The Client Letter
July 3, 2013
The Northland
Sunny 54 Degrees
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I used to take a long time to spit out a fee number when a potential client inquired about my services.
I’d talk to them. I’d go away and prepare a proposal (i.e. real WORK) and then I’d submit it to them and wait.
Now this process surely works for some people, I know. For me, it ended up being a bit of a time waster.
Part of it was due to the quality of the prospect (i.e. I was offering them something in a certain way that just wasn’t a good fit for them) and part of it was me. I “hid” behind the proposal and used it as a delay to getting to the truth.
The “truth” is the answer to this question:
“Are you willing to invest $X NOW in exchange for working with me on this project?”
That’s really all we need to know.
I’m not selling to billion dollar corporations. For the most part, I’m selling to busy entrepreneurs who have 6 times as much to do as they have time to do it.
So my “slowing things down” didn’t always work out well because I slowed them WAY down. (I was scared, I suppose.)
Everyone plays Monopoly differently. Each person develops their own strategy about how to do it.
You can learn from a lot of people about possible strategies to use when you play. But in the end, it’s your experience and your experience only that’s going to lead you to the right way for YOU.
That’s not a mistake, that’s the way it should be (according to me!).
I didn’t get that for quite some time. I was always looking for the “right” way to do things. I thought other people had those answers.
It turns out that all they had were THEIR answers. Those are not MY answers.
So over the years, I’ve simplified this part of the process. I haven’t created a full-blown proposal in some time.
Instead, I’ve gone more in the direction of THIS is what I charge. Why? Because that’s what I charge.
That’s the benefit of having a PLATFORM out there that’s building relationships for you with a large number of people over time.
Do you have one? If not, that’s what this is all about… building one:
http://www.artofclients.com/swts
When you have a relationship BEFORE you have a project, you are viewed from a different perspective.
The biggest benefit of this “direct” approach to fees is speed. I get decisions quicker. I invest much less time than before. And I get to practice spitting out numbers and being confident about them.
There is true magic in belief and confidence. I am often surprised at just how much.
There’s no “right” way to charge for your services. PICK ONE and be confident. Try it out. If it doesn’t work, try something else.
Don’t think too much, just get it out there and see what happens.