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Discountsareoftennotnecessaryandothertypesofcompaniesseldomofferthem.CHOWTORESPONDTOFRIENDSREQUESTSHOWTORESPONDTOAGENCYREQUESTSASUMMARYOurbusinesssuccessisbasedoncarefulestimatingandkeepingourcostsandmar-ginsverylow.Becauseofthisweareabletoofferafewselectclientshighqualityworkatlowerthanaverageprices.Unfortunatelythedownsideisthatthisdoesntallowusmuchroomfornegotiation.Someofourcompetitorshavearticiallyhighnormalpricesthattheyseldomcharge.Thisallowsthemtooffertheirclientswhatappeartobedis-counts.Weneverengageinthispractice.Withusourlowestpriceisalwaysourregularpriceandalwaysverycompeti-tive.Weprideourselvesinpro-vidingtheverybestworkatthelowestpossiblepricestoavarietyofclientswithdifferentneeds.Ifweweretoofferdiscountstocertainclientswewouldhavetomakeupforitbychargingotherclientsmore.Wedontthinkthisisanethicalbusinesspractice.Idonthaveanagencydis-countperse.Howevermycostofobtainingnewbusinessisnor-mallyintherangeof10ofajobsbillingssoIwouldbewill-ingtodiscountmynormalfeesbythisamount.Ourmarginsaretoolow.Wetreatallclientsandjobsthesame.Itwillraisepricestoourotherclients.Pleadbusyness.Doitasafavororforbarter.BrmspositioningthinkWal-Mart.Oneormoreofthethreefol-lowingresponseswilldeectmostdiscountrequests.Dontbeafraidtocom-mentonyourlegitimateneedtomakeareasonableprot.Anorganizationthatcantappreci-atethiswillbeproblematicinmorewaysthanjustpricing.Noclientworthpursuingwillaskyoutotakeabathontheirpro-jects.Differentiateyourselffromrmsthatreadilyprovidediscountsespeciallythosethathavehigherthannor-malpricingjusttomakedis-countingpossible.Whenaservicermmaintainsareasonableprotmarginreducingpricestosomeclientsrequiresraisingthemtootherstocompensate.Forexamplegivingnot-for-protsadiscountwouldmeanraisingpricestocorporateclients.Notonlyisthisunfairitmakesarmlesscompetitiveoverall.ForreasonsstatedpreviouslyseeWerefriendsonpage5itisoftenbetternottoacceptworkfromfriendswhetherdis-countedornot.Indicatethatasmuchasyouappreciatethethoughtandwouldliketohelpoutyouaresnowedunder.Apologizeandoffersuggestionsonotherrmsthatmightbeabletotakeontheproject.Orifthisisinappropriateagreetoacceptitbutsaythatitwillhavetobeputonthebackburneruntilworkforregularclientshasbeencompleted.Thismighttakeawhile.Evenaheavilydiscount-edbillfriendspricewillprobablyappearexcessivepar-ticularlyamongthosewhohavenoexperiencepurchasingpro-fessionalservices.Sokeepingfeesoutoftheequationcharg-ingonlyforexpensesortradingservicesforservicesisoftenthebestwaytoacceptafriendsproject.Giventhatothercreativermssubcontractingtoyoursexpecttoaddareasonablemarkuptoyourbillaspecialreducedfeemakessense.Assumingthatprotcanbemadeatthisfeetherearetwoapproachestoconsider.Oneapproachistohavetworatesonedirect-clienttheotheragency.Thinkofitasretailandwholesalepricing.TheotherapproachistosayIneithercasebesuretomakethearrangementcondi-tionalongettingpaidpromptlywithin30daysdespitewhentheagencysclientpaysthem.Dontbenaiveorgettakenadvantageofbecauseofyourrmssize.Mostclient-requesteddiscountsarenotinyourself-interestandareoftenunneces-saryevenwheretheyappearcustomary.Providingthemisrareamonglargercompaniesandthoseinotherelds.Inafewsituationshoweverprovidingadiscountedpriceistoyouradvantage.Learntorec-ognizethedifferencebetweenwhatcanhurtyourrminthelongrunandwhatcanbenetit.Beforeagreeingtooroffer-ingadiscountgooverallthereasonsproandconabove.Specicallyaskyourselfwhetheryoureallywanttosubsidizeanotherorganizationhoweverwellintentionedtheyareoutofyourprots.Oristhereanoff-settingcompellingreasonforyoutodoso.Finallykeepinmindthatgiv-ingaclientadiscountwillsetaprecedentandprobablybeexpectedinthefuture.Whatiftheirbusinessorthatfromoth-erstheyreferturnsintoalargeportionofyourincomeDoyouwanttoencouragethegrowthofless-protablebusiness7CreativeBusinessMarchApril2008