The first lesson I had to learn is that price is not a number. Price is a conversation.
When you tell your price as a freelance, you are having a conversation about many different aspects of your business. You claim your position, your availability, your contribution.
When you say: I will do this job for one dollar, some people think that’s a great deal because they just focus on what they spend. What you are saying is: “I will not create any more value than the dollar I ask.” It’s not a good deal for anyone involved.
As soon as you understand how important is to provide value and use the price as the indicator of that value, you will feel more confident with your rates. How many of you are convinced with your rates? Good. You know you will deliver more than that, right? So today is the best day to raise your rates a little bit and work on providing more value.
When you realize that the price is a conversation about the value, you can answer a few tough questions very quickly. Let’s say your client asks for a discount; you are having a conversation about value, ask them why they deserve it. They might have a good reason for it. Maybe they value their long term relationship with you, and they only want to feel you recognizing it too. Maybe they are going through a rough time, and your discount can help them stay afloat. Maybe they don’t have a good reason, and they are trying to snatch a deal. All these information are useful to know, so ask why next time you get asked for a discount.
Another popular question is: “why do you ask so much? Your competitor XYZ is way cheaper. They can do the job for half the price, can’t you match their price?”
As we said, the price is a conversation about value, so the correct answer is: “do you also want me to match their quality?”
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