from my 'Commercial Skills for Creative People' coaching course and workshop.

If you are a freelancer, independent agency, publisher or production company I can help you build your personal presence, expand your network, increase your pipeline, power up your pitching and close more deals. Find out how at https://www.mooreslore.com/business-coaching?or drop me a line at [email protected].