When people come up to me and say how much do you charge, I tell them they’re moving too fast and that we need to get to know each other first.
It doesn’t make sense to me to have a conversation about price if we haven’t talked about the needs of the client. I don’t know what it’s going to take; it might be my time, it might be somebody else’s time, who knows? I would definitely push the money conversation to the back burner. But don’t be afraid to talk about it, just get the other relevant information first. Typically I do that by setting up an initial meeting with them.
Getting That First Meeting With A Client
I sit down and get to know a client first. I ask them to tell me their story. I listen more than I speak. Remember your first meeting is all about them, not about you.
You want to ask probing questions. Find out things like:
- What’s going on in their world
- What made them reach out to you?
- How do they think you could help them?
- Find the pain
- What do you do?
- How are you doing?
Asking them if they need an accountant or a mortgage broker, or whatever it is that you do is an uninteresting question.
You want to figure out how you can help them. Finding out who their ideal customer is, how should you describe to others what they do and finding out how they prefer to make an introduction will provide immediate value. It’s a conversation.
At the end of your conversation, they are likely to ask how much it’s going to cost. Your answer is, “I’m not sure. We’ve talked about a lot of information today. Let me put my arms around it. I will send you some ideas.” The client is not going to be angry. Every once in a while, I get a client who will ask me to give him a range; and so I give up an absurd range — $100 to $10,000 – and follow it up by saying, listen, you’ve got to give me some time, trust me. Taking time to properly assess how you can work together and what the cost will be ultimately benefits all parties.
The only end result is maybe you’ve met somebody nice. If you sit down with the intention of getting a new client, you will likely not get a new client. You need to show up in the pure position of service.
I’m interested to hear how you have tackled this question with your clients. Please leave a comment below.