Don't pay Nobby with Nuts!

"You want it for HOW MUCH?!"

I recently spoke with a supplier with whom I was looking to do some outsourcing with.

He gave me a price of £20 per widget.

I told him this wasn’t good enough.

“But Richard, he said, “I’m bleeding myself dry at that price as it is, I really can’t go any lower!”.

“I know” I replied, “that’s why I want you to charge me £25.”

Why did I do this?

I knew if I paid him peanuts, eventually I’d get a monkey service.

My take is, the lost £5 per unit in my profit would be more than made up by increased productivity through motivation on his end.

Am I crazy?  The answer’s “yes”.

(But everybody likes me and likes doing business with me)