Explain how design time works in your prepress dept....

[prepress_brillance_43]

I have a salesman here that thinks he can just ask me to "create" "manipulate and change", "design" these auto letters for him, while on the clock as prepress and the company charge the customer @$300-500 design time.
Am I wrong to say, >"NO, I charge $xx/hr off the clock for design?"

That's how it be where I am standing. What do you guys think?

[David]

If we "design" a piece here, they (sales/CSR) have to punch a ticket so time can be billed to whomever is requesting the design work. I get paid by the hour, work is work, doesn't matter if it is imposing a file or design work.
Now, if it is something elaborate that will take some time (hours and hours of creating illustrations, editing photos, coming up with "something different"), that I would elect to do on my own time (at home on my Mac where I'm not pestered by co-workers and work requirements). I would also base the charges accordingly.

David

[prepress_brillance_43]

Ok, here's the scenario, I recieved a .pdf, and a couple .jpegs, and a list of "changes to make to the .pdf, including replacing pictures and changing copy, basically making a chevy auto letter into a ford letter, I mean stupid shit man. We had to do some of these at my old job, same customer and everything, but Onyx was not charging the finishing center for "design time" even though after the (seriously) 15 sets of revisions and like 5 hrs total time/letter for like 15 different letters, sometimes the revision was to go back to what I had previously, you see how this begins to add up. Well now I work for the finishing center and the letters are back(well 1 right now, but...) So, do I just shut-up and make the changes and allow the door to be opened for myself to be completely taken advantage of, or do I take the stand of, I charge $xx/hr off the clock.

Thanks for your input David, it makes sense> if it is a company acct... but this is a sales guy trying to abuse the system that is in place.

Explain how design time works in your prepress dept....

we charge by the hour period. (or 1/2 hour increments) so bring it, yea we can do that . . . if not i can out-source it to any one of the agencies we work with on a regular basis. i know them all very well, and i know who can do what in a certain amount of time. besides, if i send it to them it just builds our business relationship even stronger. they will send more stuff our way.

i do some design stuff on the side also, nothing very complex - mostly church newsletters, stationery, brochs, postcards & mailers, and so on... i would NEVER tell a sales/csr "sorry, no i can't do this on the clock. but i charge $xxx.xx/hr off the clock."

if someone seeks me out off the clock, i am happy to do some work for them if i have time. but i would not suggest to the sales/csr who has a job in the shop to let me take the work home. that's kinda wrong in my opinion.

vee

[prepress_brillance_43]

Is the opinion the same when it's not even real design, it is just taking one dealerships auto letter/direct mailer and changing it to be another dealership, another auto maker. I guess it was different when I was getting about 30 emails a day(literally) with revisions at the old shop and I knew we were not charging, AND it was interferring with me getting my prepress duties completed. Here and now, it is 1 letter(so far), but I don't want it to turn into what it was.

I get abused/taken advantage of by no one. Sorry, but that's me.

sure, that's even easier. and if they have multiple revisions your boss/company should have a system in place to see that the time you are spending on jobs is billable, or maybe they are charged per proof. (to a certain degree, we can't always bill all of our prepress hours. but most of them for sure)

somehow the job should be done, tracked and billed. every situation is different, the sales/csr person should inform the client he will be billed according to . . . whatever - hours, proofs, something!
just keep track of your time and proofs, thats all you can do. i wouldn't turn away the work or tell them you couldn't do it.

vee

[prepress_brillance_43]

no, I wouldn't tell them I can't do it, but if this is really how it is(meaning, just shut up and do it), then I NOW TRULY see the frustration of prepress folks and the advantage the businesses they work for take of them.

[David]

if it is a company acct... but this is a sales guy trying to abuse the system that is in place.

If I get this (and he is interfering with the already assigned jobs in progress), I would speak to your supervisor (or relavent person in charge), to get theses things scheduled so they can be worked and put in the "queue".
This in fact does happen here. Here's my scenario: I get an email asking for "whatever, need x number of inkjets, and can I have them asap". I print out the email, pass it off to my dept. supervisor, and let them fight the fight to see who gets what and in what order. I got tired of trying to squeeze them in and then they start to pester you about "how long till I get it". We get it on the schedule log, it gets assigned to an operator to work, and everybody is aware of when and what is expected (and it is also charged to a job number). This has slowed (but not eliminated) some of the freebie stuff we get (because you guys have all the fonts and stuff, can't you just do it?).

My .02
David

[prepress_brillance_43]

right. I completely agree with you David.

Is it wrong of me to want to be "picky" about what I design? I mean I was hired to produce plates for the press, and our company has it's own "artists" dept at the mother company, so why should I do it, right? The designers would rebuild, recreate, change out fonts and copy, and any other changes quicker than I would anyway(if schedule allows), so in the interest of the company wouldn't it only make sense for them to do it, not me?

[prepress_brillance_43]

Damnit. I hate being so young and inexperienced... I feel like everyone(absent of a few) look at me that way and their eyes light up with opportunity to take advantage of someone for their own personal benefit. What do I do? I'm not dumb. I know what goes on around me, so how do I make it so that others know that about me as well? I mean I don't go around thinking "Oh this guy is young he must not know anything, let me make him do my bitch work for me." It seems as though that is how business is, I knew it was cut-throat, but Damn I'm frustrated. I know my worth, and I hardly ever get it for my services.

Suggestions?