Reply to: Haggling - direct.

[TFour]

Do you want to work for £150 a day? Prob not.

So ask for what you actually want, and tell them that's what it will take to get you. Not a penny less. If they don't meet your requirements go somewhere else.

It's really simple this stuff, why do people find it difficult.

I don't think it is that simple. Say he says he wants £250 a day, they think it's a negotiating position and offer £230. Is he going to walk away for the sake of £20 a day (in the face of no alternative contract)? I've seen procurement geeks talk about minimum acceptable outcome, and most desirable outcome. Even if he sets his minimum acceptable at £220, and they offer £210, does he still walk away?

Personally I hate negotiating, I like the "this is the price, pay it or don't pay it" approach, but even then you end up in the same conundrum if the client/agent thinks it's a negotiating position. But, if you tell them it's £220 or you walk, then accept £210, you look weak?

I guess it all comes down to the individual situation - how many options the client has, how many options you have, what the average rate is for the type of contract and whether amongst all that and the daft negotiating games, you can find a sum both of you are happy with.

[BolshieBastard]

do you want to work for £150 a day? Prob not.

So ask for what you actually want, and tell them that's what it will take to get you. Not a penny less. If they don't meet your requirements go somewhere else.

It's really simple this stuff, why do people find it difficult.

whs.

[Wanderer]

They have offered £150 a day which I think is around £100-120 a day off what I'm worth and is around £90 a day less than my last contract. And that was through an agency!

He has basically used that as a starting point, and indicates indirectly that he expects me to haggle kind of thing. What do I do??

Haggle!

I guess it's stating the obvious but you need to haggle. It's part of being a business man and the outcome all depends on what they are willing to offer and you are willing to accept. No one here can tell you what your rate should be.

Points to remember:

The client is saving on agency fees (probably about 20-25% markup on the rate you get)
You won't get paid on time (purchasing are a PITA to deal with)
If they are only willing to pay peanuts then you have to ask yourself if they are a mickey mouse penny pinching outfit that you wouldn't want to work for anyway.
You are NOT a permie, so don't let them (or yourself) go comparing the rate to permie rates. No Employers' NI, pension, sick, maternity, holiday, redundancy, tribunals etc for them to worry about or you to fall back on.

Any decent business will recognise that you have to pay the going rate to get decent people working for them, but of course they don't want to pay more than they have to. Point out that by going direct they are saving 25% anyway so let's split the savings on this and by the way my daily rate is X amount and that's a fair price if you want the job done properly. A great quote is that "If a business doesn't pay the right rates then it won't be able to recruit and retain the type of people they need to make their business a success". Sounds a bit better than "if you pay peanuts then you get monkeys, and the monkeys bugger off at the first sign of a better gig"

Good luck!

[DS23]

and remember that they will be saving on the agency fee and you will suffer from extended payment terms.

[SizeZero]

Question: How long can you last out with your warchest/savings? No matter how many people here tell you to hold out or ask for double, only YOU know if you can afford to see this one go. The rate is very low, lower even than permie salary, but it's better than JSA if you're entitled to that.

You have nothing to lose by making a sensible counter offer and justifying your worth. But at the end of the day, only you know the client, how thick and fast other offers have been coming, what you might stand to lose if negotiations fail.

[MarillionFan]

They offered £150. You want £240. So ask for £330.

Then start negotiating towards the mid point.

[gingerjedi]

It's always annoying when you put a bid in at a fair price you'd be willing to accept and they accept straight away - you never know how much they were willing to go to.

Always go high on your first bid.

I'd say go with what you're happy with and haggle at renewal, the shysters will push forward whoever they can make the most money from anyway.

[Moscow Mule]

It's always annoying when you put a bid in at a fair price you'd be willing to accept and they accept straight away - you never know how much they were willing to go to.

Always go high on your first bid.

[blacjac]

This is how business works, their first offer will be well below what they are willing to pay, and they will expect your first counter offer to be well above what you will accept.

It's what negotiations is all about. If you come back with a ridculously low offer then they will still try to knock some off it. If you accept 150 then they will come back with an even lower offer at renewal time.

[pmeswani]

Don't you think it would scare them off if I said I wanted nearly double what they were offering?

Possibly. But remember, you wouldn't be posting your problem on this forum if you were happy with the rate offered by the client. You are not scaring off the client by negotiating with them. Tell them what you want and go from there.

If you don't ask, you don't get. If you ask for something stupid, then fair enough.

[Clippy]

You need to put your rate demand in context.

So, for example, if you would normally command £250pd and you guess the agency makes £100pd on top of that, then that needs to be your starting point.

i.e. "Mr client, you would normally pay £350pd via an agency but as we are dealing direct, a fair rate would be £300pd".

(*Figures made up to illustrate the point).

[peterc2609]

I've always found it simple, but being on the bench puts everything into context, i.e. £150 a day is better than nothing!

[Jeebo72]

Don't you think it would scare them off if I said I wanted nearly double what they were offering?

Do you want to work for £150 a day? Prob not.

So ask for what you actually want, and tell them that's what it will take to get you. Not a penny less. If they don't meet your requirements go somewhere else.

It's really simple this stuff, why do people find it difficult.

[peterc2609]

Don't you think it would scare them off if I said I wanted nearly double what they were offering?

[pmeswani]

Hi,

I've been offered a contract directly with client...

But now we are talking money...

Seen as though there are no agencies involved, how do I play it?

They have offered £150 a day which I think is around £100-120 a day off what I'm worth and is around £90 a day less than my last contract. And that was through an agency!

He has basically used that as a starting point, and indicates indirectly that he expects me to haggle kind of thing.

What do I do??

Peter

Tell them what you want and try and meet somewhere in the middle.... preferrable towards the nearer side of your rate of middle as possible.