Can I Ask You One More Thing?

Are you giving away your business and/or your knowledge without realizing it?
Do you find you are spending time with people who want to squeeze every last drop out of you, but don’t want to pay for your service?

If you are in any kind of service-related industry, I bet you are "giving away" your business. I know as a Life Coach I come across this all the time. You know exactly the types of clients/people I’m talking about, for example

"Can I ask you just one more question?" (and the question goes on for 30 minutes!)

"Can you just quickly tell me ……?" (and they know full well the response will take a lot longer than 5 minutes).

So what do we do?

Well we need to shift our thinking and set some boundaries on just how much free information or free services we will give away.No one expects to walk into a supermarket and walk out again with a trolley load of goodies! Well it’s the same thing.

So what can we say to people who i) ask outright for free information or ii) who just pin you down and you realise (usually too late) that they’re trying to "borrow" your valuable resources without becoming a client?

Some things you could say would be:
·"It’s not a good time for me to discuss this right now. Would you like to briefly discuss guidelines and fees?"
·"A complete answer to your query is going to take more than 5 minutes over the phone. Would you like me to send you a proposal on this?"
·"My charge for an intial consultation is X".
·"There’s a lot I can do to help you. Would you like to get together and work on a marketing plan?"
·"Do you have a time-line and or/budget in mind for solving this problem?"
·"I have really enjoyed talking to you, and would like to help you more. May I send you one of my brochures and a rate card?"

However, what about your friends that pin you down at a dinner party,a wedding or any other social event intent on picking your brains and using the time to solve one of their problems. This is much more difficult to avoid, or to use one of the above expressions with.
However, one phrase that has always come to my rescue at times like this is:
"I would love to help you with this issue, why don't you call me on Monday (when it's much quieter) and we can have a proper chat then."
Nine times out of ten, they never bother to ring you back on Monday as they have usually forgotten, or it was easier and more convenient for them to nail you at the party as opposed to taking time and effort to ring two or three days later.

There are many, many more ways (and perhaps better) of responding to these types of contacts. However, just remember as a service business owner, part of what we offer clients, and what they value from us is our knowledge and expertise. It’s as much a part of our services as any tangible product, so we should be treating it as such. If we don’t value our service, then no-one else will. It’s not about being stingy or hoarding, it’s about holding back information that is deemed valuable enough that rightfully should be paid for.