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You’re on the phone with a new prospect. You’re enjoying the conversation. You’re getting excited about working with her. She’s clicking with you. Seems like a perfect match. Then she asks you for an estimate. You freeze. You mumble a price below what you know you need to charge for this project. Then you feel angry, resentful or uncomfortable. What the hell just happened?
This month’s tip sheet is about detachment. The word detachment gets thrown around lot in Yoga circles. It comes from a Bhuddist concept. The literal idea is to be unstained ( bù rán) by thoughts. You should separate emotionally from your thoughts so they can’t harm you. You drop all your preconceived ideas about how things should turn out or how you want them to turn out and just engage in the process. Let go of the outcome.
Easier said then done right? Dumb stuff I’ve done while fretting about the outcome:
*Not asked for a deposit. *Not sent written confirmation of work to be done. *Decided the client could afford what I wanted to charge. *Gave unasked for discounts
To start letting go of the outcomes, look at a situation where you don’t care. You can throw around quotes without thinking twice when you don’t care if the client works with your or not. How did you feel? More open? Less tight? That’s the space you want to be in when you talk to the clients you really want to work with.
Next thing to keep in mind: You are not a mind reader. You don’t know how much money the customer has. You don’t know what the client thinks or feels about any of it, don’t pretend you do. Respect the client’s sovereignty and your own. Tell her the actual, un-discounted price and let her ask for a discount if she can’t afford it. (If you have no idea what the price should be read this, this or this)
Remember, there’s nothing wrong with asking for time. If you need to think about how long a project will take or what resources you’ll need, tell the client you’ll write up a quote and get back to him later in the day. People aren’t generally put off by a request for time. It’s standard in a lot of industries.
It’s your business. Give all the discounts you want, 100% even, but explain that your regular price is $x. The customer should know that you are giving them a discount. This also helps your state of mind. When you present pro bono work as work done at a %100 discount, it does a lot to kill the resentment.
The next time you find yourself on the phone with a prospect, getting super excited about working with him, remember to detach. The price is what it is. Stand up for yourself and ask for the right amount of money for the job. Then respect your client’s sovereignty. You can’t read his mind, it hurts both of you to pretend you can. Give him a discount if you want to, but not because you assume he can’t afford you.
