Know Your Worth – A Conversation about Perceived Value, Posted on Facebook by Amanda Zito.
KNOW YOUR WORTH
There are so many people who don’t understand what your job is. I’ve had one client decided all I was doing was putting images in her book and therefore I cost to much… Never had the nerve to ask me, never spoke to me again, never apologised. Think about the job you are doing and how much time and effort, skills and experience goes into it… Then you may have a better understanding of the pre-publishing world.
I have also been trying to tell folks about researching who you hire to help you with your manuscript. Only paying a deposit and never pay full costs until a project is finished and approved. Like I usually say, ‘you don’t pay the plumber until after the job is done.’
The link above shows the image of a deck to be made.
A CONVERSATION ABOUT PERCEIVED VALUE:
A customer asked a contractor friend of mine how much it would cost to do this project.
My friend gave him a proposal: $4500
The customer responded: That’s seems really high.
My friend asked: What do you think is a reasonable price for this job?
The customer answered: $2500 maximum
My friend responded: Ok, then I invite you to do it yourself.
The customer answered: I don’t know how to.
My friend responded: Alright, then how about for $2500 I’ll teach you how to. So besides saving you $2000, you’ll learn valuable skills that will benefit you in the future.
The customer answered: Sounds good! Let’s do it!
My friend responded: Great! To get started, you are going to need some tools. You will need a chop saw, table saw, cordless drill, bit set, router, skill saw, jig saw, tool belt, hammer, etc..
The customer answered: But I don’t have any of those tools and I can’t justify buying all of these for one job.
My friend responded: Ok. Well then for an additional $300 I can rent my tools to you to use for this project.
The customer answered: Okay. That’s fair.
My friend responded: Great! We will start the project on Monday.
The customer answered: I work Monday through Friday. I’m only available on the weekends.
My friend responded: If you want to learn from me then you will need to work when I work. This project will take 3 days so you will need to take 3 days off work.
The customer answered: That means I’m going to have to sacrifice my pay for 3 days or use my vacation time!
My friend responded: That’s true. Remember, when you do a job yourself you need to account for unproductive factors.
The customer answered: What do you mean by that?
My friend responded: Doing a job completely from start to finish includes time spent to plan the project, pick up materials, travel time, gas, set up time, clean up, and waste disposal amongst other things. That’s all in addition to the actual project itself. And speaking of materials, that’s where we will start on Monday so I need you to meet me at the lumberyard at 6:00am.
The customer answered: At 6am?!! My work day doesn’t usually start until 8am!
My friend responded: Well then you’re in luck! My plan is to start on the deck build by 8am. But to do so we have to start at 6am to get materials picked up, loaded and delivered to your job site.
The customer answered: You know, I’m realizing that a lot more goes in to a job than what a customer sees in the finished project. Your proposal of $4500 is very reasonable. I would like you to handle the project.
CONCLUSION:
When you pay for a job, especially a custom job, (whether it’s a physical project or digital project) you pay not only for the material and the work to be completed. You also pay for:
Knowledge Experience Custom Skills Tools Time to plan Time to prepare Professionalism Work Ethic Excellence Discipline Commitment Integrity Taxes Licenses Sacrifices Liabilities InsuranceIf you request a proposal for custom work to be done, please don’t disrespect a service provider by trying to get them to lower their prices.
If their proposal exceeds your budget, there’s nothing wrong with getting other proposals.
Just remember.. you get what you pay for.
SERVICE PROVIDERS: Know your worth and be confident in it. CONSUMERS: Recognize their worth and be respectful of it.Sharing this to support all my friends, family and clients who are Entrepreneurs, Business Owners and Tradesman.
8 Responses
Reblogged this on Pattys World and commented:
Not long ago, I had a similar experience as what is related here.
A fellow author/proofreader and client wrote me to state that someone who queried her about her services asked, “Do I have to pay you if you don’t find any mistakes?”
I was amazed shocked and disgusted all at one time.
“Of all the nerve!” was all I could think to say!
People, you get what you pay for and if you’re doing a service for someone else by all the Gods do not be afraid to charge for it!
If those seeking out said services aren’t willing to pay for them let them do it themselves and have crappy work to show for it!
This kind of stuff boils my blood!
Thank you for re-blogging. My main issue…is… ‘Can you lower your price’…
Well, you have seen mine and Jo‘s rent by now I am sure. LOL. We have real issue with all this. Somebody actually asked Jo if she didn’t find any mistakes in their work when they have to pay her. Can you believe that crap? How rude! Of all the nerve! How unprofessional! I could continue…
It’s rude, especially when you think of the time spent doing the job. This is similar to Writers who thing Publishing is FREE… obviously their time is worthless… and we all know it isn’t. When you help a person who has been scammed and then they sort of scam you… Then I’m over people using me. Though I still help I’m not going through that again. Needless to say I will still try and stay in someone’s budget…unless that budget is so low it’s not worth it.
Well laid out and thoughtful, I like it a lot. I will share this widely.
It is isn’t it. I friend posted it on facebook and I read it all… It was like… Yeah This… totally need clients to get a grip…
Reblogged this on wordrefiner.
Thank you for the reblog 🙂