I will get back to you 'ASAP': One of the Sharp Practices of Your Clients.

As a Decorator, I have come to understand two things from the 'I will get back to you ASAP. (ASAP was supposed to mean As Soon As Possible) but in Nigeria, it has been substituted to mean these: 'I am just asking, don't worry' , 'I don't have such money' , 'I am just doing a survey' , 'Chei! You are too expensive' or 'Ok Bye' .

In the our event industry, time is event and event is time. To have an event, we must work with time effectively. We can never give you the event you desire if you don't let us work with your time. You have an event on August 20 and you are still making enquiries till August 10. What time will your vendors have to prepare when you have not paid an advance at least to get started.

As a Decorator, I get calls (on a Tuesday) like "Hello, is this OfficialThing Events? There is an event I want you to decorate on thursday, I want the best, the guest is 1500 and I want the chairs and tables covered, let's talk on phone as it is too urgent to set up a meeting". You immediately make a quote and you give your client a call, "Hello, sequel to our last discussion, the bill is 280,000 (assumed) if you are covering chairs and tables and if you are not covering Chairs and Tables, your bill is 70,000" The next thing you get is 'I'll get back to you asap'.

Event Planners, Managers, Vendors are human too, they reason with you when you tell them what you can afford,it's not enough for you to just 'run-off' but you can still get something if you can say what you can pay or your budget and worse of all, be courageous enough to let the vendor know you aren't going to be using his/her services,it gives you more honour. This is my One Kobo for today.

|I am D'Decorator - 08137574110