There are three lessons here.
The first is if you don't ask you'll never find out what you can get.
The second is that just because you ask you don't always get what you want. In this case, I figure I still came out ahead because I got rid of a high-interest card and have a new one with a lower rate.
The third is that I will now be shopping around for a card that offers low interest rates and high benefits.
The first two lessons are somewhat familiar to us. As entrepreneurs – no different from Lawyers and Print Shops – we are somehow reluctant to ask for a deposit up front. But when we do ask we are surprised when the client says “OK”. I regularly stipulate a 50% deposit on every proposal that goes out now.
The third lesson was more interesting to me.
Once – again as entrepreneurs - we have had the experience of asking for compensation, we learn that it’s OK to ask for other things, too.
For years my policy has been that I do not charge for travel within the boundaries of Toronto and Mississauga. (TTC and Mississauga Transit). My home office is smack on the border between the two cities, so both cities are adjacent to me.
Recently I’ve decided to ask for travel costs – a one-hour-each-way fixed rate – for any part-day assignment.
You want a ½ day’s training? Sure. $550. Plus travel costs.
And what if the client negotiates a not-travel-cost deal? Then I still place the travel item on the invoice, but set it at zero.
No harm in reminding the client that they got a good deal.
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