How I Poached a Client from Another Filmmaker!

[@martinekwall4671]

I think it was right to be open to the guy who hired you and then afterwards when that was settled between him and the customer you had a business relation directly with them also giving him a commission, very ethical : ))

[@camcamwatt]

I've been a commercial filmmaker for almost 9 years now... in the first year I had a personal friend snake me on a client.. I very quickly learnt a few things... Number #1 - Its imperative you have contracts and written agreements that any contractor knows they are their representing your brand and to NEVER solicit work period. And number #2 A client that jumps ship because of price has clearly not been guided properly through the sales on boarding process. So you're either dealing with a hyper price sensitive client - in which case, BYE.. or one needs to look at how they on board clients. I have 40 people work for me now across 4 countries and online workflow management, contracts and clean onboarding of ALL clients and suppliers is key to succees and sustainable growth. :) Thanks for sharing your story!

[@scottievee330]

That is not poaching. That's saving the client. By you. Not the same.

[@gbppro9143]

I thought Mr. Cooper was leaving filmmaking and going back to Las Vegas to be a professional gambler. This video is interesting. Sometimes the best story is the gossip behind the work.

[@pahmedia]

You did the right movement. Thx for sharing your experience.

[@matt.banton]

Great work ethics. Sounds like a disaster. You handled it very well indeed. Very good of you to even give the guy a 10% finders fee.

[@Rasmusleophoenix]

I like this. Thanks for sharing in a sober and professionel way aswell. It’s important to share this kind of knowledge to people and how you handled it was great😊

[@boolsacho6185]

you did the right things all around sir

[@alvinburrell]

I think you handled it well; I don't think there was much else you could do as this is more about him losing the client than you poaching one.

[@ChrisOno-NL]

I'd say you did well because you wanted to just part of the team instead of hijacking the client since day one. It says a lot that the client wants to sue the person that hired you. If it's in that stage they both would want to seperate ways anyway. The good thing about this issue is that the client already knew they like working with you. Having you two working together would be a logical choice. Before taking over the client you also talked about this with the person that hired you. It shows that you didn't want to hijack anyone's client behind their back but handle this the professional way.

[@ovidiu.gramesc]

That's not poaching, that's disaster management and you were there to save the day. If you were to be pushy with the client and propose a cheaper / more convenient alternative, that would be poaching.

[@steve_arcenio]

I put a clause in my contract when I hire contractors. They cant talk to the client period. But with your story screw that guy lol love the follow up even he sucks.

[@phonorarmedia2864]

Sehr Interessant. Aber ein wirkliches Abwerben war das ja nicht oder. Da hat der Kollege ja schon selbst für gesorgt. Danke für den Einblick. Das Hilft sehr!!!

[@RonaldoMoura]

Sounds like a best practices manual

[@recordbutton1845]

How many people have the character to do what you did?

[@TopshelfJunior]

This video is weird and kinda chatty patty lol. You're a vet man.. You're polished, you have finesse, you have class. A) This is a personal / private business matter, we don't need to know your business and especially dont need to know HIS business. B) This person hired you regardless, this person included you, and you're on here saying "he wasn't my cup of tea." lol. C) It's a very small industry... word gets around, people know each other, it's very easy to figure out who is who, and next thing you know...everybody's business is known. Just my opinion, not everybody needs to hear / know this.

[@contentm3893]

Poaching a client from someone that on a gig is 100% wrong. That's why when you are hired on a gig you know your place. Don't talk to client because they are not your client and don't show that client your work and pitch yourself to that client. The guy that hired you is trusting you. It's the same with hitting on your friend's girlfriend. It's not your job to judge the guy that got you that gig. We have all seen your work online and it's not perfect. You are good at spinning the narrative because you make You Tube videos that have no push back because you control the barite. If the guy that hired you dropped the ball on this gig then that's on him. I have had guys like you on gigs before that waits in the shadows and moves in on the client.

[@damiencooper]

@@contentm3893 so what now 😂 you said the guy who dropped the ball it’s on him but call me out at the same time?

[@contentm3893]

@@damiencooper I understand the story. But most of this depends on if you let the train wreck happen or not. Most people with more experience will let the gig play out or will help out and pull the gig through when they see issues happening. I have seen it happen. This director / photographer didn't see how the client was reacting and he didn't get the job done. But it sounds like you let everything happen. You getting the client after the fact the way it happened seems natural and hope it worked out.

[@contentm3893]

@@damiencooper I said the gig going wrong was on the guy that brought you to the table. Calling you out is only if you saw the train wreck coming and didn't try and help. It happens in the industry all the time. You even said you saw things that were happing and the guy seemed "weird or whatever". It's up to you to fall in line and do nothing (like on a movie set) where you get in trouble for speaking up and you have to stay in your lane. On a smaller set you are part of a smaller team. It is your responsibility to say something if you see something that is critical. You basically described this gig going south but in your video you didn't say that you did anything to help turn that gig around and help out besides what you were asked to do. The client looking at your website and work contacting you happens. They were probably vetting you to see who was on the job and to see if the guys brought on were good enough. Clients also want to find a way to not pay. So yes the guy that gave you the gig to shoot video dropped the ball. If this was your best friend that gave you this gig and the client contacted you to kick your friend off the job and take over what would you have done? That's why I give my hired crew a NDA and Non Compete that covers two years.

[@contentm3893]

@@damiencooper Quick story. I hired a very well know DP to do a two day shoot and bring one camera and his truck so we had everything we needed for the two days. This was a small crew and the client had used big network creative and crews before but didn't like the work. I boarded everything out and secured the location and did a walk through with client the day before to go over every shot. Everything went great and the client was happy and we got everything we needed. When I reminded the DP that we had a NDA / Non Compete in place he said he would reduce the two day rate if I tore up the NDA / Non Compete agreement. I said no thanks. Now this DP might have felt he knew more than I did and that this would be a great client to have and you had times where he wanted to brag about what and who he had shot before. Yes, he wanted to move in on my client. I did take control on the shoot and made sure I got my shots and directed the DP to get every shot exactly the way I wanted.

[@true_north_media]

@@contentm3893 Dang dude, Sounds like this is coming from a bitter owner who can't keep a client happy thats been burnt before. Chill, this industry is definitely dog eat dog and stealing clients is not ok, but at some point there's nothing he can do to "step in" it's not his job to be a good teammate but to do what he's contracted for. Now if they had lots of experience together and @damiencooper had been apart of the preproduction process then he could have made sure that these issues didn't come up. But its the production heads job to make sure these issues don't arise and DC didn't come prep-ed to tackle these short comings. DC clearly had other things going on as well with the travel shoots, so he shouldn't be held responsible for the shortcomings of the guy who hired him. Now yes the guy is dumb for cc him on the email thread so they could get in contact with him (def a rookie mistake, don't loop in anyone you don't trust or don't know on your team), but the fact that the client reached out to him, he PAID OFF the initial guy for a finders fee, and he got paid for all the footage and no legal proceedings were filed, imo means he had no wrong doing helping the client. Maybe chill out writing hate essays because your mad about your own operation