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by JangoSteve
4783 days ago
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For what it's worth, we've been in the same position lately of being pretty booked up, but we took the approach they're suggesting from the beginning. No matter how busy we are, I never say "no" to an opportunity to talk or sit down to coffee with new people, whether they be a potential client or just someone seeking advice. I'll even go through the discovery phase and estimate/quote out their project, and only after the quote do I bring up our timeline. Most of the time, they are fine with the timeline (though I've always found a way to make it sooner than "next year", usually a few months out at most). If they need it doen sooner, then I'll find a way to get it done with our partners by sub-contracting. The rest have been fine with that. If they weren't, then I'd simply help them find someone else who can do it. It's worked pretty well so far. But I can attest, it is very hard to go talk with someone for an hour when you know there's actual work you should be doing. I feel the same way though when I'm doing taxes or keeping our books. They have to be done. You just do it anyway. |
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I've started charging for this process. Partly because otherwise I'd spend all my time consulting for free, partly because it's a huge value add to their business, and partly one-to-many "oh great, thanks for estimating this. I took it to your competitor and now they're willing to underbid you by $5K because all the hard work is done for them." scenarios.