Don't Break The Seal

Financial Planners – Should you negotiate on your fees?  

Some say ‘yes’, some say ‘no’…

I’m going to give you two good reasons why you should.  Then, one great reason why you absolutely shouldn’t – ever. 

Argument Number One:  If offering a discount will get a client on board and you’ve already paid for the resources (Paraplanners, offices, marketing), it’s better for them to be covering some of their costs rather than being stood idle.  

I get that.  

Argument Number Two: If negotiating can bring a client on board, surely, it’s better to have 80% of the revenue coming into the business than none of the revenue?  

I get that also.  

If discounting and negotiating on your fees gets a client on board, that otherwise wouldn’t be, you are at least covering your costs and driving some revenue that you wouldn’t have had. 

It’s what an Accountant would say, and it makes perfect sense on a spreadsheet.  

But…. you’re not an Accountant.  

In the moment that you are delivering your pitch and explaining your fees, you are a Salesperson.  

At other times in your business, you are a Financial Planner, or a Paraplanner or a Manager or a Trainer. But, in the moment you are delivering your pitch to a client, you are a Salesperson, pure and simple.  

And selling is about confidence, not spreadsheets.  

It is both your spinach and your kryptonite.  

We all know how difficult it can be to get a client over the line sometimes, and how tempting it is to offer a discount when asked – especially if they’re a little bolshy, or perhaps a ‘really big client’.  

Surely, just a little discount can be justified to secure the deal?  

The route of least resistance is difficult to resist!  

And one discount won’t hurt?  

No, it probably won’t.  

But it won’t be one.  

Because, do it once and you’ve broken the seal.  

You’ve allowed yourself a way out. You’ve given yourself another ‘sales tool’ to get the client over the line.  

And now, every time you have a tough client, every time that doubt creeps in, every time your confidence wanes, you’ll reach for the discount.  

And worse, you’ll start offering discounts when none are needed. You’ll offer discounts to clients that you would have gotten over the line at your full fee if only you stood your ground.   

When you are up against it in any aspect of life, knowing that the only way is forward is what gets you through.  

If you give yourself an ‘out’, your pesky anxious mind will always look for it when the going gets tough.  

That single discounted customer will turn into another. And another. And another.  

Suddenly, that Accountant’s spreadsheet doesn’t look too good with every third or fourth client discounted, does it?  

Don’t break the seal!  

Sure, you’ll lose the odd client that might have signed up if you’d given them a discount. 

But….  

• If they don’t value what you do, why do you want to work with them?  
• If they’ve got one over on you today, they’ll do it again, and you’ll eventually resent them.  
• Although they’re only paying 80% of the bill, they’ll still want 100% of the service.  
• If heaven forbid, they refer their mate, how much are you going to charge them? You’ll have no option but to also offer the same discounted rate.  

And if that is not enough, think about it this way…  

It’s better to have 90 clients paying your full fee, than 100 clients paying at 80%.  

Less work, more profit.  

Even your Accountant will agree that makes more sense.  

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