Do you have an advertiser who just can’t get you their copy on time? You might be able to change their behavior with a creative pricing strategy.

Photo by Katie Martynova

My Client From Hell
A Story From My Radio Sales Days

In my iHeart Radio days, I worked with a car dealer who constantly missed deadlines.

I wrote all of his copy for the market; I needed information from him in order to get it done.  

• Manufacturer incentives.
• Interest rates.
• Goals for the month — were his new cars a priority this month, or was this a time to push used?

I needed time to get a high-quality script written.

Matt Jones, my Production Director, needed to schedule a recording session, which usually involved the dealer reciting some lines.

Without a script, we couldn’t schedule the session.

Without a recording session, there’d be no commercial. 

As each new month approached, the dealer would stop returning my calls.

Eventually, with enough pleading and pestering, he’d send me something.

I’d write as fast as I could, we’d rush the client in to read his lines, and Matt would somehow turn our efforts into something special — a skill he continues to exhibit to this day.

How could I convince a recalcitrant client to get me the copy points on time? I never came up with a good answer.

This went on for years. 

Since I’ve become a media sales trainer, dozens of AE’s have told me similar stories.

Is A Rush Discount The Answer?

Josh Bernoff, author of Writing Without Bullshit: Boost Your Career By Saying What You Mean,  has a method he calls the rush discount. He explains:

“We’ll agree on the deadlines. I’ll go as fast as I can. And if you get me everything I need in the time frame I need it to meet those deadlines, you get the work for 10% off.”

This is not a completely new invention. 

“Added value” incentives for signing by a certain date are not uncommon. Some companies allow discounts to clients who pay for several months’ worth of advertising in advance.

A “Rush Discount” is a new way of using this old concept to influence another kind of behavior.

How to Implement This*

Here’s one way to do a Rush Discount:

• The campaign is scheduled to begin on August 6.
• Your Production Department wants at least two weeks to produce a spot (this is just an example —- your mileage may vary).
• The client is a well-known serial procrastinator.
• The campaign investment you’re proposing is $5000 per month.

You would put two numbers on the agreement:

• $5000 per month.
• $4500 for July if all necessary materials are turned in by COB on July 15.

*You’ll want to check with your company’s business department before implementing this strategy.

Would it work? Maybe, maybe not. 

Is it worth a three-month experiment to see if it restores sanity to the process? I submit it is.

If you try it, let me know how it works! You can email me at phil@philbernstein.com.

Question: What’s the most creative way you’ve gotten a client to meet a deadline? You can leave a comment by clicking here.