It's Not Your Job to Lower Your Fees to Help the Client Afford You
I constantly receive questions and complaints from my creative professional clients about what to do when a prospect claims, "I can't afford your prices, but I want your services." My clients are frustrated, because they are usually being told this while standing in a mansion-like home, furnished with top-of-the-line furniture, with a beautifully manicured lawn, and three luxury cars parked in a four-car garage.
How much your client can afford is relative to their values and beliefs of what is important. It is not your job to lower your price so the client can afford you. It is your job to help the client see the connections between their values and your services, regardless of how much money they've spent on other items.
In other words, don't lower your price because the client says she can't afford you.
What a client can and cannot afford is all relative. For example, I know a woman who enjoys eating out at expensive restaurants, though she claims she cannot afford to go on vacation every year. On the flip side, I know families who rarely eat out and cook low cost meals at home, so they can afford to vacation twice a year. Therefore, it is valuable to the first woman to eat out and it is valuable to the other people to go on vacation. What they can each afford is based on their values of what is important, not on how much money they have.
What people choose to spend their money on and what they can afford is not the job of the restaurant, nor is it the job of the vacation spots. Just as it is not your job to lower your price just because the client wants you to.
You have to help the client see the value in your services by learning more about what is important to them and why. During your initial visit with the client (either on the phone or in person) you must ask them questions about what they want and, more importantly, WHY they want it. Buy uncovering "the why" behind their wants, you can help them connect their needs to the value of your services.
Don't just pitch your services to the client, ASK them what they want. Then follow up with a question (or several questions) which help you understand why they want it.
Keep in mind, if the client continues to whine that she cannot afford your services, then move on. Don't lower your price. If she wants you and finds value in your services, she'll find the money to be able to afford you.
Kirstin Carey is the author of "Starving Artist No More: Hearty Business Strategies for Creative Folks". Kirstin knows that most creative professionals hate sales, contracts and discussing money. She consults creative folks on the business side of creativity so they make more money, attract better clients, and love what they do. Get proven strategies and insider secrets to help creative types like you get the business help you need at http://www.MyCreativeBiz.com Kirstin Carey is the author of "Starving Artist No More: Hearty Business Strategies for Creative Folks". Kirstin knows that most creative professionals hate sales, contracts and discussing money. She consults creative folks on the business side of creativity so they make more money, attract better clients, and love what they do. Get proven strategies and insider secrets to help creative types like you get the business help you need at http://www.MyCreativeBiz.com
Exactly What to Say When Asked, "How Much Do You Charge?"
A client with a creative business called me one day and asked the following question. It's a question I get asked frequently, so rather than write an entire article, I decided just to tell you exactly what I told her.
Kirstin,
"I never know what to say when a potential customer calls and asks 'How much do you charge? What are your fees?'
I don't want to shoot myself in the foot by quoting something too low, but also don't want the caller to hear a number that they think is too high and hang up.
What do I say to them so I don't put them off, but also don't immediately take myself out of the running to get their business?"
-Ann P., Philadelphia, PA
Ann,
Don't feel compelled to blurt out a number or hand over a price sheet. Calmly and confidently tell the prospect, "It depends." Follow up with, "Let me ask you a few questions...." Then proceed to ask the prospect questions that will help you learn about her needs, uncover her concerns, understand her methods of measuring success, and determine how to show the value of your services.
Without knowing the basic information above, you are not in any position to be quoting prices and fees. Do yourself and your potential client a favor and don't rush into discussing pricing until you have all the facts, m'am.
-Kirstin Carey
http://www.MyCreativeBiz.com
Kirstin Carey is the author of "Starving Artist No More: Hearty Business Strategies for Creative Folks". Kirstin knows that most creative professionals hate sales, contracts and discussing money. She consults creative folks on the business side of creativity so they make more money, attract better clients, and love what they do. Get proven strategies and insider secrets to help creative types like you get the business help you need at http://www.MyCreativeBiz.com Kirstin Carey is the author of "Starving Artist No More: Hearty Business Strategies for Creative Folks". Kirstin knows that most creative professionals hate sales, contracts and discussing money. She consults creative folks on the business side of creativity so they make more money, attract better clients, and love what they do. Get proven strategies and insider secrets to help creative types like you get the business help you need at http://www.MyCreativeBiz.com
Industry Tax Issue Resolution Program
For roughly the last ten years, the internal revenue service has made a fairly major effort to be more taxpayer friendly. The Industry Tax Issue Resolution Program is one such step.
Industry Issue Resolution Program
After years of living in denial, the IRS has come around to admitting tax forms and procedures may be a mess for certain industries. As one IRS agent put it, the agency doesn't actually work in the industries, so it doesn't have a lot of practical knowledge in how things work financially for the businesses on a day-to-day basis.
In a creative move, the IRS created the Industry Issue Resolution Program. This program essentially lets businesses complain to the IRS about burdensome tax issues. The IRS then considers the problem, researches alternatives and tries to come up with new regulations.
One of the better aspects of the programs is the guidance factor. If you've every filled out business taxes, you know there are areas that need serious clarity. You either can't tell what the IRS is asking for or how they want it determined. Using the Industry Issue Resolution Program, businesses can seek clarity regarding many of the mystifying aspects of the tax regulations.
If a business wants to raise a topic with the IRS under this issue resolution program, it has to meet some criteria. Issued raised must have at least two of the following criteria or the IRS will reject the application.
1. The tax treatment of a common factual situation is uncertain.
2. The uncertainty results in frequent, repetitive examination of the same issue for businesses in the industry.
3. The uncertainty results in a tax burden.
4. The issue is significant and impacts a large number of taxpayers.
5. The IRS would benefit from gaining a better understanding of the industry by interacting with the industry.
The procedure for pursuing an issue in the resolution program is fairly simple, but fairly slow. Application is made to the relevant department dictated in the application instructions. You then wait until the IRS announces whether it will accept the application, announcements which only occur semi-annually! If it is accepted, the IRS will set up a team to investigate it and be in touch to get your viewpoint.
Richard A. Chapo is with BusinessTaxRecovery.com - obtaining tax refund recovery for overpaid small business taxes. Visit BusinessTaxRecovery.com to read more business tax articles.
