This is a great lesson to learn as a Product Launch Manager. Think about it: How many times did you go “back and forth” to negotiate the terms of the launch contract?
Once?
2x?
5x?
Why is this so important? If you know what you have to offer and are confident delivering it, than why negotiate at all?
Now let’s apply that to your prospect: If she knows what she wants and values it, than why would she want to negotiate the price so much?
The short answer: She doesn’t know what she really wants and therefore gets queasy when it comes to the price game. She therefore starts getting all “wishy washy” and squirmy with you as contract talks proceed.
Let’s take a deeper look into a case study on Deal Killer #8: The “Wishy Washy” Client…
This is based on a true story. I’ve only changed people’s names to protect their identity.
Imagine stumbling across an email from a prospective client looking for a Product Launch Manager. Steve, in this case, tells you that he owns Mass Control and Product Launch Formula but doesn’t have the time to manage his own launch. At least, that’s his side of the story. He wants you to manage his launch.
“Sure,” you say.
“Here’s my experience and here’s my terms. It’s $X upfront and $Y on the backend.”
“Whaaaaaat? How much?”, Steve asks?
“You said you want someone to manage your launch, correct?”
“Yeah, but I didn’t think it cost that much…” Steve exclaims.
He counter offers on your front end and back end price. You kindly respond and renegotiate your terms. About three weeks goes by and you don’t hear anything from him. You send him another email and he gets back to you:
“Yeah. I’ve been real busy. I’ve been thinkin’ that I’ll manage the launch instead. Maybe you can do the email sequencing for me. What do you think?”
You blood pressure is rising at this point. You were very clear about your role as a Product Launch Manager. Your client said that they’ve been through PLF and Mass Control. You’re thinking to yourself:
“He must know how much work goes into a launch. Why is he hassling me so much about the price and now my role in the launch? Goddamn it!”
Wishy washy…wishy washy continues the game.
You need the work. You need to feed your family. You keep negotiating. You’re on contract revision number 5 at this point.
Steve, your client becomes even more unstable. He’s wasting your time by cutting deeply into your opportunity costs.
You stay in the game until of course Steve makes his final offer:
“Yeah. I’m gonna have to see some references. I’m not sure you’ve got the experience to charge those fees…”
You know you have the experience. You explained to him what you were going to do and how long you’d be working on his launch. So the real question is:
Did Steve ever really know what the fuck he wanted? In this case: Absolutely not. That’s why Steve is a “wishy washy” client. He supposedly extensively studied launches and yet his behavior painted a very different picture. You, unfortunately, got stuck in his path of trying to figure out what the hell he wanted.
The lesson is simple here:
If you are confident about what you have to offer, than there shouldn’t be any negotiation about price. You make the first offer and wait. If your client says, “But….”, you simply reply, “Fuck off. That’s my price now screw.” You will save the aggravation of attracting the other “Steves” out there that are gonna waste your time with their non-committal behavior.
good luck
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|2010-02-08 11:29:22 Jeff - Booyakak baby!Thanks for chiming in Casey. I especially like this part of your post: "99.99999% of the time these are the people who don't have any money, yet waste your time and energy and demand demand demand that you treat them like a king." I see that this comes from a voice of experience and you have also dealt with wishy washy clients.
Make sure your check out the rest of my "PLM Deal Killer" series and please add some more great comments from experiences you've had in the past.
peace
In dealings with people, not just in business but out in the 'real world' I often find the people who act like your Steve above are the ones with the scarcity or 'f**ked up' mindset.
You see them in restaurants and retail stores and in services business all the time (carpet cleaners for example get a lot of these people), demanding the world be what they want it to be, and demanding the world fullstop.
99.99999% of the time these are the people who don't have any money, yet waste your time and energy and demand demand demand that you treat them like a king.
Thanks for the heads up :)