Woo Woo Negotiations

Earlier this week a friend of mine who recently became a certified reflexologist and energy worker came over to my house to do some work on me. I was her first paying client. (Yes, I’m into that woo woo stuff.  Clearing the chakras is essential to a busy guy like me.)

She came over at 4:00 pm and worked on me for 2 hours. The session was great and as she was packing up her massage table it was time for me to pay her.  Which meant we needed to have the money conversation. What was this luxury going to cost me? We didn’t discuss money up front AND we were good friends. A dangerous combination.

I asked her “So, what do I owe you?” and instead of getting a clear answer she started to mumble. After about a minute of her sharing with me her thought process on how much she should charge me she blurred it out with fear: “$60.00!" What I responded with was, “OK." What was going through my mind was “Wow, that’s cheap!”.

As I was reaching out to get my checkbook my conscience just didn’t sit well with me. The work was worth more than $60. I knew it. She probably knew it too but didn’t believe it. So I wrote her a check for $80 and told her that $60 just sounded a little too low. Would she accept $80? She smiled and told me that was the original number she had in mind and thanked me for my generosity.

So you may ask yourself “How does this relate to marketing?”. My friend was not confident in her pricing and value of service she provided. She doubted herself and therefore priced the work on the low side. I on the other hand had a great experience and thought the work was worth much more. Are your prices aligned with the value of your work? In our industry I see many creative solopreneurs and service firms under price their work because they don’t project a high level of confidence in their work. That projection is marketing. If you believe you are worth a lot, chances are your clients will too.

Next time you have to give a price for a project remember two things:

1. Have the money conversation up front. Don’t wait to talk money until it gets uncomfortable. Especially when working with a close friend.
2. Believe what you are creating has great value for your clients. Your work will probably help their business grow and put money in their pocket. That’s worth more than you think and you should get paid accordingly.

And of course if you have to negotiate a price with a reflexologist, it’s not a bad idea to have your chakras cleared first...

Comments

[Deidre Rienzo]

Awesome post, Peleg.