When I first went out on my own as an independent resume writer, the hardest thing was setting prices, handling payment, and asking for money.
Although I had well over 15 years of experience working with individuals in the midst of a career transition, I was always employed by non-profits where a) I never quoted prices for services to clients, and b) I got paid lousy non-profit wages, so my concept of money and value was seriously distorted.
As a new resume writer, I set my prices too low (after all, the most I had ever earned in a year was $32,000 and I could not even image spending $100 on a resume!).
I also still had a “non-profit-I-want-to-help-you” mindset.
These two things in combination were a recipe for trouble.
One of my early clients was a single mother named Ida Mae (an odd name for a young woman, but I learned later on that it suited her personality.)
At the time, my policy was to ask for 50% of the fee upfront and collect the remaining 50% when the client signed off on the final draft. Up until this point, this procedure was working fine.
I met with Ida Mae after normal business hours because this was most convenient for her, and I interviewed her to collect the information I needed for her resume.
She told me about being unemployed and a single mom.
I got all soft and made my first mistake as a newbie in the resume-writing field – I discounted my price.
After creating her draft, I met with her again after hours to review it with her and see what changes she wanted me to make. Here is when I made my second mistake – I let her take the draft home without paying the balance of the fee. I did not realize just how bad this mistake was until the following days unfolded.
A couple of days after giving Ida Mae her draft, I came into the office and discovered that she had left a message on my answering machine. Thinking she was calling to tell me that she was delighted with the resume, I was really taken aback when she stated in her message that she had shown my draft to another resume writer and they told her she had been “ripped off.”
But this was not the end of it.
Nearly every day for the next week I came into the office to discover she had left me yet another message – each more scathing than the last.
In one message she told me I had no business calling myself a resume writer; in another she said that the document was full of grammatical errors, and in one (this was the killer) she told me that when her six-year-old son does something bad he admits it and that I needed to take a lesson from a six-year-old and admit that I was wrong!
The calls and messages finally ended when I called her and stated that it was now quite clear to me why she was having so much trouble getting and keeping a job – and the resume had nothing to do with it. I told her to keep the draft, wished her well and cut my losses.
Ida Mae taught me some valuable lessons and helped me to improve how I run my business.
First, I changed my policy about payment: I now require 100% payment upfront.
Second, I now only e-mail the first draft (whether or not I initially met the client in person) and I include a strong statement that soliciting feedback is good, but if one were to show a resume to 10 different resume writers, they would most likely get 10 different opinions. I encourage the client to review the resume with these things in mind:
Is it accurate?
Does it reflect their communication style?
Do they read it and feel proud?
If not, then we need to go back to the drawing board.
Third (and this is something I still struggle with after meeting Ida Mae) – no matter what hard luck story a client tells you, do not lower your prices to accommodate them. Lowering your prices devalues your skills and experience and sets you up for problems.
Even unemployed single moms will figure out a way to pay for something if they see the value and know that it is what they need to move their life forward.
I know – I was a single mom myself and there was nothing I wouldn’t do to provide a better life to my three inspirations – Erika, Kathryn, and Max (the “ekm” of my business name)
Norine Dagliano, NCRW, CPRW, CFRW/CC
ekm Inspirations
14 North Potomac Street, Suite 200A
Hagerstown, MD 21740
[email protected]
www.ekminspirations.com
