Clients do not understand

[The_Unbeliever]

If you pay peanuts, you get monkeys - but this goes both ways: If you charge peanuts, you'll get "monkeys for clients" as well. You need to price your service properly, and educate the client so he understand what he's paying for. If he doesn't want to pay it, then there's no reason to undercut yourself. Unless you're really desperate for the money.....

...and the punishment which follows naturally thereafter...

 

[The_Unbeliever]

Me: The price for the project we’re talking about will be $XXX.

Client: Really? I had another designer work on this for me last year and he did it for free.

Me: I’m sorry, I can’t work for free. You may want to try going back to him and seeing if he’ll do it for free again this year.

Client: I can’t. He’s no longer in business.

Hmmm.. I also wonder why he's no longer in busines... :twisted:

 

[DevSign]

haha, I must say, in some way, it's very comforting to know that I'm not the only one experiencing these problems....

 

[zippy]

So I can walk into a Toyota showroom and tell them I want a Land Cruiser for R1500? :erm:

Naaaah... the client will have to pay for services rendered. If the client is too cheap, let the client find somebody else to harass.

There is nothing stopping anyone from walking into a Toyota showroom offering R1500 for a Land Cruiser.

The reason clients feel they can ask for such low rates is because they see the mook coming. When you walk into a Toyota showroom or any other motor dealers showroom, you just know who is gonna shaft who here. Its the same with selling software services. You need to project the impression that your sofware is worth loads. The fact that clients offer low rates means they believe that the developer is a *****, and while said developer might know his/her stuff when it comes to coding, they know didly-squat about the art of negotiation and selling.

 

[DevSign]

Zippy, I disagree TOTALLY.... potential clients think, building a site is just a click and a save right? and because so many people are advertising "R1000" for a 10 page site, and you quote, lets say R3000, obviously the client will not be interested in the R3000 quote....

If you go for an operation, and the doctor says, we need to do this, this and that, and it's gonna cost so much....obviously you have no idea what he needs to do, even if he explains it to you....so really, explaining to a potential client why it's costing R3000, if the client is not willing to pay R3000, then HE WILL NOT PAY R3000

 

[zippy]

If you where a good salesperson you would be able convince the client that the price you charge is value for money.

This is the challenge faced by small business. They can't afford a dedicated sales and marketing team, and suffer because of it.

They are many software companies that are able to charge rates which allow them to make a profit.