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Back in the late summer, I responded to a Kijiji ad looking for a bookkeeper. The ad listed a project that seemed to be a great fit for my firm. Shortly after I responded the potential client reached out. We hit it off on the phone and I was really excited about the opportunity. After a little back and forth I had secured the project. Literally, within 5 minutes of starting the project, it hit me like a ton of bricks that I had seriously underbid…like REALLY badly…in the thousands.
NO COMPLAINING!
I had a few options; one would be to crawl back to the client and let them know that I had made the mistake and ask to change my bid. The thought of doing so made me sick and is just completely not my style. In true Stephanie fashion, I knew I was going to eat the mistake and I was going to do it with the biggest smile on my face. I felt strongly I read the client correctly as a kind, honest businessman, so this was the right thing to do. Over the next few months, my team and I completed the project and all the subsequent work that arose. I should note the entire time the client was more than a delight to work with and we were very happy to be a part of the project even though from very early on I was basically volunteering.
Don’t worry my team still got paid. Upon completion, we passed the project back to the client who intended to take it to a Big Four firm for the next steps, which we were well aware of from the beginning. Fast forward to this past Tuesday. I got a late-night text from this very client asking us to do the work the Big Four Firm was scheduled to do, also to continue the same work we had done AND to manage their family trust. The text also included a note about pricing that let me know he was aware of the great value he’d received from the original project. AKA…hint, hint I know you underbid and I don’t expect that pricing twice.
P.S. I would NEVER ask a client to move from another firm/service provider. I think that is such a sleazy way to get business. If you “steal” them from someone else they can be stolen from you. I earned that sh#t!