Is bargaining our "culture" or are we just cheap?
"Bargaining is just in our blood"
A line I have been told over and over again since I started my first company, Anis Collections. Melas and trade shows were a huge part of our sales strategy and every Mela for me was a frustrating process. I would watch as Aunties and Uncles would run over to our booth, ooh and aah over our pieces and then not even look at the price tag and walk up to us to ask how much the piece was. We would tell them the exact price on the tag and they then would be like "no but how much is it really?" or "what's the best you can do for me?". The best was written on the price tag.When I talk about working in the South Asian space even with my second company, I think the biggest feedback I get from the diaspora itself is, "we don't know how you do it, desi's are so cheap". Its often led me to wonder and notice that it seems like we are the most cheap with our own kind. Why is that? Shouldn't we be more supportive?Let me put it this way, I am not against negotiation. But what I have noticed, working in both the product and service industries, is that the customer ends up wanting to make you feel bad about pricing so that therefore you lower the pricing for them. Its a technique that I have noticed while I have been pitching for Kahani as well as when I have been selling for Anis Collections. Here's where I have a problem, many people talk about supporting their "fellow south asians" or showing up but when it comes to putting dollars into small businesses, a discount is always what people ask for when dealing with a brown business. Owning two startups that are both bootstrapped, I can say that running a business is expensive and there's so much that goes into it. From taxes to ethical and fair employee practices to packaging to website and marketing costs. And every dollar of profit goes towards these things, so when you take even $10 of profit away, for you the $10 may not mean a lot but for a small business it means that they are paying some amount of their overhead out of pocket.We have been fortunate to work with some really wonderful and respectful clients that have always understood our pricing models and politely negotiated with respect to our businesses. I wanted to point out some examples of negotiation in hopes that maybe this functions to educate consumers so the next time you want to negotiate with a small business, you remember these do's and don'ts. Below you will find some examples of things that have been said to us during sales calls, both on the product side and services side and why those were the wrong way to phrase something as well as some things that have been said respectfully and why those were the right phrasing."Can we have ________ for free?" "Can't you give me a better deal?"
Argumentative techniques
This is quite disrespectful because it makes the seller feel like they are almost trapped into offering a better deal even if they do not have the margins or the desire to do so. A better way to ask about discounts or deals is - "Are you running any promotions today?" or "Do you have any upcoming promotions?""We were hoping you would have more competitive pricing"
Making the seller feel inferior
This was an email I got from a potential Kahani lead and this was disrespectful because it made us feel like our work was not valued at the price point we were offering. Most of the time, people will respect if you give them a budget however, if you have not given someone a budget and they quote a price, it is not their fault that you may not be able to afford it. Something to say here in place of this line would have been "Thank you so much for sending over your pricing, our budget is _____, what can we make work within this?" or "We cannot afford this pricing at the moment but would love to work with you in the future". A lot of clients have said this to us in the past and we have figured out a way to work within their budget!"We'll tell all our friends about you if you offer us a good deal", "We'll recommend you if you offer ____ amount off"
Using the promise of new business or doing a favor to get a discount
If you truly love the mission and vision of a small business and cannot support with your dollar, you should still be spreading the word about it. The fact that someone gave you a discount on your first purchase shouldn't encourage you to spread word of mouth and often times, it still doesn't. This line shouldn't be said in general.Point is, you wouldn't walk into a Chanel or honestly even into a McDonalds and stand there to bargain, so when it comes to a small business who probably needs the money more, why do we do it? All of the small business owners out there, hopefully you can relate and I hope this serves as education for desi consumers the next time they approach a small business.