Negotiation is often the finish line, the final duel that determines what are both you and your client actually willing to give in order to get what you want. It doesn’t have to be high pressure or even antagonistic, but it is rarely benign.
Here’s a hot one: the best pricing policies never assume every project will be immediately profitable on its own. As long as your profitability is good to great in most projects, one or two moderately unprofitable ones should not worry you. On the contrary, they are a sure sign that you are doing Read more…
In the book Never Split the Difference, Chris Voss talks about using what he calls “tactical empathy” to humanize yourself to the other side. One of the best examples of this is what he calls “the clutch question”, best used when the other side is demanding something they probably know Read more…
Oof, that’s an expensive-looking problem you have there, mister”. = Not an ideal approach to value pricing. The thing with value pricing is that someone should mention the actual value of the project you are trying to price. Alas, that person should ideally not be you. Even if you calculate the value, are 100% correct, Read more…
“Retainer” is one of those “slippery” words. For instance, for you, it may mean “In addition to the tasks that are pre-defined, the client can and will contact me whenever they really need me, within an agreed monthly budget of x hours.” For the client, that same agreement may sound more like Read more…
As human beings, we all have boundaries, limits, and “lines in the sand” we promised ourselves not to cross. This applies to price, as well as personal or ethical limits. Since they are subjective and personal in nature, it may seem unprofessional to flaunt them or even mention them at all until absolutely necessary. In most Read more…
While the elephants are small, only a thin rope is required to tie them to a stake in the ground. They’ll struggle and pull at first, but eventually, they realize that they can’t break the rope and they’ll stop trying. They learn that they cannot break free from that thin Read more…
There’s Nothing More Permanent Than A Temporary Measure, said Milton Friedman. In a (kinda) post COVID world, these words have an even more ominous meaning. But let’s talk about the advantages of the same principle, specifically in the context of two tough decisions that are hard to boldly state out Read more…
Fortunately, most client negotiations don’t follow the hard-nosed, down-to-brass-tacks tumble that is expected when you are buying a car or a bunch of radishes from a hard-core farmers market lady. If all is well and the client knows why experts can’t be treated like they grow on trees, the actual negotiations we usually face use Read more…
Compromise in price signals compromise in value. If I buy cheaper potatoes, I anticipate throwing away more bad parts. If I buy a cheaper house, I know I’m going to have to fix her up, walk more, or pay more for utilities. As a rule, when we are talking about interchangeable, commodity-type goods and services, which the clients know Read more…
That’s what a ship is, you know. It’s not just a keel and a hull and a deck and sails, that’s what a ship needs but what a ship is … what the Black Pearl really is… is freedom._ Jack Sparrow, Pirates of the Caribbean Profits are just what you earn minus what you spend. This Read more…