A close friend and mentor, Dominick DeJoy of Osric Digital, just texted this to me:
Have been dealing with some freelancers who let me abuse their time and solved my problems without getting paid when I totally would have paid hundreds of dollars to get my problems solved.
What does closing mean? It means directing requests for help during consultative sales to a purchase. Alternatively described as framing a purchase decision as the solution to their request for help.
He texted this to me for a reason, as he knows I’ve made this mistake in the past.
Like a frog slowly being boiled, it can be hard to draw a line with clients who continually ask for items out of scope. One quick piece of free work leads to another and another and another. The favor turns into being taken advantage of, and money is left on the table for the service worker.
I asked my friend why he thinks these freelancers let him abuse their time and solved his problems without being paid, as he first wrote.
Dominick’s response:
Scared of conflict. Too agreeable.
Articulated too well. Anybody who’s done this knows exactly what Dominick means.
This is a short piece, but if this is something you’ve done with any type of sales, not just service work, remember these words.
Nobody judges you if you value yourself and try to get what you’re worth. Savvy business people know most are afraid to ask for money, and their charities are only to professional philanthropies and political parties.
The people who are respected the most are the ones who are willing to draw a line and get what they deserve. These are the ones who end up winning, and society always gravitates to the winners.
Don’t be forgotten.
