Cliffnotes: My random thoughts about negotiating as a woman creative
Ask not, have not
In a past life, part of my job was negotiating with overseas markets to get the best wholesale prices for huge product orders. I’m not new to this, I’m true to this!
In my original letter I was going to walk through a current negotiation but I wanted to protect the anonymity of the client (maybe it’s time to turn on paid subscription again?). Instead, here are my thoughts on the negotiation in general.
Not asking for what you want is making you resentful.
Getting pushback and rejections doesn’t scare me. What scares me is leaving money on the table because I didn’t ask. A lot of women just don’t ask. Many women overthink their rates and create entire storylines for why their client cannot pay their higher rates without even asking them.
So what happens? Women find themselves on the short end of the stick, possibly resenting their clients. Not because their clients are terrible, but because they haven’t taken personal responsibility over their own careers and money.
Negotiations are quite normal. We may not use the word negotiation, but we’re bargaining daily to find the best solutions that work for us. We often negotiate with our time, energy and money whether we’re aware of it or not. This doesn’t make you greedy, selfish or insensitive. Instead it makes you acutely aware of what you need and want. So why would business and money negotiations be any different?
I guarantee you’re not charging enough.
I can share all the statistics and behavioral studies around women and money but you already know, women are not charging enough for their work.
Whatever your rate, double it. I’ve learned the hard way that when a client quickly agrees to a rate, chances are it was probably too low.
I thought we were “friction-maxxing”? Invite the friction. Charge more and just see what happens!
Feelings are not Facts
When it comes to negotiations, “I feel” statements really mess women up. Mainly because a client isn’t thinking about how you feel about your rates… their priority is how does this offer affect the business’ bottom line? At the end of the day, your feelings are not your client’s responsibility.
I’ve had plenty of conversations where women will overthink their rates to death. They’ll create entire storylines for why they shouldn’t charge more. Excuses I’ve heard: this job offer was from a friend of a friend, it was a last minute request, I’ve worked with them for x amount of years.
Some tough love… no one gives a f*ck.
The questions that need to be answered are:
What is the scope or ask?
Who is the client? This provides context: you’ll charge differently for a private equity business vs a small business with less than 2 years in operation.
What is the project duration?
What is the budget?
Nothing more, nothing less. Once you have this information, you can objectively ask for your rate.
Make it easy for your client to make a decision. You’re the expert.
Once you know the ask, your job is to create an offer that (1) covers the scope (2) makes it easy for the client to make a decision.
Lailani - The Creative Plug said “one of the most underrated forms of care is making life easier for people,” and this is a great business principle.
No one likes being confused and left with more questions to ask. When it comes to negotiations, this looks like offering 2-3 options (or less) that are easy to understand and follow.
I’m currently in the middle of usage renewal negotiations and I have to practice what I preach.
When a client first approached me, they wanted a myriad of options, which I knew would lead to confusion for the both of us. I asked for clarification (sometimes you’ll need to), asking for what they really needed.
From there I presented 2 options. When a prospect approaches you, two things are already true: they’re interested to work with you and they anticipate they’re going to pay you. The question is does it work within their budget parameters?
Negotiation = Creative Problem Solving
At the end of the day, negotiation is creative problem solving. You and the client are trying to find a solution that works for the both of you.
You’re not a “bad” person if you ask for more. You’re not greedy or on track to be an evil billionaire for asking for an additional $1,000. I rather you be scared than broke. Ask scared and just see what happens!