subject: Can We Talk About Money Please? [print this page] Some are entrepreneurs who spend far too long talking about client needs... only to discover there is no budget to pay for their services. Others are salaried professionals, whose pay bears little relationship to the value they bring.
I have met a lot of under-rewarded people during the last number of months and there seems to be four issues that occur repeatedly, but there is one that tops the list every time. Whether it's the secretary whose contribution is unrecognised, or the self-employed consultant who is expected to spec out the project with no guarantee of being engaged, there's a lot of "being-taken-for-granted" out there.
By far the biggest problem seems to be the difficulty of talking about money at all. Never mind negotiation skills, or expectations, or closing techniques or overcoming objections. The single biggest problem for many brilliant people is that of raising the subject in the first place. And continuing to do so as often as it takes to get a result.
Now these people are far from stupid. Often, they are not shy, either. In other aspects of their work they demonstrate creativity, persistence, courage, dedication, honest communication... all the skills needed to succeed. So why the difficulty in talking about money?
For some, the problem seems to be cultural. For many whose values centre on service, there is often a conflict with getting one's own needs met. For still others, the issue is one of confidence, and money is just another of the ways that lack of self-worth is hurting.
Whatever the issue is, what's the cost of not dealing with it? You can quickly estimate this for yourself: ask yourself by what percentage are you fee under-rewarded, calculate the annual net effect, and multiply by the number of years (past and future) for which the effect will persist. Ouch!
I've already covered some great advice with regard to negotiation, but none of this can work without the ability to raise the subject in the first place.
If you were the employer or the client, would you want your employee / consultant to remain silently resentful? Or would you want them to ask you "Can we talk about money?" Professionals cannot possibly charge appropriately for services if the request sticks in their throat and not having the resources to help change it.
by: Paul Davis
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