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Joe Connolly, who gives business updates regularly on CBS radio news, caught my ear the other morning with the report that soon airlines will charge customers for the ‘privilege’ of pre-selecting their seats. Of course, this ‘privilege’ has been standard-operating-procedure and free for all the years I’ve been flying, as has bringing luggage at no extra cost. But all of that is changing. Like every other company trying to stay afloat in the new economy, airlines are nickel and diming in increasingly unpleasant ways.
As a frequent flyer, this caught my attention. With flights scheduled (and seats already reserved, thank goodness) to Phoenix, Milwaukee, LA and San Diego in the near future, I’m feeling the squeeze. (NB – We only pay attention to the news that affects us. I’m certain that my NYC-based sister, who hasn’t driven a car in decades, couldn’t tell you the price of gas, while I know by heart the cheapest pumps in town.)
Listening to the cast album of Les Miz while on the treadmill this morning, I was smiling, then sneering, at the lyrics to Master of the House:
Charge them for the lice
Extra for the mice
Two percent for looking in the mirror twice
Here a little slice
There a little cut
Three percent for sleeping with the window shut
I promise not to start charging for reading my blog.
Check if this feels familiar: A company owed me a check for the books they had sold during a speaking engagement. I had anticipated receiving that money a few days after the event. Now it was closer to a few weeks and still no check. My resentment was rising. I had to take a look at my piece of the transaction.
- Did I have our agreement in writing? No.
- I noticed that I was getting more and more annoyed at the absence of an envelope in my mailbox.
- I then realized I hadn’t even been to my P.O. to check on incoming mail for several days.
- I owned the fact that I had not emailed my contact to be sure the transaction was in process.
- I realized my passivity was an old way of operating and hoping someone else would take care of me.
Once I got to my post office and saw that the awaited check was not there, I sent an email and got an immediate response and a check soon after. There had been a glitch in the system, and now they were on it. Very simple. No one to blame.
I find that I need to identify my old, but familiar relationship with victimhood every once in a while to be sure I’m not feeding myself a dose of adrenaline just for the rush of emotions it brings. That’s a dangerous place to live, and I don’t want to dwell there.
Mark Twain said, “My life has been full of catastrophes, most of which have never happened.” Are you susceptible to this behavior? The best antidote I know is to share the situation with a trusted friend or colleague, shine the light of day on it, and remove it from the dangerous neighborhood of your brain.
I’m just back from a stimulating conference in Waltham, MA put on by the National Speakers Association-New England Chapter. The opening keynote speaker was David Meerman Scott, author of The New Rules of Marketing and PR. His talk emphasized doing things in “real time” rather than pontificating on the ins-and-outs of running a business. Deal with what’s right in front of you and call attention to it.
David played an hysterical youtube video to illustrate his point. A disgruntled passenger was unhappy with the luggage department’s treatment of his instrument, which he’d checked. He dealt with the poor customer service he received in a 2010 – new rules – kind of way. Watch at your convenience and have a tissue ready, you’ll be laughing so hard.
This prompts me to write about an annoying interchange I just had trying to change the hosting of my web domain. Network Solutions, with whom janepollak.com has resided for ages, sent me a renewal form. I began the process of renewing my subscription for what looked like a nominal amount until I got to the checkout page and I noticed a figure in the hundreds of dollars. I immediately wanted out as I know godaddy.com will host you for under $10 a year.
In order to get my domain out of their clutches, Network Solutions kept me (actually, my faithful assistant) busy for hours. Because I’m no longer accessible on janepollak@earthlink.net, they needed about a dozen forms of identification including a copy of my driver’s license, a call on my home telephone line and a long questionnaire to validate that I was indeed the person who signed on years ago. This required enormous dedicated time and attention (i.e. money-making time). Finally, when we’d crossed every “t” and dotted every “i”, the customer service rep asked why I wanted to change services. “Pricing,” I said.
