What to Do When People Negotiate Your Prices (1)
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[00:00:00] What do you do when people ask you for discounts or they try to negotiate with you for your therapy rates? Well, my name is Wong. I'm an occupational therapist and certified hand therapist and that has happened to me in my therapy clinic and also on my program side. So let me share with you what I do when people try to negotiate with me.
Um, I'm going to tell you two simple things. One, don't feel desperate to say no. And here is why. Um, and I want to share with you because at some point this is going to happen to you and you want to know what to do, how to deal with the emotions that you feel so that you can prepare for it. Because the first time it happened to me I wasn't prepared.
But I kind of knew, I was like, this dude is just trying to take advantage. Right. Um, so number one, don't be desperate. That is so important when someone is trying to negotiate with me. Um, [00:01:00] I don't know if you know, but when I was. Starting out, um, actually before I started out, I used to work with my parents in the flea market and in the flea market, everyone negotiates.
There's a kind of like a culture behind it. Certain countries, they tend to negotiate more than other countries. Like I'm Vietnamese, people from the Vietnamese culture fricking negotiate everything. The thing is, is People know where to negotiate and where they don't negotiate, right? So, um, if you're selling in the flea market or you have like this mom and pop shop, people go there and they feel like they have the right to negotiate with you, but they would never go and negotiate at certain other businesses.
Like you don't go to a restaurant, you don't go to a high end restaurant and say, Hey. You know, I, I can get that steak at that restaurant for cheaper, give it to me [00:02:00] for 20 instead of, you know, 75. Nobody does that, right? They don't do that. They just don't go to that restaurant, right? So people know where they can negotiate and where they cannot.
So if they perceive you to be a small mom and pop shop, which we are, if we're starting out our own therapy clinic, however, you have to act like you are not. You have to act like you have policies and procedures and do not negotiate. Um, so one of the biggest things is to not be desperate. You have to have a mindset that you're, there's always another patient.
There's always another soul, another person who's going to need your help and who's going to want your services as you're delivering it. Right, and that's it. Um, that is easier said than done, but I had a guy come into my clinic. I had just moved to my new office here and he came in and he was like, Oh yeah, my elbow pain and blah, [00:03:00] blah, blah.
And at that time we were doing free consultations. We still do. We're like, we'll talk to you. We'll answer your questions. And, um, if we see that we're the right fit and you want to work with us, you know, um, we'll book an appointment. So, um, he was like, Oh yeah, this and that, that, and you know, you could tell like he was a salesperson, like he was a sweet talker type of thing.
And he thought he could just charm his way into my clinic and be like, Oh yeah, well, you know, I'll pay, you know, like, let's say my, my services were like 200 and he was like, So. Well, I have a hundred bucks pulled out a hundred bucks here. I'll pay a hundred bucks for it. I'm like no My services aren't a hundred dollars if you want my services, my services are two hundred dollars You have to stand firm on your price because the minute they roll over you Game over game [00:04:00] over because you're always going to be delivering You're always going to be the nice person and they're not being nice to you So, um, when it comes to negotiating, I am like a no, I'm like, these are my prices.
I also am a firm believer in fairness. If I'm charging someone else 200 and you come along and you're like, Oh, cause you're more, you think you're more charismatic or you're more aggressive, um, to go and, and negotiate rates with me. Um, you know, It's not fair for the person who paid 200. You have to pay 200 to you.
So I'm somebody who is about being fair. So I like that doesn't fit for me. The other thing is, um, like we're not in the flea market, dude. Like we're not like to me. That's what I remind myself of, like. You're not in the flea market. We're not here negotiating, right? Um, so my prices are my prices are my prices and you have to stand firm.[00:05:00]
Be okay with letting them walk out of your life because there is going to be another person. There's always going to be another person that's going to want your services for what you have. And I've had people do that numerous times. Now, It's not to say that I'm never willing to like give discounts. I have periods of times where I have discounts or, you know, for my clinic, I have, if you prepay, um, you get a discount, right?
But that's built in into the policy into, Like this happens for everybody. Um, I've had people do this on my program side. Like recently I was teaching, um, you know, internationally and I get the email says, Oh, well, you know, my wife and I want to go, you know, can you give us a deal? Can you give us? And I was like, you know, I don't have a group rate for just two people.
I have a group rate for five people, you know, or if you [00:06:00] were on my email list. When I had a sale promotion then if you're on it you get the sale, right? But to just be like, oh, you know Give us give us this amount off. No. No, I'm not going to dim down What I'm doing so it could fit you and I think that that's a really important thing to make sure that you establish for yourself establish for yourself Before that person comes in, so you're not caught off guard.
Um, I, if you do things through email, you can always wait 24 hours. Right. But when someone's coming into your clinic, that's when it usually happens. People do that and they, they've done it to my staff. My staff will come in and they'll be like, oh, Huk, you know, so and so is asking for, they, they want, you know, a discount for whatever.
I'm like, for what? Our rates are our rates, our rates. You have to either train your staff, [00:07:00] train yourself to um, be prepared for when people negotiate. I have no ill will against people who negotiate. I'm like, thank you for trying. Thank you for trying. Um, but I know my value and I know that one of my values is fairness.
Um, and. It's not fair if I give you a discount, but I'm not giving other people a discount at the same time. So we all going to pay the same amount. Um, so say, you know, say no, say no. It's okay to say no. Um, I, I also don't hold against people when they try. And, and I think sometimes it comes from a cultural place.
You know, it comes from their own mindset, you know, because if they're a small business and other people have [00:08:00] negotiated with them and they have said yes, they're going to take that mindset and bring it to you, right? So that's where you have to work on your own mindset, on your own thinking, on what you're willing to live with so that other people don't come in and project their stuff to you.
That's essentially what happened. Um, every single time someone comes in and tries to negotiate with me in the clinic, it's because someone has done that to them and they have said, yes, but that doesn't have to be me. And it doesn't have to be you. So, um, don't be desperate. You know, when people negotiate, get, get in your mind, don't be desperate.
There's always going to be another person. Be okay with saying no and practice it. Say no, be prepared for it. Have a policy in place. Um, there's no negotiations. Um, you can, you know, have very specific discounts for a volume of visits or a volume of [00:09:00] people, um, or something that is essentially set in stone so that you don't have to make these last minute decisions when you're a little bit under stress or when you, You know, you have emotions coming into play.
It does take practice, but you'll get there. Um, but yeah, that's, that's what I say about negotiations. Uh, leave me a comment below if you have any questions about negotiations and, um, discounts and I'll make another video. All right.
