Add up your experience, training and quality of service to get your true business self worth.
I don’t know anyone on this planet that can actually say money is no object, because if they didn’t have any money, do you think they would be living their perfect lifestyle and be truly happy?
Money makes the world go round. Fees paid for services rendered and all that jazz.
I usually don’t like talking about money. It can be quite polarising, but this week I have had two things pass me by that made me take serious stock of the way I feel about a person’s monetary value.
The first thing was, I met with someone who wanted my business services. I had replied to an ad and everything on it was exactly what I had spent the last 25 years training for. It was a culmination of all of my skills and experience rolled into one sweet package and I could make their life so much easier than it currently is now. Perfect right? Well, after a great meeting where we connected and everything was exciting, I waited for a return call, but I got nothing, nada, crickets. Can a person be so busy that they don’t have the wherewithal to pick up the phone and say, sorry you’re not what I’m looking for? Even an email would have sufficed so I wasn’t left wondering. I guess it came down to money. They didn’t want to pay appropriately for my experience or my worth. Maybe they thought they could get it cheaper with a younger person who might do some of the job but not really take the full load off that I was offering. Their loss really.
Second thing, I have a real problem with companies that downgrade people’s pay scale or threaten to anyway, because they create a fear culture that losing this job would be the worst thing in the world. Better the devil you know eh?
I hear you ask, can they really do that?
Yes they can if you agree to accept their offer. Companies that don’t want to pay you properly for doing what you do, even though they may have been paying that for years in some cases, are not the companies that get held in high regard, and will get a bad reputation in the business community. When word gets around, and it invariably will that this how they deal with issues, they will find it hard to get staff to stick around. High turnover rates are not a good advertisement for a stable work environment. Hiding behind time in motion studies and business analysts who do the dirty work for them, organisations like this are really just mean spirited. It is all about the bottom line, they don’t take into account people’s circumstances, and self esteem or true value.
Question, would you rather be laid off with good references or made to do the same or harder job for a lot less money?
Knowing you’re achievements are being recognised and paid fairly is important for our mental health. Everyone needs to feel appreciated and respected. Why should we accept being undervalued and settle just so someone else can jump the ladder first or get rich quick. Sure enough it happens, but it’s not right. Valuing yourself is the first step to getting what you want. Don’t let anyone walk all over you. You will only end up hating them and you and that leaves nothing but a sour taste in everyone’s mouth.
Be true to yourself, you’ve done the training, put in the hours/years, dealt with the stresses, you know you could provide a Rolls Royce level of service and then they only want to pay peanuts…well don’t accept, fight it, you need to be strong on your self value.
I learned a valuable lesson from Derek Halpern of Social Triggers this year. Charge what you are worth and people will pay and remember you for being so amazingly great. His example “I spent $310 on a men’s haircut and I was surprised what I learned about selling.” taught me to get people talking about you and telling their friends and associates about you in a good way, you need to stand out and give gold plated service. It doesn’t matter what your job is, from the receptionist to the CEO, if you are extraordinary people who understand great value will pay your worth.
My lessons from today are:
- Add up all your experience, training, years of work and quality of service and that is what you are worth. Never sell yourself short and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. And
- Good manners never go out of style.
Do you know of anyone who could do with this advice? Please go ahead and share this blog post with them and leave me a comment below.
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