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It’s fairly normal for customers to try to negotiate schedule and price. Don’t feel disrespected. A good buyer will take whatever you are ready to give them. No

It’s fairly normal for customers to try to negotiate schedule and price. Don’t feel disrespected. A good buyer will take whatever you are ready to give them. No boundaries are being crossed. It’s therefore the role of the salesperson/whoever is in charge of the client at this point to set clear boundaries. It doesn’t have to be extremely adversarial. You have to understand why your customers is trying to push there in case there is something to address - for example if they think you are underdelivering that needs to be worked on - then explain what can move to find a solution - typically reducing scope or raising the budget to go faster - and stand firm on what can’t. If you can’t emotionally deal with this process which is a job in and of itself you need to put someone who can in between you and your customer.

mactavish88 4y ago
In previous jobs where we were negotiating with non-technical people, they'd actually negotiate at the business requirement level: "if we take out features B and C, how much would that reduce the cost?" That to me seems like a far more reasonable negotiation strategy. To tell someone how they should be doing their job, I find, is disrespectful. But I agree, putting someone more emotionally capable between the team and the customer is probably the best way forward there.
- WastingMyTime89 4y ago
  > To tell someone how they should be doing their job, I find, is disrespectful. You are taking things too personally here. As a consultant I have been working fairly regularly in the past few years on large software projects for some of my customers. That has involved being in charge of formally setting business requirements and negotiating price and schedule for scope modifications with their providers. I will systematically challenge any provider planning for a few reasons: - If they fold straight away, it’s a free win for me and I have children to feed. - I will myself pad a planning when I am in the reverse position to give me leeway in negotiation and I don’t want to leave all of that on the table. - Keeping a moderate amount of pressure on my providers will help me in futur negotiations. I want them to leave the table feeling I made some concessions. - Having my providers be late is extremely advantageous for me. On large projects it’s a quasi-certainty that at some point they are going to complain about scope creeps or delays in writing the specs and ask for money. If they delivered late, I have something to push back with especially if penalties are involved. - I am also systematically negotiating hard with companies which did themselves do it. If finding a price with your company was a pain, I am likely to retaliate on scope and schedule. If you are strictly working on the technical side, you are probably not privy to most that. A significant part of what’s happening might not even be related to you or the quality of your estimation at all.

mactavish88 4y ago

In previous jobs where we were negotiating with non-technical people, they'd actually negotiate at the business requirement level: "if we take out features B and C, how much would that reduce the cost?" That to me seems like a far more reasonable negotiation strategy. To tell someone how they should be doing their job, I find, is disrespectful. But I agree, putting someone more emotionally capable between the team and the customer is probably the best way forward there.

WastingMyTime89 4y ago
> To tell someone how they should be doing their job, I find, is disrespectful. You are taking things too personally here. As a consultant I have been working fairly regularly in the past few years on large software projects for some of my customers. That has involved being in charge of formally setting business requirements and negotiating price and schedule for scope modifications with their providers. I will systematically challenge any provider planning for a few reasons: - If they fold straight away, it’s a free win for me and I have children to feed. - I will myself pad a planning when I am in the reverse position to give me leeway in negotiation and I don’t want to leave all of that on the table. - Keeping a moderate amount of pressure on my providers will help me in futur negotiations. I want them to leave the table feeling I made some concessions. - Having my providers be late is extremely advantageous for me. On large projects it’s a quasi-certainty that at some point they are going to complain about scope creeps or delays in writing the specs and ask for money. If they delivered late, I have something to push back with especially if penalties are involved. - I am also systematically negotiating hard with companies which did themselves do it. If finding a price with your company was a pain, I am likely to retaliate on scope and schedule. If you are strictly working on the technical side, you are probably not privy to most that. A significant part of what’s happening might not even be related to you or the quality of your estimation at all.