August 9, 2022

I have no idea!

(FYI: Registration is open now for Automatic Proposals. It’s is a 5-day interactive online workshop to teach you how to write better proposals in half the time. If you are sick of “winging it” with your proposal writing, enroll now because lessons start Monday. And now, on to today’s message...)

In the context of guestimating the perceived value of an engagement to a given client, it’s tempting to exclaim “I have no idea!” when asked what it might be worth to them.

But that’s just lazy.

Sure, you don’t know exactly what it’s worth to them, but you can probably come up with an idea.

For example:

On the low end, your assistance is probably worth at least 10x your buyer’s perceived ”hourly rate”, or they wouldn’t even spend the time to talk to you.

On the high end, your assistance is probably worth at least 10% of the client’s annual revenue, or they wouldn’t even spend the time to consider the project.

So...

If you’re talking to a CEO who is running a $500k business and feels like their time is worth $200/hr, then your assistance is almost certainly worth between $2,000 and $50,000 to them.

That not “no idea.”

In fact, it’s a great starting point for a three option project proposal.

Yours,

—J

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