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Kicking myself - I left money on the table - How much have you left?

by Michael Nguyen
13 replies
I'm kicking myself! Shot myself in the foot.

Client was surprised I was only charging ~$800 for a new website as this was a favour to one of my other clients. I can tell he was expecting $1500+. But I'm a nice guy.

I new many days before (phone call), that he wanted to build 2 sites. At no point did I think, "I should charge more for the second site"

There's me in the meeting, going well and I find out, he wants to do 3 sites in total. I said $2400 for 3 sites and at the point, I realized I shot myself in the foot.

I could have said $800 for 1st site and $4,800 for the remaining 2 sites and I'm pretty certain he still would have said yes.

Live and learn. Know your worth.
#kicking #left #money #table
  • Profile picture of the author stone2010
    Don't think about it as you shot yourself on the foot.. you were being honest and charged him what you thought the job was worth and I am sure he will appreciate that... I have a client 2 days ago I gave him a price of $3000 for a website and he shook my hand right away saying I take it because he thought the project was going to be a lot more money. Today he sent me a referral so one more job because of him. So just be honest and charge what the project is worth don't get greedy thinking on how much more money you couldve gotten from your client, think of it you are setting up a long term relationship and I am sure good thing will come out of it
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  • Profile picture of the author Crave Win Marketing
    Think of it as a valuable learning experience. Sometimes it can be hard to judge what a client is willing to pay. I've left money on the table before too, but don't sweat it. It's just part of the game.
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  • Profile picture of the author Arzak
    If it's not too late, maybe you could go back and talk to him and say you made a calculation error and that the other two sites would be $X (just don't raise it by too significant an amount). You could also ask if he knows anyone he could refer to you that could use some services since you gave him a deal.
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    • Profile picture of the author Justin Lavoie
      Originally Posted by Arzak View Post

      If it's not too late, maybe you could go back and talk to him and say you made a calculation error and that the other two sites would be (just don't raise it by too significant an amount). You could also ask if he knows anyone he could refer to you that could use some services since you gave him a deal.
      no dont do that.

      ever.
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    • Profile picture of the author Seemore25101
      Originally Posted by Arzak View Post

      If it's not too late, maybe you could go back and talk to him and say you made a calculation error and that the other two sites would be (just don't raise it by too significant an amount). You could also ask if he knows anyone he could refer to you that could use some services since you gave him a deal.
      Still have yet to get a client... But I would always stick with the price I gave even if it was too low... Just good customer service.
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      • Profile picture of the author Arzak
        Originally Posted by Justin Lavoie View Post

        no dont do that.

        ever.
        Originally Posted by Seemore25101 View Post

        Still have yet to get a client... But I would always stick with the price I gave even if it was too low... Just good customer service.
        I pictured the client being really friendly and understanding! I know someone that's done it a few times, but he also has much higher prices so that might have been a factor since the difference might not have been much to the clients (or they know they'll get results)... I guess it's a risk game . I would try to avoid it too but if I'm certain they would understand, or I made a costly mistake, I would take the chance.
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    • Profile picture of the author Bear Trader
      Originally Posted by Arzak View Post

      If it's not too late, maybe you could go back and talk to him and say you made a calculation error and that the other two sites would be (just don't raise it by too significant an amount). You could also ask if he knows anyone he could refer to you that could use some services since you gave him a deal.


      Sorry but that is pretty lame. I would cancel the deal if someone did that. Whatever happened to integrity? Its not all about money :rolleyes:
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  • Profile picture of the author Justin Lavoie
    It can be so hard to tell sometimes what they want to pay for a website..

    First website I ever asked a price for was about 350-400$, it was more like a hobby at this time, like 12 years ago, everything was soooo much more complicated when you wanted to create quality stuff... you litteraly had to create it lol. no fiverr, no wordpress, no google, no nothing.

    anyways, the guy looked at me and was in disbelief, like I was asking waaaaayy too much, a complete *******.

    Unfortunatly I had been dumb enough to create like 50% of the site with some content, a couple of flash animations and all the bells and whistles BEFORE asking him for a price, like 10-15 hours of my time and a freaking scanner at 200$ to scan is mother fki4/ng logo.

    He never called me back.

    sad story actually.
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  • Profile picture of the author digichik
    Look at it as tuition for the University of Life. You just paid a large sum to learn a valuable life lesson.
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  • Profile picture of the author bizgrower
    1) Lesson learned.

    2) You have one contact person for three sites, so you saved the time and expense it takes to get two additional clients. You will also have saved some time on project management and approvals of deliverables.

    3) He will hopefully realize the deal he got and show his appreciation via bonus or referral. Don't ask for more money because of your error on pricing. Do a great job and feel free to ask for referrals, though.
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    "If you think you're the smartest person in the room, then you're probably in the wrong room."

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  • Profile picture of the author DJL
    Are you kicking yourself with the foot you shot, or standing on that one and kicking with the other?
    Either way, it sounds difficult and painful!
    I can sympathize, as I currently have a sore ankle.
    Originally Posted by Michael Nguyen View Post

    I'm kicking myself! Shot myself in the foot.
    ...
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    None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free.
    --Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Elective Affinities (1809)

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  • Profile picture of the author Jeff Schuman
    Good learning experience. Any of us in sales have done the same thing.
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  • Profile picture of the author Jason Kanigan
    This is how much you should charge for a website.

    And you can easily rework this method for many products or services.
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    >> How To Grow Your Online Business [FREE Training Video, No Opt-In, from 10+ Year Vet]

    >> For Agency Founders: The Fast Shortcut To Selling SEO, Leadgen, Webdesign & Other Services
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