Beginner's Guide
SELL AND NEGOTIATE CONTINUOUSLY
It's obvious that you have to sell a project and negotiate conditions (among them ''price''). What is
new to many people is that in a web system development project or the support afterwards, you have to
sell and negotiate continuously.
A few examples:
•
Is it done? Can I send my invoice now? ("No, there is still a few issues left to improve…")
•
Support request: change a logo on the site. How much time do you need? ("Ooh, come on you
can't be serious!…")
•
You think it is extra work, your customer doesn't seem to think so. ("It might not be in the RFP, but
I remember very well us discussing this functionality")
Remember that sales is game. The customer should have the overall feeling that he/she won that
game. Give them that feeling and be well-off with the deal at the same time!
To be able to play a game of marbles, you'll need marbles.
How do you get marbles? By signing the contract? No. By sending invoices? No no. By holding back
results. Sometimes…
The main source of credits for your sales game are happiness and money. Don't mix them.
•
Build up credits in the emotional bank account of your relations (See Steven R. Covey
110
). Solve
frustration you might have; you need to be happy in the work relation too!
•
If partial payments have arrived on time, you have credits for new games.
•
Refrain from having too many service hours unpaid. It makes you vulnerable and clears the way
for customers to put you under pressure and/or reopen negotiations. The more they owe you, the
more they might throw in these bullshit arguments to not proceed and pay you. Inappropriate pressure
is coming down on you. But you caused it yourself in the first place. (See: be firm but sympathetic)
DEFINE ROLES AND PLAY THEM!
A customer has several broadly accepted roles: the boss, the end user, the administrator of the web
system, and most important he/she is the judge.
As a literal 'sole' proprietary holder you stand alone as the supplier of the web system. You have to
deliver the system: good, suitable, well documented, within time, within budget en reliable. How fair is
that?
Well, that's not fair at all! Lets have a closer look at what is happening here.
Joomla! 2.5 - Beginner’s Guide
Monday, 30 January 2012! Page 254
110
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Covey