I have no filter. I am notorious for saying what is on my mind. But, do I regret it? hmm, sometimes? Let me explain. Sometimes business is slow.. and when it is slow or when money is tight, business owners may fall into desperation. Ya know, doing anything to make the "next sale". This may mean, selling themselves short by giving away services, discounting services, handing out freebies, adding new services, or even taking on difficult clients. Ever been there?
Yeah, me too. But, what I have found is that doing such things only tend to make you crazy and ... really don't make much money anyway. Kinda like back years ago, when I would have clients beg me for appointments on Sunday. I would think, ok, make money while you can, even though this is your only day off. I would make the exception, only to have them either cancel last minute, no show, or it be an entire flop all together. It was my time of drawing the line in the sand. What was going to be my breaking points? That is when I decided that there had to be certain measures met at each new potential client's intake appointment.
Those very same measures where put to the test this week when a potential client reached out to me. It was a warm referral, who knew what he wanted, a website that people could order directly from. Ok, we can do that. Then I asked how he planned on competeing in his market.... Crickets... A 3 second silence followed by the question was a statement of "Well, I have a website, so they will find me. (insert eye roll here) Now, I am sure he actually heard me roll my eyes from inside the phone, because I informed him that just because he had a website does not mean people will flock to the site to order. There needs to be marketing in place. Specific marketing to set you apart from your competition. Then I explained my Grandfather clock analogy for SEO and online marketing, particularly Google and social media. Again, a 3 second silence.
Long story short, he said he had more thinking to do.
Now, if I was in "desperation mode" as I talked about earlier, I would have just said how capable I was at building the website, nailed the new client and enjoyed my paycheck. But knowing my expectations of my clients as well as my own expectations, I can say after 28 years of being self employed, the word "enjoyed" would be a very loosely used term. More like suffering comes to mind.
Moral of the story, know your value, be confident in your work and stand your ground. Caving never helps your clients, your family or yourself.
KNOW YOUR WORTH!
