The 3 C’s

I remember dreading the “follow up calls” chasing quotes that never got back to me. I had resistance around delivering price on-site and preferred the comfort of my office chair to whip up detail filled quotes and tenders, hoping blindly that the client could see the value in my offering.  I would tell myself all kinds of stories like - I need to check pricing with the wholesalers, I need to think about the best way to do things, I need time to think about how to articulate the scope of work.

In truth these were all defence mechanisms to protect my ego from rejection, but I later found it was more than that. I'm certainly no sadist that enjoys continual rejection over and over, I'd rather avoid rejection if possible - so I had subconsciously implemented some structures that helped protect me. But these structures were holding me back. In the face of rejection it’s easy to adopt a nonchalant approach to pricing, I certainly did, I remember thinking - that’s my price take it or leave it, I don’t care. This mentality certainly helped protect my ego a little, but in the big picture it’s a very detrimental mindset to adopt.

In reflection, I saw the error in my ways, and worked at developing a training framework called the “3 C’s” - When delivering price to a client remember the 3 C’s

- Confidence - If you don’t believe in your price point the client never will, I like to think as though every provider charges the exact same, and all I’m doing in communicating the price as a matter of fact. Everyone in our industry charges X

- Clarity - Pick a number a go with it, the more variables, ifs, but or maybes you create the more you dilute consumer confidence

- Care - You should care about how a customer responds to the price, you should care that the customer gets great service, you should care that your customer feels comfortable to proceed with you. 

Have you built defence mechanisms that protect your ego but inadvertently hamper your potential success?