General Consultant Discussion

Here's a tip from me to you. The holidays are right around the corner. Customers who ask for quote should NOT be given a blanket date to select any day they wish -- including smack in the middle of Christmas/New Years vacation -- UNLESS they agree to premium pricing. If you're providing customers with options for pricing (and you should) the DATE the project occurs should be a factor for pricing. Holidays. Peak times. All of these are peak pricing. There's a reason that pricing changes during certain times at hotels, airlines, trains, gas stations, fuel oil companies, grocery stores, etc... I know for me all sorts of crazy stuff happens during the holidays - client emergencies, installs, projects. This should all be priced higher for customers who demand/request this timeframe. One customer who just emailed indicated that ""they are slow during Christmas"" can we do the upgrade then. This is pretty similar to me calling American Airlines and expecting that I'd get the same price no matter when I wanted to fly. Just doesn't happen. Watch for this as we approach the end of the year which for many of us can be a peak time.

This is why pricing on purpose (or value pricing works so well). It's the same reason I can quote the same scope of work for an upgrade as example and give three prices: weekend rate (no interruption to them - higher value - higher price), weeknight rate (some interruption - middle value - middle price), and weekday (major interruption - lower value - lower price). For those that don't do this and what Wayne is suggesting above, I will say this to you: clients love the choices and they like to decide what works best for them. By putting a single proposal with hourly pricing, you are deciding for them and making all value options the same price which leaves money on the table.

Double like. I learned this lesson the hard way last year.

And just like magic a CPA who has been asking for a quote for a 3.71 upgrade for the past three years -- and disappearing each and every time -- is now wondering why I won't upgrade his 3.71 (~30 client companies and 10 using payroll with one having 1,000 employees) between now and 12/31 without a higher price.

We are a cheap lot aren't we.

When you have 32 companies - one with over 1,000 employees on payroll - and you want a conversion done (test/live/followup) between now and 12/31 (back out holidays) -- I think there's going to be a problem....

And that CPA will go out and find someone who will do the work for cheaper. Good for him. The problem is that most businesses operate on the fallacy that bigger is better. As Notorious B.I.G. and Puff Daddy famously stated: Mo' money, mo' problems. Particularly if that mo' money is at low or non-existent profit margins or chases ""A"" clients out the door because you don't have time to take care of them. So ... we all need to embrace the 12 step program and learn to let go of the clients and prospects that want to beat us up and instead use the time to find the customers that love us and we love in return. This will ultimately lead to more satisfying and profitable work.

CPA = Cheapest Price Available