How to deal with hagglers

We all LOVE a bargain right? Who doesn’t enjoy doing a good deal?!

But if you are getting customers who are CONSTANTLY trying to break your price then I want you to think about whether you are attracting the right type of customer?

Do you want to attract clients who are going to haggle with you? (I don’t!)

This is about positioning yourself correctly for success in your industry, how you do your marketing and what your message is.

When I first started out, I attracted SO many hagglers.

And freebie-seekers. And there were some points when I thought I wouldn’t be able to run my business with all the cheapskates I was attracting! It’s seriously wearing and it makes you judge your value, and that’s not a place to be at all!

However, it was only through experience that I realised that if I was attracting the wrong type of customers, then it was ENTIRELY my fault. Yep! I wasn’t making my value clear. I wasn’t setting the boundaries. And I didn’t say no often enough. I fell for the ‘If you do this for us know, you will be lined up for our next paid gig when we have a budget’. And I did WAY too much work for free too.

BUT! After I learned the hard way, got clear on my value and the message I was putting ‘out there’, then the ‘no-budget’ people disappeared. Like magic! Now, I rarely have to have those conversations about other people’s budgets, and it saves so much time and energy!

So!

Are you absolutely clear on your value?

Get REALLY specific about how you help people get exactly what they want! Make the benefits REALLY OBVIOUS. They will seem obvious to you already as you are in the middle of your business,  but you have to see it from your customers point of few. Establish your value.

The right customer for you is one that is a good fit in many ways, and one of those ways is financially.

When you charge a high-end fee then you must be absolutely confident that you are providing a high-end service. You must convey that value and remember the benefits and results people get when they work with you. This is something will be covering in depth in my Big Daring Business Academy.

So what about the people who simply try to knock you down on your fee? Well, here are some ways to handle that situation.

1. Your first response should never be to immediately drop your prices! When you do that then you are putting yourself in a position where your potential client thinks he or she can always negotiate on your fees. No way! Don’t do that to yourself
2. Another option is to give them a payment plan, where they ‘pay as they go’ AND pay in advance. They get to spread the payments over a week, fortnightly or monthly period so that they can afford you. When you take payments this way, then I suggest you make the actual overall fee higher to accommodate your increased admin duties that go along with it.
3. Another option, which could really be a win for you both is to offer a fast-action discount. So the client can get a small discount if they pay with in the next 24 hours, for example. If they are serious about working with you, then this offer can work really well and it’s win-win as you get paid right away and your client can afford you.

Or, just don’t deal with hagglers! (It’s allowed!)

If you haven’t got the time and energy to justify your prices and you don’t want to get stuck in the negotiation process, then simply don’t get involved. After all, when we work for ourselves then we have the absolute right to decide who we work with and how we spend our time and energy!

What you don’t want is a client that simply doesn’t value your work!

But what about the people that really want to work with you but really don’t have the budget?

Well, there are lots of ways to help people on a tight budget.

Let’s look at your marketing activities. This is all part of your business anyway, so make sure people have access to it. I run free training as part of my marketing activities. I write a newsletter where I share my tips and advice about social media and business. That’s all free for newsletter members. I write blog posts about social media and business too, so no-one ,whatever their budget will be left out. You can do that too!

If you are attracting too many hagglers, then I want you to review your position in your industry and raise your game. When you are attracting the perfect clients toy you, you will find that the hagglers drop away like magic! Magic is good!

If you are confused about your positioning or struggling to nail your value, then you should check out my Big Daring Business Academy!

It’s pretty awesome already and I haven’t even officially started it yet! But you will have to be quick as my amazing launch price ends in 3 days. If you want in, now is the time! There’s already $158 worth of social media, marketing and money training inside waiting for you!