Want To Quote Higher? Here’s How To Remove Friction
So, you’ve just recognised an opportunity to provide more services for your client and now you’re feeling anxious – even guilty – about sending a large quote.
Sound familiar? Most business owners will go through this feeling. The back and forth, the humming and uhing, of whether or not they should send the quote, or just do a “mates rates”.
What causes this guilt? This confusion? We go into detail below on how you can overcome it to help your business succeed.
You Don’t Need To Be A People Please. You’re A Business Owner
First and foremost, remind yourself: making money is a necessity If you can’t continue to operate your business, then you cannot continue to help your clients. As long as you’re working hard, quoting fairly, and providing meaningful support to your client, you should never feel bad about charging them.
This might seem fairly obvious, but some business owners truly struggle to comprehend the value that they provide to clients. Not charging fairly (and enough to keep your lights on) can lead to stress, resentment towards your clients and ultimately running yourself out of business.
Still, sending a large quote can be daunting and may run the risk of scaring off a client. Here are some concrete methods to reduce friction and secure that big quote.
#1 Define Exactly What Your Quote Entails
First up: you should outline in excruciating detail the scope of your work. This will remove the friction in sending that quote by removing ambiguity and giving you exact details on what you’re charging for. This will help in negotiations, and give your client transparency so they can trust you more throughout the quoting process.
#2 Define Resources & Time Needed For The Job
It’s no secret that hourly rates are becoming more and more redundant and confusing. For this reason, the best way to consider pricing is to estimate how much time this job will take you, and the resources you’ll need for it. This is an important step for any business owner: it will let you see ahead of time how much you’ll need to charge to make this job viable (and profitable!) for your business.
#3 Define Each Why Your Service Will Help Your Client
One reason you may be feeling friction is because you don’t realise (yet) how much this upsell will help your client. As humans, we all feel guilt: if you don’t truly believe in yourself or your service, it’s only natural that you’d feel bad charging for it.
This is why it’s crucial to define how it will help your client so you can charge a fair price: it will also invigorate you to start, because you’ll know you can provide meaningful support.
#4 Remind Yourself: Not Everyone Thinks (& Stresses) Like You
Not everyone is in the same as you, personally or financially. For example, what might be expensive to you may simply be a necessary business expense to a client. Or, A client may be going through a busy period and can afford the quote without thinking twice about.
The more time you spend thinking about how much the quote means to you, the less you realise that it could mean something completely different to your client. And all that stress would be for nothing!
#5 Clients Who Trust You Respect Your Value
Remember: a client whom you’ve built a deep level of trust with, and who respects you for all the results youve brought them, typically won’t demand an explanation for your quote. Nor will they try to haggle with you for a discount.
In fact, longterm clients who value your time and effort will simply trust your quote and may even pay on the spot, eager to get things moving. These are the clients you want to double down on!
Removing Friction In Your Finances
As long as you are clearly stating the benfits to your client, what you’re charging them for, and working hard, you should never feel guilty about sending a high quote. The worst your client can do is respectfully decline, and then you’re no worse off than you were before.
At The A Firm, we help Aussie business owners ensure their business is earning enough profit to stay viable and grow for years to come. Talk to our qualified accountants today to learn how we can help you!