o I was just finalising a proposal and was as usual, wondering about the price. I put a number, increased it a bit, and stopped. I wondered if it was more or less, if they could pay etc, and paused for a moment. Anjali was behind me doing some work so I asked her what to do.
'Anjali, shall I quote x?' I asked her.
Pat came the answer.
'Quote what you feel like,' she said. This sounded like i needed to get in touch with my intuition so I gave her a look.
'I mean whatever you thought you should quote, double that and quote,' she said. 'What will happen? At best they will reject it and ask you to reduce.'
Wow. I heard this same advice from some experts. So I asked Anjali where she had heard this from.
'Haven't heard it anywhere,' she said. 'Just felt that was right.'
Perhaps she sensed my doubt - pretty sure she did. I realised later that if I were to stop thinking from the client's perspective and thought from mine, there would be more clarity. Instead of thinking about how much they would pay, if I looked at what value I brought to the table, I was better off. I looked at my profile, my experience and thought, man, what you quoted for all that is really bottom level stuff. Even after doubling it, I was higher in the bottom range only. Now how will that help me think bigger and better? The moment I doubled the price on the screen it put me out of my comfort zone, I started to think about how I could add value to my service.
The fear that we may lose clients is illogical. Anything based out of fear is not good -, especially relationships. Some clients may drop off, but then some may accept. We want those who will accept us as we are, on our terms, not on theirs. They will see our true value, and so will we. All effort is towards growing bigger, not smaller.
It is important to have a fair assessment of the value we bring. Our price must always reflect a true value of what we bring. Clearly, if we do not value our work, no one else will. We have to decide, we have to produce and deliver. And we can reach for excellence if we believe we belong there.
Thank you Anjali. That was a good reminder.
'Anjali, shall I quote x?' I asked her.
Pat came the answer.
'Quote what you feel like,' she said. This sounded like i needed to get in touch with my intuition so I gave her a look.
'I mean whatever you thought you should quote, double that and quote,' she said. 'What will happen? At best they will reject it and ask you to reduce.'
Wow. I heard this same advice from some experts. So I asked Anjali where she had heard this from.
'Haven't heard it anywhere,' she said. 'Just felt that was right.'
Perhaps she sensed my doubt - pretty sure she did. I realised later that if I were to stop thinking from the client's perspective and thought from mine, there would be more clarity. Instead of thinking about how much they would pay, if I looked at what value I brought to the table, I was better off. I looked at my profile, my experience and thought, man, what you quoted for all that is really bottom level stuff. Even after doubling it, I was higher in the bottom range only. Now how will that help me think bigger and better? The moment I doubled the price on the screen it put me out of my comfort zone, I started to think about how I could add value to my service.
The fear that we may lose clients is illogical. Anything based out of fear is not good -, especially relationships. Some clients may drop off, but then some may accept. We want those who will accept us as we are, on our terms, not on theirs. They will see our true value, and so will we. All effort is towards growing bigger, not smaller.
It is important to have a fair assessment of the value we bring. Our price must always reflect a true value of what we bring. Clearly, if we do not value our work, no one else will. We have to decide, we have to produce and deliver. And we can reach for excellence if we believe we belong there.
Thank you Anjali. That was a good reminder.
No comments:
Post a Comment