If you've used your ATM card at a Supermarket in the last 10-days...
You may understand the little analogy below:
It's not the best of analogies
But I think it passes the message pretty okay
So the thing is:
When you shop at a supermarket — and the sales attendant (why is it always women 99% of the time?) scans your items and gives you the total bill...
You instantly hand over your card yea?
She gives you the POS machine
You type your pin,
She activates the payment processor
And you're debited
No arguments.
No attempt to price anything.
Why?
Because you already know you're exchanging money for what you want (or desire...)
And you want those items more than you want to keep the money you just paid to acquire them...
That last line is very important.
And here's how this relates to billing Clients....
When a Client asks you for an invoice
Or how much you charge
You have to make them see how they're exchanging money for what they desire (in this case, sales or generally speaking, results...)
And even better....
They have to desire the potential outcome more than they want to keep the money you're billing them
A good rule of thumb is to always dangle the desired potential outcome before their eyes
Eg:
''So , lets say 100 new customers in 90-days will bring in an extra N15Million in profits for your business, how much would you invest to have that? — and what will this N15Million gain mean to you"
You may think this is too simple
But I do it a lot and I know how it very often helps stir the conversation in the direction that leads to me closing the deal on my terms
You can do this before or after you mention your fee
And it doesn't end there..
When you mention your fee
Don't expect your Client to rationalize it all by themselves...
Break it down (here's what you're getting)
Include the duration
Add a KPI (Especially with corporate clients) — I never really liked this — until I started seeing reason with some of my clients for whom I was creating full-fledged marketing campaigns (Not just a sales letter)
And this:
Include a Contract or service agreement too
Make it abundantly clear what your role is
What their role is
And what happens when anything goes south or east...
This is how you bill Clients
I'm sure you were expecting me to tell you how much you charge Clients...
But I kent tell you exactly how much to charge
Charge what you believe is commensurate with the amount of work or degree of value you're bringing to the table...
And truth be told...
What you bill one client is very often...
Not what you bill another client — especially when the nature of work differs per project.
Some clients will try to negotiate
Some won't
But the trick is to always settle for a price that works best for you
I don't even know if any of this makes any sense
And if it doesn't
Well, at least I tried to write you an email today
Which is better than not writing you at all.
Stay frosty
A.
P.S: Still taking in Copywriting students for the month of April
If you're not in the class already
You can join the new batch here