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How do you professionally say no? This is one of the harder things for me when starting on a contract. I dont want to appear pushy and turn them away nor inter

by hu_me 14y ago

How do you professionally say no? This is one of the harder things for me when starting on a contract. I dont want to appear pushy and turn them away nor interested in going back to negotiating. Ps. I am from south asia so I also think there is a expectation of a need for haggling.

Alan01252 14y ago
My response is something like this. " I feel that my standard rate is justified due to my knowledge, the quality of the code I produce, my flexibility and my ability to learn and pick up new skills and technologies quickly. I have other clients who are paying my full daily rate and they very satisfied with the work I produce. I completely understand if this is non negotiable. And I realise asking for an increase on the rate you offered may mean I may miss this opportunity to work with some exciting new projects, technologies and people which would be a great shame. " Any feedback on the above would be greatly appreciated.
- tptacek 14y ago
  "Hey, thanks for asking. Here's the deal: we work on a daily rate, because most of our projects demand our full attention for at least the majority of a day. In order to be fair to all our customers and to keep things manageable for us, we bill in one-day increments." I don't really see why I'd say more than that. If a client kept pushing after that, I'd start saying things like "I understand; let's figure out how we can get your work bundled up efficiently into a day" (or, in my case, more likely: I'd bill a day for the time-consuming stuff and just let the single hours go).
  - Alan01252 14y ago
    Thanks Thomas, really appreciate your feedback on this and the rest of the advice you've given in the comments too.
rapind 14y ago
Culture can hugely impact your rate and flexibility. If your client belongs to a haggling culture and it's safe to say they haggle over everything (fairly common in some cultures), then I would recommend adjusting your base rate to compensate for the discount you will end up making. I know if you try to sell a product in some cultures and refuse to budge on the price it could be considered an insult.
jakejake 14y ago
Basically I just tell them the truth - that the project doesn't seem to be a good fit for my business right now. If they insist on knowing why, you can tell them the risk vs profit factor is too high for you at this stage. If they want to know what that means, you can just say that you don't think you can give a good estimate of the total project time/cost so you don't feel comfortable bidding on it. If they're reasonable, they may agree to just go hourly then upon hearing a reasonable explanation. Sometimes they'll try to negotiate on the price. I tend to be very wary of clients that try to negotiate rates though because even if you get your rate you'll find yourself later arguing about hours, features, etc. Your rate can effectively be lowered if they pressure you into feeling that you are not working fast enough and bill 1 hour for 2 hours of actual work. People who like to haggle tend to haggle over every detail to get a bargain - not just price.
- HeyLaughingBoy 14y ago
  Wish I had seen this post just an hour ago :-) I turned down a prospective client for that very reason. I said basically the same thing, but you phrased it better than I did.

by hu_me 14y ago

Alan01252 14y ago

My response is something like this. " I feel that my standard rate is justified due to my knowledge, the quality of the code I produce, my flexibility and my ability to learn and pick up new skills and technologies quickly. I have other clients who are paying my full daily rate and they very satisfied with the work I produce. I completely understand if this is non negotiable. And I realise asking for an increase on the rate you offered may mean I may miss this opportunity to work with some exciting new projects, technologies and people which would be a great shame. " Any feedback on the above would be greatly appreciated.

tptacek 14y ago
"Hey, thanks for asking. Here's the deal: we work on a daily rate, because most of our projects demand our full attention for at least the majority of a day. In order to be fair to all our customers and to keep things manageable for us, we bill in one-day increments." I don't really see why I'd say more than that. If a client kept pushing after that, I'd start saying things like "I understand; let's figure out how we can get your work bundled up efficiently into a day" (or, in my case, more likely: I'd bill a day for the time-consuming stuff and just let the single hours go).
- Alan01252 14y ago
  Thanks Thomas, really appreciate your feedback on this and the rest of the advice you've given in the comments too.

rapind 14y ago

Culture can hugely impact your rate and flexibility. If your client belongs to a haggling culture and it's safe to say they haggle over everything (fairly common in some cultures), then I would recommend adjusting your base rate to compensate for the discount you will end up making. I know if you try to sell a product in some cultures and refuse to budge on the price it could be considered an insult.

jakejake 14y ago

Basically I just tell them the truth - that the project doesn't seem to be a good fit for my business right now. If they insist on knowing why, you can tell them the risk vs profit factor is too high for you at this stage. If they want to know what that means, you can just say that you don't think you can give a good estimate of the total project time/cost so you don't feel comfortable bidding on it. If they're reasonable, they may agree to just go hourly then upon hearing a reasonable explanation. Sometimes they'll try to negotiate on the price. I tend to be very wary of clients that try to negotiate rates though because even if you get your rate you'll find yourself later arguing about hours, features, etc. Your rate can effectively be lowered if they pressure you into feeling that you are not working fast enough and bill 1 hour for 2 hours of actual work. People who like to haggle tend to haggle over every detail to get a bargain - not just price.

HeyLaughingBoy 14y ago
Wish I had seen this post just an hour ago :-) I turned down a prospective client for that very reason. I said basically the same thing, but you phrased it better than I did.