Posts tagged ‘Writing’
In today’s economy, understanding and implementing creative ways to stretch your dollar is almost a necessity. I’ve never shied away from asking for a better deal than what’s offered to me, but I realize not everyone suffers from my own brand of inflated self-confidence. My interest in writing about this topic sprung from a desire to encourage others, women especially, to mine for the unexpected opportunities in everyday life to save money. [Warning: this advice may trigger addictive behavior. Once you save money the first time, you’ll want to do it again and again and again!]
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Don’t Pay Full Price! Rebel By Negotiating
By Heidi Lading
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| Image: Stuart Miles / FreeDigitalPhotos.net |
There are certain bragging rights we women earn and take pride in when we snag an item at an unbelievable sale price. But the pleasure of creating your own sale price on the spot is even more euphoric. Like a sudden drop on a roller coaster, it takes your breath away. And the best part is, anyone can experience it. All you need is a little rebel negotiating.
I recently spoke with author Jessica Miller about negotiation strategies because I knew she’d give some great advice. Miller, a commercial real estate agent for Cushman & Wakefield, is also co-author of the book “A Woman’s Guide to Successful Negotiating: How to Convince, Collaborate, and Create Your Way to Agreement.”
You Don’t Get What You Don’t Ask For
The three keys to success in Miller’s book: be confident, be prepared, and be willing to walk away, are critical in negotiations. But step one is gathering the courage to ask.
“Practice is really the best advice I can give,” said Miller. “The more you do it, the more comfortable you’ll be and the more confidence you’ll have.”
Oak Park resident Kelly Rogala cut a deal on a $130 pair of jeans at a jeans party thrown by the owner of a Roscoe Village shop.
“I told him I’d give him a hundred bucks cash and he was like ‘okay’, ” said Rogala. One of her friends paid full price, 23 percent more than Rogala, for the same pair of jeans that night.
Rogala hit on two important strategies, according to Miller. First, she paid with cash and helped the store avoid credit card fees.
“If it’s a small business it makes a huge difference,” said Miller.
Rogala also spoke with someone authorized to negotiate. In this case it was the store owner, but managers or even sales associates often have the authority to grant discounts.
When I lived on the West Coast and started laser tattoo removal treatments, I negotiated multiple discounts with the dermatologist’s office manager. I paid for a package deal upfront in cash and agreed to write a testimonial of my experience and allow them to take pictures of my progress for marketing purposes. I saved 28 percent more than if I paid for each treatment separately.
There’s Strength In Numbers
Miller often negotiates “for sport” and was once in a department store with three boxes of expensive shoes in her hands. After spending a good amount of time with the salesclerk, she established a rapport with him and requested a discount for buying the three pairs. His first response: “No.” Then he tried to get her to open a credit card. She declined. When she told him she might only buy one pair that day and go home and think about the others, or buy them online—it was clear, she meant it.
Ultimately, Miller left the store with three discounted pairs of shoes. One of those boxes bore the name Christian Louboutin. She credits both the willingness to walk away and the relationship with the clerk for her success, “he had the authority to [give me a discount] and the desire to do it because he liked me.”
Adding on a service is another great way to stretch your dollar. A friend of Roscoe Village resident Kathleen Katz wanted to pay a new babysitter between $10 and $14 per hour. The babysitter wanted $15. Katz advised her friend to offer $12 and ask the sitter to do the laundry. The sitter agreed to do the laundry, clean up and watch the kids for $14.
Timing Is Everything
On a recent trip to the Southeast, Jennifer McFee of Lakeview checked into a hotel after 9 p.m. The front desk attendant stated the nightly rate and McFee offered 10 percent less. The clerk obliged. A discounted room puts more money in the till than an empty room.
Miller also advises negotiators to consider the time of year. Managers who are judged on sales and are nearing the end of a quarter might be willing to come down in price.
Use The Competition To Your Advantage
Today’s smartphones and apps allow for instant price checking. Miller encourages buyers to “use that as a legitimate argument for why you think something should be priced different.”
She warns sometimes the manager may suggest you go buy the product elsewhere, but many stores today have a price-match policy. All you have to do is ask.
Mentioning the competition worked for me when I moved back to Chicago and needed a dermatologist to finish removing my tattoo. My Chicago doctor charged more than I was used to paying. When I told him my previous treatment rate he immediately cut his fee by $50 each appointment.
Be Rebellious But With A Smile
So now you know many of the secrets to rebel negotiating. One final piece of advice: when you ask for a lower price, do it with a smile. See how much further that gets you.
For more of Jessica Miller’s tips on negotiating, check out her soon-to-launch website. www.stopcompromising.com
Heidi Lading is a freelance writer in Chicago. She loves negotiating the best deal possible and encouraging her friends to do the same. Follow her at www.heidilading.com or on Twitter @iamheidi.
Click here to read “Don’t Pay Full Price! Rebel by Negotiating” at RebelliuosMagazine.com
Tell me. What’s your biggest victory when it comes to everyday rebel negotiating?
Client: Rebellious Magazine
I am one of those rebels. Click here to check out the rebellion.
