The Client Letter
October 14, 2013
The Desert of Arizona
Sunny 44 Degrees
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I never got the $300 commission for selling one of my first Corvettes. Instead, my manager “redistributed” my sale to another guy on the team.
Apparently, he needed the sale to make some quota or something. He was supposed to pay me the commission. I never got the money.
Somewhere in the craziness of all the parties he went to, I guess it slipped his mind.
I was basically fed a lie. And I was so naive at the time, I believed it.
The truth was, “Hey, you’re the new guy and you don’t have a quota to meet. So we’re going to take your sale and give it to someone who does have that quota to meet. He should pay you but he probably won’t. Sorry.”
The truth is everywhere. But it’s covered up by people who have little incentive for you to discover it.
Instead, we live our lives on half-truths. We think things are true when they’re not. We make decisions based on what we think, so it’s easy to see how this can become an issue… if you actually want to be happy.
Our old software is obsolete, riddled with lies like the one about our dear Mr. Columbus. Today is his day, you know. The valiant explorer (who discovered a “new” world that was already filled with people who’d discovered it long before).
I remember back in high school, I somehow arranged to do an independent study for history class so I could get some more time to practice the piano (thanks Mom!).
During that time I read Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States.
That was eye opening to say the least. I should have read it as a young kid (now you can). Man I could have stirred up the pot in history class.
Apparently Mr. Columbus has been a bit loose with the facts. You can read about it here.
Not knowing the truth about things can really mess with your head when you’re working with clients.
So here are a few of the truths I’ve discovered. Your mileage may vary with these. That’s because adopting my truths isn’t the point. The point is to understand you are valuable enough to create your own and stand firm on them.
So here goes, hope this helps:
Truth: You can charge your clients whatever you want.
Truth: They can choose whether or not they want to pay your fee.
Truth: You can schedule your work around your life.
Truth: You must have the internal fortitude to remember that your business exists to support your life and not the other way around.
Truth: What anyone else in your marketplace does is of little consequence to you.
Truth: What anyone else in your marketplace does can easily become the boundaries of possibility you perceive as your own.
Truth: You are not here to please your clients, so placing energy on that goal is not a good move.
Truth: Your clients’ opinion of you means virtually nothing in the big scheme of things. Your opinion of you means everything.
Truth: You don’t reach success with marketing gimmicks or new “client getting” skillz on Facebook®. You reach success by solving problems for people. The more painful the problem, the more valuable the solution.
Truth: In 90 years, we will all be dead. None of your current “problems” will matter. Live like you mean it–today and every day.