This is a question that every business owner gets and how you respond to it is more important than you might think. The sign of a true professional is how prepared they are. This is particularly true when a client rings you for an urgent job and wants a price there and then. Your ability to respond to this quickly and confidently (and of course, accurately) can put you in pole position for the gig.
The trick is not to be fazed when a client needs an urgent response. Whist you might prefer the luxury of crafting a proper quote, this isn’t always possible in today’s fast-paced business world so the more you know your prices and the flexibility you have, the better.
Knowing your worth is key to this. You will already know your daily rate and the experience in the business you are in will give you an approximate idea of how long a job may take. When a client rings you and wants to know your best price, then the more ultra-familiar you are with your rates, the more professional you will sound. By all means, follow-up with an email afterwards, but if you ummm and arrrrr over what price you’re likely to charge, then the client will likely go elsewhere.
A good tip is to have a list of questions to ask when clients are asking for a price and to know these questions off by heart. There’s nothing worse than going back to a client later with a question that you haven’t asked so have a think about the questions your clients usually ask, and be ready to answer them there and then rather than doing email-tennis back and forth later.
The most important thing is that you are confident with your price. Don’t sell yourself short and make sure that you’ve estimated correctly the amount of time the project is likely to take, so that you can give a reasonably accurate quote.
Finally, follow-up. Once you’ve backed up your verbal quote in email, then give the client no longer than 48-hours to get back to you. 48-hours is plenty of time for a client to consider your price and of course, it pays to be pro-active to seal the deal.
