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The Problem

When somebody pushes back on money, most owners have two settings. They cave, or they fight. Caving trains people to push you. Fighting makes them dig in. Neither gets you paid what the work is worth.

And it is not one conversation. Every year you quote new work, you need to charge existing customers more, jobs grow mid-way, suppliers raise your rates, and somebody pays late. Most owners dread all 5, so they put them off, give a little away each time, and never add it up.

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The Five Money Conversations

Conversation	What the book gives you
The quote	Say the price and stop, then move only down a ladder you planned, trading something for every step.
The increase	When to raise, the order (new quotes, then the pipeline, then existing customers), the Increase Planner, a 5-part letter and the call for your biggest customers.
The change	3 lines in every quote (what is in, what is out, how a change is priced) and the sentence to say on site.
The supplier	Get your real alternative first, then the call, and what to ask for when the rate will not move.
The late payer	Prevention (deposits, milestones, terms in writing), a 4-step sequence, and what to say when they ask for more work with an invoice open.

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Two Formulas, On Your Margin

Before any money conversation you need to know what is at stake in your own business. Two formulas tell you, and both run on gross profit, not revenue.

• Formula A, the discount break-even: extra jobs you need to stand still = d / (m - d). As an illustration, at a 40% margin, 10% off needs a third more jobs.
• Formula B, the increase break-even: share of jobs you can lose and stand still = p / (m + p). As an illustration, at a 40% margin, a 10% increase can lose 1 job in 5.

Those are illustrations. The book has you run both on your own margin, and write down what you expect to happen before you change a price.

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The Six Moves and The Note

The Six Moves are how you talk in all 5 conversations: Mirror, Label, No-question, Open question, Name it first, Silence. Every one makes the other person talk while you listen.

The Note is the 9-line card you fill in before the conversation: what you want, what you will settle for, your walk-away and your real alternative, what they want that you can give, the non-cash items, the bad thing to name first, the summary they would agree with, who else decides, and what you don't know.

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Inside The Book

1. The 15-minute quick win
2. Why owners lose money conversations they should win
3. The arithmetic of a price move, on your margin
4. Concessions on purpose: your Trade List and the shrinking ladder
5. The Six Moves
6. The Note
7. Conversation 1: the quote
8. Conversation 2: the increase
9. Conversation 3: the change
10. Conversation 4: the supplier
11. Conversation 5: the late payer
12. The scripts
13. The practice drill and the scorecard
14. Metrics that matter
15. Common mistakes
16. Worked examples: labelled composites, including one that went wrong
17. Proof, and what this book will not print
18. The two-week sprint
19. The 30 and 90 day look-back
20. Next steps

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From Part 1: The Quick Win

When they push back, repeat the last 3 words they said, as a question. Then stop talking.

It costs you nothing, and it buys you 2 things you are short of in that moment: information, because people fill silence with something more specific than what they just said, and 4 seconds, because the next move is now on them. It is not agreement. You have not conceded or offered anything. You repeated them.

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Questions

Will this tell me what to charge?

No. Setting a price is its own arithmetic, covered in the Pricing Calculator. This book starts once you have a price and somebody wants to move it.

Does it say how many customers a price increase will cost me?

No, and nobody honestly can. Formula B tells you how many you can afford to lose. You write down your own guess before you send anything, then compare it with what happens at 30 days.

Are there success rates or case studies in it?

No. Every number is a round, labelled hypothetical or your own. The worked examples are labelled composites that show a decision, with no results attached.

Is the late-payer part legal advice?

No. It is general guidance with a sequence and the words. Collection rules vary by state, and the book tells you to ask an attorney before late fees, threats or sending a debt anywhere.

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Who This Is For

The owner of a small service business (a plumber, a clinic, an electrician, a cleaning company, a landscaper) who negotiates price, scope, supplier rates and late invoices without ever having been taught how, who either drops the number or defends it too hard, and who has put off a price increase for more than a year.