Can I Get it Cheaper… huh, huh, huh?

can i get it cheaper
Photo by Vladislav Reshetnyak from Pexels

Recently I sent out a mailer to my Agency’s client list about something that has been grinding my nuts for a while now. I have decided to make this a post as I think more people should take note of this.

I am changing the content slightly to fit a more generic and broader audience; however, the gist of it will remain the same.

This will be a quick and mostly dirty little guide, rant, piece… call it what you will regarding the massive amount of queries we (at the Agency) get from people wanting everything for basically nothing.

No more dammit! I am putting my foot down today.

Seriously though, if I had a $1 for every person asking me if they can have my services, for next to nothing, I will be able to buy that Lego Batman Car set that I have been eyeing at Toy Kingdom.

This is what I received from a client just recently. I quote…

“Hello Can you give me a good price for views? In Poland, someone has an offer of 1 million – 1800 zł (428 USD)”

Argh! The bane of my existence!

With that, I have decided to just get the proverbial elephant out of the room and make a few things clear. I may or may not refer to some competitors, it all depends on how things go.

Goddammit, let’s just get started, shall we…!?

I own and operate a Social Media Agency, and I have been doing this whole Social Media thing for a while now. Quite a while to be honest and have a pretty good grasp on what is going on this wonderfully volatile industry we find ourselves in.

As I mentioned above, I get BOMBARDED by people, mostly Indians (remember the name dropping?) who demand everything for practically nothing.

While I am a fan of negotiations (or I should say that my girlfriend is), for the love of God, please know what you are negotiating for.

I recently bought a new car. Fancy, Schmancy 2017 BMW M140i and what not. Here, lemme show you.

Picture Time!!

So what. Why am I telling you and showing you this? Simple. When I wrote off my Volvo, I had no choice but to find a new car.

More Picture Time!!

Initially wanting to buy the Audi S3 Sportback, I didn’t go to BMW and say, “Hey BMW Sales Dude, I can get the Audi S3 for $10,000 cheaper than the BMW. Give me an immediate discount.”.

That would be idiotic, and the sales person would have laughed at me. It’s not a direct comparison. Had I gone to another BMW dealership, saying the same thing… different story!

My point here being that when you try to negotiate, compare apples with apples.

I see far too many people do this. Be it on the internet or in the real outside world where all the keyboard warriors dare not go.

Don’t make an ass of yourself and compare a sound system to a bloody toaster.

Let me specifically talk about Social Media Services since that is my speciality and I know a shitton about them.

I have made a lot of mistakes, and I have learned a lot throughout my years as a Waiter. A Training Advisor for a College. A Kirby Salesman (for like 2 days). A Barman. A Salad Chopping Dude (Working Holiday Anyone?). A Door – 2 – Door Sales Person (Hated every Microsecond). A Developer. A Helpdesk Agent. An Implementation Consultant. A Project Manager. An Integrations Manager and finally owning and operating my own successful business online.

For me personally, quality and transparency trump everything else in business. That’s my thing.

For lack of a better example, unfortunately in my industry, 90% of the so-called “suppliers” resell these low-quality services and they know ABSOLUTELY nothing about what they are selling.

They then find themselves at my proverbial (so many proverbs today!) doorstep, wanting whatever it is I sell for next to nothing. Then when asked about the analytics or stats or whatever, they are at a loss for words. Sigh…

Long rant to get to a short point really, but please person reading this, do not only yourself a favour but also the soul who’s time you are going to waste the courtesy of at least knowing what it is that you are getting vs. what you are wanting.

From there, by all means, let the numbers do the talking. This goes for pretty much anything in life..

You owe it to yourself and your client to do the same.

Frustrated with the crazy that goes on inside my head, I decided to give myself over to putting proverbial pen to paper, in the digital sense. I love to write. I might not do it often, but boy when I do, I let loose. Techno Geek at heart with a passion for animals. I am Ru and this is my story.