7 Minutes

July 23, 2024July 23, 2024 ~ Sasha ~ Leave a comment

I got on a call with my company lawyer the other day. I had one very specific question.

The call lasted exactly 7 minutes.

As I hopped off the call, I wondered if he was going to bill me for his time. It was just 7 minutes, after all.

Except that he told me to do the opposite of what I’d planned.

Except that he can only solve this problem in 7 minutes because he’s been working at this for 30 years. Three decades of honing his expertise, knowing the topic, understanding the nuances, and developing pattern recognition across hundreds of clients

We never think of paying artists by the minute—it’s obvious that a virtuoso is so talented only because she’s been refining her craft for tens of thousands of hours.

And yet we let ourselves get anchored to undervaluing our time and effort, thinking about things like “cost-plus” as a starting point for what we should charge.

We, too, have spent thousands and thousands of hours becoming expert at what we do.

That’s why the value of our time isn’t measured in the number of minutes we devote to this task, it is measured in what our skills and insight allowed our client to do: costs avoided, paths (not) take, opportunities won.

Don’t sell yourself short.

And don’t think of your billing in terms of time, think of it in terms of value.

“This is what I’m creating for you. It hits this standard of quality. And I stand behind it.”

As they used to say on the Mastercard ads: Priceless.

You could get it for less

April 30, 2019April 29, 2019 ~ Sasha ~ Leave a comment

If you’re pricing right for your outstanding work, it will sound expensive to others.

After all, they’re not used to buying outstanding work.

This means that the moment you tell them the price, it will probably feel uncomfortable, both to you and to them.

It helps to remember that yes, it’s true, they could find another way to do this.

Maybe they could get some graduate students to do it for free.

Or find someone who’s just starting who is desperate for the work.

Someone on a website, somewhere, who does piece work at a seemingly-cheap hourly rate.

Or someone who can do just enough to make the problem go away, but who won’t fundamentally move things forward.

All those options are possible.

But for this work, at this standard, delivered in this way, it will cost this.

And it will be a bargain.

What’s it worth

October 16, 2018October 15, 2018 ~ Sasha ~ 2 Comments

At some point in every negotiation, the conversation turns to price.

Sometimes this is straightforward. It’s been discussed all along and you are formalizing what everyone expects.

And sometimes, a new prospect will come at you with some version of, “We really want to do this, we just can’t make it happen at this price. Could you do it for less?”

Can you?

Well yes, you always can do it for less.

But should you?

There might be good reasons to do it for less. The work is interesting and important and will allow you to grow. It will open new doors for you and your firm. You have available resources (time, people) that otherwise would lay dormant.

But if the price you’ve offered is one you’ve been paid before, and if clients keep coming back for more and referring new people to you, this means that, at the price you initially offered, the one you’ve been asked to lower, your work is a bargain: you’ve been delivering a lot more value than the price you’re charging.

What’s challenging is how uncomfortable the “can you do it for less” moment is. The tension in the silence that follows this question makes you want to make the discomfort go away, which you can do by negotiating against yourself.

“Maybe,” you think, “this time I’m wrong.” “Maybe, this time, my work isn’t worth it.” “Maybe this client will get away and……..”

And what, exactly?

And there will be another client tomorrow. This client will see what you’re worth, be willing to pay that amount and, in doing so, will get be getting a bargain relative to what you’ll deliver.

Don’t uncut yourself, and certainly don’t apologizing for asking for what you deserve.

Instead, you might offer: “I’m confident that at the price we’re discussing, you will get more than you’re paying for.”

Then, when she ultimately say yes, it’s up to you to do something magical, which is exactly where you want to be.

$6.55

August 19, 2010August 18, 2010 ~ Sasha ~ Leave a comment

Feeling a little tired and sore after getting a yellow fever and typhoid shot for an upcoming trip, I stopped off at a local NYC deli and ordered a fresh carrot juice. The woman who fed carrots into the industrial-strength juicer was kind and friendly, and she even put a bit of fresh orange juice in for taste. And then she handed it to me and said it cost $6.55.

I don’t think she liked my reaction. I actually said “you’re kidding, right?!” But she wasn’t. And I did pay.

Later that same day I bought lunch from another place, a delicious tuna melt with tomato on a fresh Portuguese roll. It too cost $6.55.

One price felt right to me, another one felt stratospheric. Which one was the right one?

It could be that it was both. The crazy carrot juice price reminded me that there’s a place for outlandish pricing – for $6,000 conference fees and charging $1,000 a ticket for a half day seminar and for setting a high minimum donation amount to be on a nonprofit Board. Just know why you’re doing it and don’t be surprised when some people grumble – the grumbling might just be an indicator that you’ve set the price high enough.

: : : : : : : : : : :