I am rebellious because…I am rebelling against a girl half my age.
This week I read The Heroines by Eileen Favorite. I started reading it on Tuesday and finished it Saturday afternoon. I wish I finished before 7pm Thursday because I attended a book club for The Heroines and Eileen was there. Eileen lives in my old neighborhood and she and I know each other through a neighborhood women’s networking group I started with another former neighbor of mine, Emily.
The book club meeting this week wasn’t a regular book club. It was a one time meeting that Emily put together to encourage more people to read Eileen’s book. It worked. Twelve people came, maybe fifteen. The neighborhood independent book store, The Book Cellar, benefitted from this event by selling several copies of the book.
I’ve been in a regular book club since March 2011 and on a couple occasions I came without finishing the book. Inevitably, the ending is spoiled. But, that’s my own fault for not having read the book in the allotted amount of time. I’d rather talk about the part of the book I’ve read (and learn the ending) than not talk about the book at all. Of course the ultimate scenario involves reading the entire book before meeting with my friends and experiencing the surprising twists and turns of the book as I’m reading. In second grade a friend of mine educated me on the truth about Santa Claus, so I suppose I’m used to people pulling back the curtain on the mysteries of life (and literature), rather than discovering them myself.
But the book club this week was different. It was epic. The author was coming. And I’m one of the cool people who knew her. I’m also one of the douchebags who didn’t finish the book before Thursday. Still, I got to sit in a room and listen to a published author speak about her work and her process, and hear her read from her latest novel-in-progress. Inspiration tingled through my veins. People asked questions. Some prattled on more than others. There was tea. There was wine. There, to my right, was a woman with her own ISBN number. My hero. Or, should I say, my heroine.
The Heroines is an adventure, a look back on the life of 13-year-old Penny Entwhistle and the heroines from literature who (took a break from their stories and) stayed at Penny’s mother’s bed-and-breakfast. Rapunzel, Deirdre of the Sorrows, Emma Bovary, Franny Glass, Ophelia, Blanche DuBois, Scarlett O’Hara, Hester Prynne and Pearl, and Catherine Ernshaw all board for a spell at the Homestead. The weaving of classic fictional characters into a modern piece of fiction is ingenious. It crosses literary fiction with young adult and a splash of romance. It’s a delight to read and I am its newest advocate.
But I must confess…I walked away feeling dumber after reading it than when I started. Why? Because the majority of the classics from whence the characters are plucked are works I’ve never read. I’m sure they are all on a reading list for high school or college students. There’s no excuse for my ignorance. I read Hamlet and The Scarlet Letter (and saw movies adaptations of both books), but twenty years later my memory of Hester is vague at best. Ophelia offered the only familiar face to me in this literary fête.
This gross lack of knowledge on works of classic fiction plagues me. It tortures me with wet willies when I’m trying to write, encourages me to give up and watch shows like The Bachelor, makes me think I’m not smarter than a fifth grader (or at least not a college freshman). How am I supposed to be taken seriously as a writer if I can’t recount the classics in a cocktail party conversation? What’s more troubling is knowing I’ve read several of the “recommended reading” novels/short stories, but I can’t remember them. How is it I recall minutia from my boyfriend’s anecdotes but I don’t remember anything by Hemingway? If I have to start all over and reread the books my memory abandoned and then read all the others I’ll never write another word again. It’s a daunting thought trying to play catch up to people ten, twenty years my junior with literary knowledge at the ready. And how do people ten, twenty years my senior retain these plots? I haven’t even had children, so pregnancy or parent brain isn’t a factor. What gives?
I’m able to support myself, but I’m not yet able to support myself as a writer. That day may never come. Corporate communications, copywriting and public relations projects supplement my income. Who am I kidding, they are my income. Lately, the thought of teaching entered my subconscious. A lot of writers are professors. Then I read this book and imagined a scenario where 18-year-olds laughed me out of the lecture hall for not knowing Hamlet from Green Eggs and Ham. It’s terrifying. The problem is that most writers are professors of writing and/or literature. My degree is in Communications with a minor in Marketing. Yes, I took English and Irish Literature classes in college, but that’s a far cry from an MFA in creative writing or English or something important indicating you are qualified to teach at the college level. I haven’t even been published anywhere. What could I possibly teach these kids, these kids who already know about books, these kids ready to stone me in public like The Lottery by Shirley Jackson?
Then I take a deep breath, collect myself and think about two real life Heroines inspiring me. Eileen: for loving books, rereading certain ones every year, never giving up on publishing (or having her own family), writing every day, bringing wine to her own book club reading, and always offering me advice on the writing life when I ask her (which isn’t often for fear of revealing myself as a total amateur). And Emily: for daring to wear a sundress and espadrilles on the back of her husband’s motorcycle, knowing every man, woman, child and canine in the neighborhood, auditing corporate telecom bills like a rockstar and growing a business around this special skill, living in the city and teaching her children food comes from the ground, and being the first follower of my blog.
You two are the Heroines of Lincoln Square.
Heidi (Lading) Kiec, Freelance Corporate Copywriter 