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by jwwest 5021 days ago
This is heavy handed, as is the client using this type of negotiation tactic. It's not healthy to respond this way.

A better solution would be to respond: "Well, my rate is based on my experience with XYZ and because I've been in this industry a while. A lot of developers out there aren't interested in this kind of thing and don't understand what you're going through. Honestly, I hired a couple myself last year and it took more effort than I saved just trying to get them ramped up."

Then just smile and leave it at that. Sometimes the best response is to make your point and not get into a conversation about it.

1 comments

This is heavy handed, as is the client using this type of negotiation tactic. It's not healthy to respond this way.

Possibly I'm getting less mellow with age :-) My responses used to be more like yours, now I tend to be a bit more direct.

The ones who are approaching it purely as a negotiation tactic don't care or mind - they understand what the issues are and appreciate cutting to the chase.

The ones who really don't value my time I don't actually really want as clients...

However you approach it - and your approach is completely reasonable - the key realisation is that this isn't a question of the client not having the money to pay $dayrate. This is most likely a pure negotiation tactic to get a drop in the quoted rate.