As Dave Barry would say, “I’m not making this up.”
Sitting in his office a dozen years ago a design customer asked for an off-the-cuff price for a thousand 48 page two-color brochures with original design, expensive photography, etc. This client and I enjoyed bantering, and I simply assumed that when I quoted a $100,000 price tag he’d fire back something related to my lack of legitimate parentage and then we could talk real numbers.
He didn’t. He said O.K. (Now, before you think I got away with invoicing murder, rest assured that my written proposal reflected real, auditable work for a genuine auditable price.)
Here are seven negotiating tips:
Tip #1: Don’t count your clients money for them.
Avoid talking yourself out of project dollars by assuming you know what your client will spend. Give your price without the usual hand wringing and second-guessing.
Tip #2: Don’t misread your client’s intentions when they ask you negotiate your price.
Negotiating today is expected and commonplace. But don’t assume that ‘negotiate’ is synonymous with ‘big discount’. Think in terms of little increments, not wholesale price slaughter.
Tip #3: Recognize the value of ‘schedule’ or ‘terms’ adjustment when asked to lower your price.
Don’t give up money without gaining somewhere else. Add to the schedule or accelerate your payment schedule. You might find that the client isn’t willing to sacrifice schedule for less money.
Tip #4: Know how much you can lower your price and still be profitable.
I pick a number or percentage and jot it on my copy of the proposal. You might ask why I don’t just initially quote the lower price? People like to negotiate and I hate to disappoint them.
Tip #5: Bid your price, not their suggestion of what your price should be.
"We have a limited budget, but we’d like to talk to you about our project..." How many times have you heard a variation of that theme? That’s their opening negotiating shot across the bow of your bidding boat. When I say that to my car dealer, he points me to subcompacts. When I say that to my real estate agent, she points me to a starter home way, way out west. But they both make sure I understand the difference in value by showing me more expensive product. Get as much info as you can and bid your price. It costs them nothing to say they have a limited budget, and it shouldn’t cost you anything either.
Tip #6: Learn to say ‘No’.
"I can’t afford to do your job" isn’t an insult. Learn to say no gracefully. Always leave the door open for another conversation. I’m always willing to offer competitor names [particularly those I don’t care for] as an alternative, and am genuinely amused when I learn they’ve taken a project that I know is a loser.
Tip #7: Think long-term
I can be much more flexible with a client that has the potential for a lot of work. There’s a learning curve for every new client that involves personalities, approvals, design sensitivities, and production flow. Rarely would a client allow for a ‘Getting to know you’ line item on the estimate, so it makes sense to hopefully spread the cost and effort of accumulating this knowledge across a number of projects.
