Today I'm talking about getting clear on the "HOW" of your freelance rendering business.
THE PROCESS OF A CLIENT PROJECT
Before your first client, it is necessary for you to have a clear process in place. This will benefit you, and your client will know what is expected of them as well. You don’t want to receive emails asking, “What is next?”; your client doesn’t want to chase you down for answers either.
The process typically looks like this:
1. PROJECT REQUEST:
- Send the client (or have a list on your website) a list of items they need to submit to receive a project quote. (Floor plans, materials, inspiration photos, furnishings and finishes specified, desired timeline, etc.)
- Specify the delivery method for submittal. (Dropbox, Google Drive, website submission.) Note: I don’t recommend having them email this checklist of items unless they can keep everything in one email. If these items are sent in separate emails, the details will get lost, and you will spend too much time fishing through them to find specific requests when creating the drawing.
2. QUOTE
- Reply with turnaround time and quote to the client (more on this in an upcoming post)
- Once the client agrees, they sign your contract and submit a retainer (highly recommended).
3. COMMENCE WORK
- Commence work only after the contract has been signed and the retainer has been received.
- Collect as much information as possible before drawing. Be sure to continue collecting these details in one central location/folder shared with the client. Again, attaching documents to an email sets you up for disorganization and missed elements.
- Move through the drawing workflow. Ask questions to your client as needed, and be sure to add any details to a shared folder.
- If the scope of work expands, revisit the contract and alter it together as needed. (Watch for “scope creep”!)
4. PRELIMINARY DRAWINGS TO CLIENT
- Submit initial drawings for review. These may be greyscale, have a watermark or black and white drawings pre-render, depending on the request and your desired workflow. Take care not to submit a high-resolution render at this stage. Help your client know that this is a preliminary drawing to ensure the design matches their vision.
5. REVISIONS
- After receiving revision comments from the client, revise the drawings and render at a higher resolution (if applicable).
6. FINAL DELIVERY
- Deliver the final product and bill for the remaining fee.
More tips:
- Help your client know that high-resolution photorealistic renderings can take 5+ hours to set up and render, allowing for this in their timeline.
(Find Part 1 here)
(Find Part 2 here)
Next week I'll conclude this series with the pricing and marketing of offering 3D modeling and rendering services, along with a post geared towards interior designers who want to hire out for these types of services.