Tuesday, June 12, 2007

Another client?

Well, hope springs eternal. Got another potential client on the line, so to speak. This one is, by coincidence, another sports guy - NFL. Who, thankfully, knows his way around the 'net well enough to stumble across our web site and give us a phone call. He bought a new home in Pearland, but not one of those palatial kinds (not like the NBA player's home, where we antiqued the kitchen cabinetry). He's not in that level of pay-bracket.

Funny thing is - he called us from our "home" state of Minnesota, having gone up there to (I surmise) sign the contract, as he'd recently been signed as a free agent (his former team had not renewed him). Drummer returned the call and that's why we are at this point of developing an idea to show him. Met with his fiancee at this new house, where she showed us the color charts, etc., that he had mailed to her. We brought Leroy with us - he is the guy who does our base coat painting and (bless him!) also the taping that we need (but he does NOT). So while we were discussing colors and showing her samples, Leroy was doing preliminary measurements and just looking at the construction of the house. Found all kinds of things, which he started to relate to this young woman. The client was on the cell phone with us at the same time, and she was passing some of that info on to him.

Long story short: because we are working up ideas, we will return to their new home on Friday (my day off) and show some work-ups and also to have Leroy tell this guy about the things he needs to have the builder correct. Drummer found some, too, and we are not sure if the water is on or off at this place. It had abysmal water pressure, which was discovered when Drummer used the restroom and flushed the toilet. Ooohwee, that was so-o-o-o noisy - the noise from the flushing, I mean - not poor ol' Drummer's use of the restroom! We proceeded to run water in the kitchen (extremely low pressure) and then I think she was panicking a bit.

This home has one of those "rotunda" entries which some builders are using to impress the clients. Unfortunately for us, that means LOTS of scaffolding, as it is a two-story deal. Leroy will need it for base coating, and I will need it for doing the faux effects, too. Fortunately, I am not really that weird about heights. Don't get me wrong - I would rather not work up that high, but if it will give us something good for our portfolio and also make a client happy (and this faux artist happy, too, with earning the money!), then go for it, I say!

The client likes the metallic effect shown on one of the photos on the website. He is the first one who has the guts (and maybe the money) to do this, so I am looking forward to having a larger room to photograph and put in our "show book" that other clients can review. We did one of our "no-no's" and actually purchased paint without much money from the client, so we can show him at least the dining room idea. We have the metallic ices on hand and can use that without an additional investment, so that will be okay, I guess. I want to work up some ideas for the rotunda, too - so maybe I can sweet-talk Drummer into buying just a quart of that base paint so that I can try an idea out.

Creative genius (up for debate, I know), signing off....

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