the price doubled
They said no. Then they came back.
Remember my six-page, $7,500 proposal?
(Short version if you missed it. Six pages of everything I could possibly do for them, because I was scared I wasn't giving them enough.)
Here's the part I didn't tell you.
Selling was the thing I kept avoiding. I could make things. I could lead a team. I could write songs. I could solve problems.
But saying a price out loud, a BIG one, and letting somebody decide if working with me was worth it? That made me super uncomfortable. Honestly....
The second I dropped the number, I'd start filling the gap. Talking too fast. Explaining. Over-explaining. And I tanked a LOT of sales that way.
Then came the call where I said the biggest number I had ever asked anybody for.
Double my first big job. 15 grand.
They said no.
But I got off that call thrilled. Like a beautiful, talented, brilliant, powerful musk ox.
Because the win wasn't the sale. The win was that I said it. Out loud. And didn't take it back.
And here's the wild part. A couple months later, that same person came back and worked with me. Then they resigned to join my mastermind for a year.
That proposal? A page and a half, mostly explaining their problems and how I'd help.
So why am I telling you this?
Look at what changed between the six pages and the page and a half. The price doubled. The proposal got SHORTER. I didn't get more talented. I understood what I was selling, and the nervous explaining got cut out. ( and all the things that I didn't need to do because that's not what the client was really paying for.)
The thing you keep avoiding is probably the thing you need to learn.
And a no isn't the end of it. Every no is part of the journey on the way to a yes.
So here's your one thing this week: what's the thing that makes you nervous to do that you keep putting off?
Write it down. Then do it once before Friday, even if it goes badly.
So what's the thing you're avoiding? Hit reply and tell me. I'll read every one. (No judgment. Mine was saying the number.)
Jonathan "the Talented Ox" Ray
PS. If a number comes out of your mouth and you immediately want to take it back, congratulations. You're doing it right.
PPS. Tomorrow at noon Eastern I'm teaching a free live workshop, Build Your Monthly Offer. You'll leave with yours in one sentence, price included. That counts as your scary thing before Friday. (Two birds.)
