The founding partner of a professional services firm sent the following email to a client. As you read it, take a guess about the sender’s gender.
Hi,
I am reviewing my time on the work I did for (XYZ company), and have to make you aware that it has taken far longer than normal. Between the additional work for _____ and ______I have accumulated approximately $1,200 of time.
I hope you can appreciate the time I spent on these two issues and the project in general. I know you are cost conscious, but in reviewing both years of my time, I have spent a lot of time, and I have to be honest and let you know.
If there is a an issue, let me know and I’ll review to see what I can do.
You’re spot on If you guessed a woman authored this email. I can’t imagine a man making such a plea prior to billing for services rendered.
As I read the email, voices were ranting inside my head.
They shouted:
“STOP! Clients don’t need or want to hear you plead your case about being compensated for your work. Just send the invoice. It’s what your clients expect. Maybe, just maybe, you could have sent the first paragraph. As your client I’d be annoyed upon reading any further.”
“STOP! Stick to this year’s work and the related invoice. Omit all references to the time you spent last year, for which you didn’t seek compensation. It’s over and long gone.”
“STOP! Clients are likely turned off by your dribbling and drooling. Just send the invoice. And that last sentence gets a loud OMG. After pleading your case, you offer to reduce the fees! ? ! Business people expect to pay for business services. If someone has a problem with the fee, they’ll let you know, or not.”
“When you walk into a store, how often does the clerk say ‘If you have a problem with our prices let me know, and I’ll change them’ ? Exactly Never.”
How Women Contribute to the Gender Pay Gap
What does this situation have to do with the gender pay gap?
Consider the following, from a 2014 report by American Express Open, a division that was founded to capture the woman-owned business market.
Women own more than 9.1 million firms that collectively generate $1.4 trillion in sales as of 2014.
The only bright spot in recent years with respect to privately held company job growth has been among women-owned firms. They have added an estimated 274,000 jobs since 2007. Among men-owned and equally owned firms, employment has declined over the past seven years.
Justifiable complaints abound regarding corporations that participate in the gender pay gap. Women, for the most part, don’t control this problem or its solution.
Women business owners, however, can control what happens (or doesn’t) in our own businesses. We can take a big step, that may just trickle up and down, by charging what we’re worth. We can pay ourselves, our employees, and women vendors, what we’re worth. We can change the portion of the gender pay gap that we control.
Ladies, let your work and your invoices speak for themselves, without apology.