“Oh, if we offered you the same service for $8.50 per year, would that make a difference?”
Of course it would! I immediately signed back on for 3 more years. But why didn’t she tell me that in the first place?
The news here, and I may be late to the party to really get this, is that companies want to hold onto customers. It’s a good time to negotiate, especially if the competition is knocking at your door.
BTW, I asked the customer rep if she’d mind if I blogged about our interchange. “Not at all,” she said. So I did.
When I was little, the paper dolls and trading cards I played with were all ballerinas and princesses. It surely looked like everything was perfect in their pristine, prettily-dressed lives. And, given that this was the 50′s, there was little else to aspire to.
Now a full-grown woman and business owner, I had the opportunity to see a princess’s life played out on national television last week. Sarah Ferguson appeared on Oprah to discuss the recent sting operation that put her back in the headlines. I found it terribly sad, but also riveting, that someone who ‘had it all’ could fall so far from that idyllic lifestyle. I had also watched a taped episode (also on Oprah) involving child bride’s of a religious fanatic who all lived on a compound in Arkansas. What these two shows had in common were women who had been sorely deprived of reality. One captive of the religious community, upon leaving, asked, “How do you know which side of the road to drive on?” Similarly, Fergie seems equally baffled by how money works.
After watching these shows I made a gratitude list thanking my lucky stars that I am not a princess and have had to slog it out in the real world and learn the lessons that help us stay out of sting operations. Here’s what I came up with:
- I’m grateful that although I am ‘out there’ in the public eye, I am not that famous.
- I am debt-free.
- I trust my instincts and act on that intuition. Sarah said she knew the offer was from a journalist and didn’t honor her gut feeling.
- I know exactly where I stand financially–what the balances are in each of my accounts.
- I live within my means.
It must have been super-cool to live in Buckingham Palace and be married to a prince, but I’m feeling very fortunate today that my life is uncomplicated and I have everything I need.
I won’t mention any names, as I don’t want to incriminate my wonderful and helpful counselor from SCORE. But, we were talking about the new edition of my book yesterday, and he said, “If you sell 600 copies you’ll be lucky.”
I was incredulous. I immediately responded, “I intend to sell 5000.”
He said, “If you sell 5000 copies, I’ll give you a million dollars.”
The interesting thing was what happened to my marketing spirit when he put out that challenge. It fully ignited. What could I do to sell 5000 copies? My mind went into full gear, high speed calculating and asking-for-help mode.
Then he amended this, by adding, “And my wife goes with the offer.” (This is why I won’t mention any names.)
My spirit sagged when he hedged his offer.
My job here is to stay connected with the energy he sparked with his first statement. I’m fully capable of selling 5000 books. I loved the extra motivation of his dare. I’m a real I’ll-show-you kinda gal. I realized I’d need help to accomplish this goal.
Please send along any tips you have for large order book sales. I’d love to sell (52 copy) cases at a time along with the onesies. I’ll show him!
(Some of you may remember when my husband bet me $1000 that he’d never watch the Oscars from beginning to end again. I put that hand-written wager in my tickler file and pulled it out just in time to collect the following year. I’m good at holding people to their word.)
My daughter Laura and I leave for Danbury prison early this morning (it’s 5:49am as I write this). I’m unsure of what will happen at the job fair I’ve agreed to speak at, but anticipating a valuable learning opportunity. I’m going with an open mind, open heart and desire to share what I know.
In the meantime, I got a hearty response to my last blog about fees and pricing. Even as I was writing it, my mind kept flashing on my friend and colleague Kate Kelly. Sure enough, this message arrived soon after I posted. Take advantage!
From Kate:
How to Set Your Fees and Get Them, a book I wrote to address the difficulty of fee-setting, provides VERY helpful advice for anyone selling their services. Now that I’m writing more in the field of American history, I haven’t had time to re-publish the book so some of the anecdotes are a bit dated. That said, the book’s advice is still very solid, very relevant.
