November 6th, 2007 by Cristina Favreau
Do you offer a free consultation, complimentary evaluation or other type of no-charge offering (where you’re actually performing a service to a potential client)?
Like many coaches, I offer a one-time sample coaching session. When I first started coaching, I even coached a select few for 6 months, at no charge, in exchange for meaningful testimonials.
So when a client told me today that she has been offering her services free of charge in order to get more experience, build her confidence and receive referrals, I understood where she was coming from. I didn’t let her off the hook that easily, though. I explained to her that this month I’d help her reduce the number hours not being paid, replacing them with paying clients.
I hadn’t realized how serious my client’s situation was until later on, when she told me she has been servicing 3 “clients” for 1 year as a “volunteer” and she has just recently taken on 2 more “clients.”
When I heard that, our conversation came to a screeching halt. The intense part of my personality grabbed firm hold and wouldn’t let go! Every inch of my body wanted to scream “Are you crazy????!!! Wake up!!!“
This woman needed my help. So when I regained my composure, I calmly asked her to describe the conditions surrounding these “clients”. She said they really needed her services, but when she told them her fee was $600 a month, they declined, saying they couldn’t afford it. Her counteroffer? She’d do the work anyways, but for free; if they had any referrals, to please send them her way.
No time line. No expiry date. No conditions. No contract. Nothing.
OUCH! Not only is she not making money, she’s severely hurting her credibility. I came up with a role-playing exercise to powerfully illustrate the gravity of her situation, in hopes she would get the point. Please play along.
I set up the scene by asking her to imagine me at her door, promoting my housecleaning services. It went something like this:
Me: Hi. My name is Cristina. I’m offering my housecleaning services in your neighborhood. I charge $15 an hour and it will take me about 4 hours to clean your house each week, for a total of $240 per month. Are you interested?
Client (after some prompting to realistically stay in character): I’d love to have the help around the house, but it’s a little beyond my budget right now.
Me: OK. How about I do it for free?
My client, no longer playing the role, said “I’d say a firm NO! How can I trust her?” BAM! Point made.
What would have been your reaction? Personally, I would have been a little skeptical, but if someone offered to clean my house for free, I think I’d jump on the opportunity to get as much free cleaning as possible.
This is exactly what these “clients” of hers are doing… Taking her for a ride.
Are you spending more time giving away your services in the name of getting more experience, confidence, referrals, testimonials or for whatever reason, than you are servicing paying clients? If so, the harsh truth is you are not a business person, you have a hobby.
The message you’re sending is “I’m not really good at this yet. You’d be doing me a huge favor by pretending to be my client. I promise you’ll like me, just let me do this for you for free.“
Desperation does not endear you. It just looks bad.
Do you need a reality check? Call me! I’ll give you 45 minutes of my time, but after that you have to pay my fee!!
Get out there and and start showing the world what you’re worth!
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You are SO right!
Cristina,
All I have to say is…you are so right!
It does look desperate when a business owner especially a entrepreneur GIVES AWAY their services for free continuously. It is hard to gain credibility for yourself when all your clients are not paying you. That just makes your business a hobby and that is something we are not striving for.
What makes what you do NOT important enough to these people not to be able to pay for your services? If they do not have the money at the time, move on to market to those people who do have the money. They may not be your ideal client at the moment, however, somewhere down the road, they may turn into your ideal client. However, you have not wasted your time and effort, doing business for someone who does NOT value your skills and knowledge.
I just recently wrote a post that is along the same lines as this one…if you are interested in reading my post titled,
Thanks Cristina for this great post!
Teresa Morrow
Key Business Partners
http://www.keybusinesspartners.com
I totally agree. AND – you risk burning out. As coaches, we are constantly giving to our clients – when you give and give and give without receiving – you’re heading straight for burn-out.
There is a Universal Law called the law of reciprocity. It states that when we give, we must receive something equal in return so that we too may be replenished… money is a really good example of this – it’s our Universally accepted exchange.
Thanks for bringing this to the fore Cristina – it’s such an important topic!
Teresa, it’s so interesting when you say “you have not wasted your time and effort, doing business for someone who does NOT value your skills and knowledge.”
My coaching client finally put her foot down with one of her “clients” who was blatantly taking advantage of her. Ends up she was wasting time and effort on someone who really did not value her expertise. She “fired” him and her time and energy are finally freed up for paying clients who appreciate her hard work.
Jenn, I’m so glad you brought up the issue of burn out, which I didn’t even touch on in my post.
Thanks for bringing up the Universal Law of Reciprocity. It’s a topic I want to learn more about!
As usual Jenn, thanks so much for your insights.