Earned Wealth Hires for Precision

Imagine a private chef named Rosa Lind who gets an email from a surgeon, Dr. Priya Anand, on a Sunday night. Dr. Anand asks whether Rosa has weekday evenings free from October. She also asks what dinner for a family of four would cost.

Rosa has just finished cooking for a dinner party, and she wants to sound friendly. So she replies from her phone. “Thank you so much for thinking of me. I’d love to cook for your family. Every family is different, so I like to start with a quick call. Are you free this week?”

Dr. Anand does not have time for a call this week, and she does not reply. On Monday, she books another chef, who answered both of her questions at the top of the email.

Suppose instead that Rosa answers the two questions before anything else. “Yes, I have Monday through Thursday evenings free from October 5. Dinner for four, four nights a week, is $1,800 a week, plus groceries. I could come to see your kitchen on Wednesday at six. Is there anything the children won’t eat?”

Dr. Anand replies within the hour. She takes Wednesday at six, and she names the two vegetables her son will not touch.

Rosa offered the same dinners at the same fee both times. In the first version, she put the warmth first and left both questions for a call. In the second, she answered what Dr. Anand asked, in the order she asked it. Then she gave a day and a time for the next step. The warmth came last, as one question about the family.

So when a client who still earns a high income writes to you, answer their questions first. Then add the warmth.

A client who still earns a high income is often short of time

Some wealthy clients inherited their money. Others built it, often through a business they started. Some came into it suddenly, through a settlement, an inheritance nobody expected, or a lottery win.

Earned wealth is the fourth kind. It belongs to clients who are still paid well for their own skilled work, such as surgeons, law partners, and executives.

In 2007, the economists Daniel Hamermesh and Jungmin Lee looked at how pressed for time people feel. They found that adults in households that earn more feel more pressed for time. That held even when they spent the same hours on paid work and housework as others did.

Here is the course’s view of how that shapes what these clients want from you. A client who feels short of time spends some of it on every long reply. So they want the answer first.

Surgeons, lawyers, and executives also tend to do work that has to be right the first time. People who work to exact standards often judge others by the same standards. So a vague answer or a late reply can look careless to them. So can a paragraph where one sentence would do. Warmth that comes before the answers can look like filling time.

Not every client who earns a high income works this way. You usually cannot tell from the first message where the money came from.

So look for a few signs together. Those signs include short messages, specific questions, a mention of a busy schedule, and a request for dates or prices. One of these signs on its own tells you little.

A broker in Sacramento says almost all her high-end clients are lawyers

In May 2017, Elizabeth Weintraub, a real estate broker in Sacramento, wrote in a comment on ActiveRain that she found her “uncontested market niche in luxury marketing in Sacramento: lawyers.”

“Many agents won’t touch lawyers with a 10-foot pole,” she wrote. “Yet, almost every high-end client for me is a lawyer.”

While Weintraub does not say why lawyers hire her, her high-end clients share one profession. Your best clients may share one too. So look at your best clients and write down which profession most of them share. When a message comes from someone in that profession, look for the signs of a client who wants exact answers.

A precise reply answers the questions before anything else

Rosa’s second reply to Dr. Anand had three parts. First came the answers to Dr. Anand’s two questions, the evenings and then the price, in the order she asked them. Next came the visit to the kitchen, with a day and a time. Last came one question about the family.

Here is the course’s suggestion for the order. Answer in the order the client asked, so they can check each answer against their own question. If they did not ask the price, give it next anyway, as a number. A client who wants exact answers will need the price before they decide. Then say what happens next, with a day and a time, so that all the client has to say is yes.

A reply this short can feel cold to send. The warmth still goes in, after the answers. Make it one question about the client, as Rosa did when she asked what the children will not eat. Leave out sentences about how much you would love the job, because they are about you, not the client.

Put what you agreed on a call in writing

Imagine an interior designer named Wren Castell who talks with Mr. Okafor, a law partner, about his study. The call takes 20 minutes, and they agree on two layouts, a fee, and a day to meet. That evening, Wren writes, “To confirm what we agreed today: I’ll draw two layouts for the study by Friday the 14th. The design fee is $3,500. I’ll come to your house on Monday the 17th at eight so you can choose one.”

Mr. Okafor replies, “Confirmed.” On Monday at eight, he chooses the second layout.

Here is the course’s suggestion. After any call with a client who wants exact answers, confirm what you agreed the same day. Two or three sentences are enough. A client who keeps their own notes can check yours against them. A client who does not keep notes now has yours.

Why a friendly but vague reply goes wrong

Imagine a tutor named Nell Avery whose student, Ben, misses his Tuesday session with a cold. Ben’s mother, Ms. Lowell, is a partner at a law firm. She writes to ask when Nell can make up the session.

Nell reads the message in her car between two students, and she answers at once. “So sorry Ben’s not well. Next week should work for a make-up. Just let me know what suits you best.”

Ms. Lowell writes back to ask which day. Nell offers two days, and Ms. Lowell checks both against Ben’s schedule. It takes six messages to set the make-up session. In June, Ms. Lowell hires a different tutor for the summer.

Nell is kind, and she means to make it easy. However, “next week” and “let me know” hand the work of choosing a time back to Ms. Lowell. To a client who is exact in her own work, that is a question left unanswered.

In the version that works, Nell gives a day, a time, and a place in her first reply. “I can make up Ben’s session on Thursday at four, at your house. If Thursday doesn’t suit, Saturday at ten is free too.” Ms. Lowell replies that Thursday is fine, and Nell is at the door at four.

How to answer a client who hires for precision

Read the client’s message and write down each question they asked, in order.
Answer each question in the first sentences of your reply, in that order. For example, a wedding photographer who is asked whether she is free on June 14 and how long she stays can write, “Yes, I’m free on June 14. My coverage is eight hours, from the first look to the last dance.”
If the client did not ask the price, give it next, as a number. Then say what happens next, with a day and a time. For example, the photographer can add, “The fee is $6,500. I can call you on Thursday at seven to go over the day.”
End with one question about the client, and leave out how you feel about the job. For example, an event planner can ask, “Which of your guests is coming the farthest?”
After any call, send two or three sentences the same day that confirm what you agreed. Start with “To confirm what we agreed today,” and then give the work, the fee, and the next date.

Next: You will see how to work with a client whose money arrived suddenly. That client stays with the professional who explains what the work costs.