The People Valuation

I recently had some much needed, long overdue landscaping done. When the landscaper came over to walk the space and provide an estimate, he took his time. He carefully considered the yard size, plant types, shaded areas, he even bent down and scooped up a handful of soil. He walked the entire space, nodding his head and taking notes. Before he left we bumped fists instead of shaking hands (thanks to the pandemic) and he told me he’d have an estimate to me in a few days. When his estimate finally hit my inbox, my first reaction was, holy hell that’s expensive!?! My gut told me to counter immediately, but I didn’t, and I’m glad I didn’t. He took a lot of time and care to consider his price before sending the proposal. His estimate was thorough and contained all the information he had collected. He also had glowing reviews and came very highly recommended by a close friend. So, despite what some business professionals tell you— “bargain, negotiate, counter!”—I decided not to haggle and agreed to his asking price. And ya know what, I’m glad I did. The work was above and beyond my expectations, he and his team were 100% worth every dime.

It happens a lot in marketing and design. You agonize over the cost of a much-needed service; be it a branding project, SEO or otherwise. Sure, you could go get a $5 logo from Fiverr, but trust me when I tell you this, it will look like a $5 logo from Fiverr. One of my favorite quotes is “You think good design is expensive? Try bad design.” People often forget that specialization is an important commodity in business. I don’t do my own taxes, not because I can’t, but because they’re complex, take a lot of time and I may make a mistake or miss something. I’m not a tax professional, therefore I will gladly pay the appropriate going rate to have my taxes done, by a professional. I often tell our clients that part of what we do is to “free them up to do what they do best.” We handle the marketing, messaging and design so that they can focus on their product or service and ultimately their customer. The success of a business relies upon a business owner's ability to give customers what they expect. To take that a step further, exceeding a customer's expectations may make them a customer for life. You wouldn’t cut corners if you wanted to keep your customers happy, why would you cut corners when hiring specialized services like marketing and design?

So next time you scoff at an estimate, consider the following before you outright reject or counter. Do they have good reviews? Are they highly recommended by someone you trust? And most importantly, are they getting their clients a return on their investment? If the answer to all of the above is yes, then your answer to their proposal should also be yes. Pay people what they’re worth and stop complaining, because, in the end, you’ll be much happier with the results.