"I'm talking to people charging half your price..."

How to own your pricing

Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash

I was on a discovery call the other day with a writer looking for help with a book proposal. This person was a top expert in their field and the author of a number of books, but they were trying to make a big leap up in terms of audience and reach. They finally had the idea they felt could break out into wider distribution and they were looking for guidance on how to do it.

They had a draft of a proposal that was 90 pages long (including sample chapters and appendix), and it was not getting traction with agents. One agent rejection said, “This is a great idea and an exciting project, but I don’t have the bandwidth to do the revisions the proposal needs.”

The writer was thinking the proposal needed a bit of clean-up, a little tweak. My initial scan of the material indicated something more like an overhaul. I felt that work needed to be done on the book’s structure, audience, positioning, messaging, and even the teaching framework being presented.

I sent a summary of my thoughts and quoted a price of $10,000 for three months of intensive work.

The writer and I got on a zoom call and had a productive conversation about the project. They were receptive to my critique and to doing a revision. We talked about the idea and the marketplace positioning. We talked about how I work and what the outcome of our work would and would not be.

After about 50 minutes, the writer said, "This sounds fantastic and I love your energy and process. I would really like to work with you, but I’m talking to other people who are half your price. They said that because I have already done so much work, they can charge a much lower fee. Would you be willing to lower your price?”

Here is what I felt:

Oh hell no!

I already felt the fee was too low for the amount of work I would be doing and the value I would be adding to the project. I have a process for developing a book proposal and I had skipped over two steps I should have included in the scope of work.

Why did I come in with a fee I knew would be too low? After all this time coaching and teaching other people to make a process and stick to it, why I would do this? Dear reader, I am busy. I am distracted. I made a mistake. I am human.

So in addition to the hell no resolve not to lower the price, I felt upset that I hadn’t followed my well-crafted and time-tested process.

What I did not feel was resentment to the writer for asking about the fee or admitting they were looking at other coaches. It is a big investment, and it is their right to ask and their right to look.

Why my feeling even matters:

Being aware of what works or doesn’t work for you in business is the only way you can make peace and progress— and that incudes awareness of how you feel about money.

When you are comfortable with what you are charging for the service you are providing, you don’t need to bring emotion into it. You don’t need to enter into any kind of negotiation.

Here is what I said:

I did not equivocate. I did not waver. I said, “No, I am not willing to lower my price.”

Then I stated why. You don’t have to explain your fees if you don’t want to, but I felt it was important in this situation because there wa sa myth I wanted to dispel. I said, “My price accurately reflects the amount of work that I will be doing on your project and the value I will be adding. The fact that you have done so much work is actually what makes it a more difficult project. There is a lot that needs to be unwound. I believe you built a book proposal on top of a faulty foundation.”

My job on a discovery call is to help a potential client decide if I am the right coach for them and for me to decide if I want to work with them on their project. It’s not PLEASE BUY MY THING. It’s about FIT. And so I said:

“If you don’t think that the proposal needs the kind of revision I have outlined, you should not choose to work with me. You should work with one of the coaches who is willing to clean up what is here.”

Then I spoke again about outcome. We’s already had this discussion but I wanted to reinforce the point. I said:

“I cannot guarantee that you will make your money back, but I CAN guarantee that you will have a proposal you are excited about and proud to pitch — and I believe that is what will give you the best chance of getting the outcome you desire.”

I concluded the call by asking for the job. I said, “I would be delighted to work with you on this if you decide I am the right choice. Think about it and let me know.”

That last thing I said was not entirely true:

I was beginning to doubt that this writer would be a good fit for me. I don’t like talking people into working with me. I don’t like a long back and forth in the discovery phase. I find that the people who equivocate at this stage tend not to be satisfied. I was starting to worry.

So why did I say it, then — the thing about being delighted?

Dear reader, I am busy. I was following my process, where I normally would be delighted to work with someone who had made it that far through the filters I have in place. I made a mistake. I am human.

What was the writer’s reaction?

They said they would think about it and get back to me.

And they did. They got back to me with even more excitement about working with me and moving forward— but also with a whole lot of additional questions about how to think about and sort out the foundational aspects of the book that we had identified were missing. They wanted to have another chat about all of that before we started working together. They wondered if I could skim the whole proposal before said chat. But that is the work of book coaching, and I had already given this writer a fair amount of it on our initial call.

I was smart enough, this time, to wise up to my own process.

What did I do?

I got centered.

I said, “Upon reflection, I feel that the best course of action would be to start at the beginning of my process, with the Blueprint, where we sort out the fundamentals of a book. From there, you should be able to effectively built back a book proposal, which you could do with me, with one of my certified coaches I handpick for you, or on your own. But you’ll have the problems I’ve identified sorted out.”

I even sent a free download of my Blueprint for a Nonfiction Book book.

What they say?

Nothing, so far.

Here is what I feel:

Relieved that I got back into integrity with my process.

Proud that I stood my ground and spoke my truth.

Ready the next time not to get derailed.

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