How to Negotiate Anything

Professional Services

Consider this: Your relationship counts. “If you’re a good client―
someone who has referred other customers, who brings organized documents, who pays bills quickly―I’ll knock 10 percent off my fee if you ask,” says Marc Albaum, a certified public accountant in New York City.

Try this: Ask for a loyalty discount. If you’re not a longtime customer, go to an accountant or an attorney who does work for your friends or family and ask to receive the same treatment as they do, including any price breaks. Offer a barter payment (designing a new website for the firm, say), which benefits her by reducing her taxable income. Or propose that she do the work when it’s best for her schedule―preparing taxes in February, for example―in return for a lower fee.