The book retailed for $17.50 but because I’m not actively promoting it, I would be more than happy to provide your readers with a “deal.” If they are willing to mail me $6 which will cover the envelope and first class postage, I will be honored to send them a copy of the book. Pls put Fees Book in the subject line and e-mail me: kkelly@katekelly.com. I’ll send them my mailing address and the book will go out as soon as I receive payment to cover my costs.
I don’t like to be misled. Like I was when I grabbed a mesh bag containing four avocados at Trader Joe’s Sunday morning. I saw the RIPE label on the skin and thought, “Great! I’ll use these tomorrow to make that salad I love.” When I got home and cut the avocados loose from the bag and gave them a squeeze, I knew they weren’t ready to be used yet. That’s when I noticed the small print saying “when soft”. I had been manipulated and misled by the large red print. I resented it.
Gaining our customers’ trust is important and anything that disrupts that process can create ill-will.
You are not alone if you have given an estimate or proposal for your goods or services, only to realize a few days or weeks into the project that you have underestimated your own time and value. Welcome to the club! This is part of the learning curve in entrepreneurship.
If there was one book that had the exact answer for how to price a job, it would be an all-time best-seller. The fact is, no one can say for sure what YOUR time is worth except you. And, you have to figure it out as you and your business grow over time.
A client recently shared with me that she had undervalued her creative services and asked how she might go about collecting the shortfall from her client. I recommended against this as a practice or even one-time happening. I am not in favor of passing along your learning to the person who is paying you. We, as business owners, are responsible for the cost of our own education. My friend Terri Lonier* calls it “tuition” and says “there’s no good way to ask for that money.”
Here’s the growth challenge. Rather than underbid a job, take the time to calculate your anticipated hours labor, materials and overhead. Be generous with yourself, as you know that things always take longer and that unexpected occurrences will pop up during any project. Account for those in your budget.
The risk here is stating your true anticipated cost upfront. The amount may be surprisingly high to you, but you’ve got it justified by your carefully considered mathematics. You may be pleasantly surprised by your prospect’s acceptance of your estimate.
If you believe in the saying, “Pay me now, or pay me later” you’ll appreciate the wisdom of asking upfront for what you really deserve rather than trying to make it up with explanations and pleading after the fact.
While I know that pricing can be a tricky issue, it’s better to gain clarity around your costs before, rather than after, the deal is made. Like most customers, unhappy surprises produce resentments.
*I had the privilege of being interviewed by Terri for her online newsletter. Here’s today’s issue.
Years ago, when I was speaking at a conference in Virginia, I was having technical difficulties getting my laptop to ‘speak’ to the organization’s projector. “Why don’t you just buy your own projector so you don’t have to go through this angst?” the program director asked me. The real answer was “$1500″, but I mumbled something else at the time.I actually had the $1500, but chose not to allocate it on this one item at that time.
Actually, the bigger question is, where do I spend my resources when there are so many hungry mouths–technology upgrades, web upgrades, subcontractors, marketing expenses, etc., etc., etc.–to feed?
I keep a healthy escrow account for my business, but sometimes the demands exceed the supplies. That’s when judgment and prudence are called for. What’s most important at this moment?
I’ve just received a lengthy and detailed plan for my book launch which has me very excited. It was created by a pro who previously worked for someone with deep pockets. I teasingly liken my pockets to the new garment you buy where the stitches are still holding the sides of the pocket in place!
What I’ll do is meet with my team of financial advisers, map out my resources and my desires and needs, and figure out what I can afford and when. Of course, I want it ALL today, but that has a way of not working out for the best. What I can afford today is what I’ll purchase. And as more money flows in, I’ll have my checklist to move forward.
I did buy a projector for my laptop which has been a wonderful addition to my technology collection. I did it at the right time and with consideration. That seems to be my formula for success, even though it’s not a particularly sexy way to operate.
