Rate Flexibility and Women (#17)
Coach Leesa talks to 4 women about the reasons why female entrepreneurs discount their prices more than men and how they can move beyond rate flexibility in order to build profitable businesses.
Special thanks goes out to Roxanne Ravenel, Rheba Estante, Doris Shannon and Donna Messer for their participation.
Click the Arrow Below to Listen
Points Discussed
- The one thing that prevents women from charging their full fees everytime.
- Why setting your boundaries will always ensure you'll have happy clients (and a full bank account).
- Who you should blame before you agree to discount your prices.
- Why you should (or should not) list your rates on your website.
- The ultimate consensus on whether to barter your services (or not).
- How to handle 2 common price objections with flair and grace.
- The best way to get a testimonial from a happy client without pulling teeth.
- What you should include in a testimonial that will convince a prospect that you're worth your price.
Other Ways to Listen
Subscribe to the Podcast Feed
Download the MP3 (24MB)
Show Resources
Rate flexibility article in Globe & Mail
Donna Messer's ConnectUs
Roxanne Ravenel's SOHO Support Solutions
Doris Shannon's Retirement Success Coaching Program
Rheba Estante
Join the discussion! Leave your feedback in the comments section or call 206-202-0256 and record your comments.
Technorati Tags: Leesa Barnes
posted by Leesa Barnes @ 7:30 PM
6 Comments:
Hey, Cubicle Divas!
Just got sucked in by Leesa's ezine alert and I must tell you, I thoroughly enjoyed listening in on this discussion.
First, it was great to hear Leesa's and Roxanne's voices live, as well as be "introduced" virtually to Donna and Doris.
Now for my own comments.
I publish what I call "ballpark rates" for my copywriting services. To Roxanne's point, the visible prices give the reader something to go on; and to Donna's point, I have some leeway to work out an arrangement that makes the best use of their budget and mine.
As far barter: I avoid it! Someone on your call (sorry, forget who) brought up a great point that money quantifies the value in a symbolic way and I agree. Why mess with a perfectly good method of exchange! This is something I blogged about recently so yes, I hear you loud and clear on that point. If I must be blunt, I really think that people who are the most eager to barter are those "taker" types who have been blessed with very domineering personalities. I try to steer clear of such people.
Well... I've been learning the same lessons out here in NJ that you ladies in Canada have, so it was great to be able to identify.
Leesa - thanks for offering the podcast, and have a terrific Thanksgiving!
Dina at Wordfeeder.com
PS - Oops, I think I made a holiday faux pas. According to sources found on Google, Canada's Thanksgiving was a month ago.
Well... my bad. But I hope it was happy!
No worries, yesterday was a happy day for most Canadians, especially those who do most of their business with Americans, like I do. Whenever the US Thanksgiving rolls around, I know that my phone will be quiet, so I take the time to catch up on some tasks, plan for the upcoming week and get a jump start on projects that have been lying around for some time.
And thanks for your honesty concerned the rate flexibility debate.
Any others want to weigh in with their thoughts?
Hey Leesa, I just tried to subscribe in iTunes and it looks like your feed might be down. I used this one:
http://feeds.feedburner.com/cubicledivas
It might just be a temporary thing, but wanted to give you a heads-up. Thanks!
What a beautiful dialog...on so many levels.
Perspective is so powerful.
Having been in business for myself for many years I would share that only in the last two years have I really started to charge for time that I previously would have discounted.
Strength in negotiation has to do more with who is willing to walk away than gender...;-)
It seems to me that if someone enters a negotiation seeing that they are at a disadvantage then they will be, whether or not they are a woman.
Not to mention that the focus of the negotiations, for that person, will most likely be based in fear.
Enjoyed...;-)
James
Hi there,
Just found this podcast. Very cool. Are there more in the works?
Just wanted to say that as a web designer, I have often found men charging way less than the going rates for their services too. Freelance bidding sites show this easily. Usually they are young, and seem to be living at home, or fresh out of school, so maybe we can view it as a right of passage for new entrepreneurs who are willing to bid low so that they can build up their portfolios.
Hope to hear more.
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