What do you bring to the table?
What makes you an asset when you walk into the room?
Q: When you reach out to someone and you require their assistance or services, how do you ask in such a way that you will ask a positive response?
A: My reply to that is to offer up a deal so sweet and so valuable that it's almost ludicrous to refuse.
You always want to make sure that you aren't to cocky when you make your offer. I've had people hit me up asking for my production services and they tell me they will pay me by offering me a 20% share in the track. This, friends, is a silly deal that deserves the bin. I also get people playing coy and telling me that they would be willing to jump on one of my beats for a feature when they're well aware that they are the ones who have reached out to me. They make it seem like they're doing me a favour by working with me. I'm not trying to sound like I'm above them, but what I will say is that if you require someone's help, you're going to want to over deliver on your side to ensure you get the best out of them. Leave your ego at the door when making your approach. Also, don't discredit the person you want to work with because this is a sure fire way of getting them to reject you totally. People sometimes ask why they should pay me when they can get the same thing down the street for free. I firmly reply that there is a reason they've approached me specifically and not the guy down the street, these are my terms and people's first move shouldn't always be to try bargain a person down because it can be an annoying move if you do it too soon.
When a client asks me for a recording session, I over deliver by offering refreshments, working really efficiently and being genuinely concerned about what the plan for the music is. If they need it I even give them some music marketing advice for free. These are some of the added extras that I add to my service to make sure I get the best out of them.
Try not to look at it as sucking up. You're simply adding value so that they can return the value. If I over deliver on service does it mean the receiver has to do the same for me? No. Do I hope they will do the same for me? Yes. It's a faith-based system that works only some of the time, but I've found the results from doing things this way really works. Waiters generally get bigger tips when they do a better job in the eye of the patron. I've gotten all kinds of deals and made all kinds of great connections this way.
The best part about over delivering is that the average human couldn't care less about over delivering. If you do it, you'll instantly stick out in the minds if others as that person who gives a damn. People will see you as useful and you can start to leverage this when you walk into the room. The day I stop being useful will be the day that my brand falls through the floor.
Start making yourself useful and stop offering people lame-ass deals to trick them into working with you.
SB
