5 Things You Should Never Say When Negotiating a Price
Haggling over pay is a fact of life for any freelancer. Even the most in-demand contract workers field requests for discounts “for old time’s sake”.
I have yet to find the best formula for negotiating your rates—other than properly computing your work-related expenses and adding to that. What I do know is that you should never say the following.
“Oh, it will be such a pleasure to work with you!” Revealing eagerness for a certain client or project gives the employer some license to push your rates down. You really want to do it anyway, so why shouldn’t they get it at a lower price?
“You can just pay me later on anyway…” This implies that getting paid for your work isn’t really important to you. On top of that, you indicate that you’re ok with late payments.
“I can do that at a much lower price.” Sure, offering a lower price for the same quality than competitors—especially if you can afford to—is a great way to secure contracts. But don’t be so open about it. Again, it gives the employer license to push for a lower price.
“Yeah, that’s so easy for me to do.” So if the project won’t be that difficult, why should the client pay you that much for it, right?
“What do I have to do again?” Sometimes the project requirements and details are discussed during negotiations. Proving that you can produce the quality output deserving of a reasonable price starts with staying on top of those details.
Have I missed out on anything? Let me know by leaving a comment below.
Tags: haggling, negotiations, price, rateRelated Stories
POSTED IN: Freelance Finances
1 opinion for 5 Things You Should Never Say When Negotiating a Price
joshua
Sep 5, 2008 at 8:00 am
Wow im only in High School and im going to have a little store that repairs and builds computers. This helps me in a way to know what to say and what not to say, but the first one i dont understand. i’ve always heard them say “It’s going to be a plesure working for you.” i say that at times. If you can e-mail me back and explain it better to me it would help me alot.
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