Have you ever tried to define how much you are worth? Most people underestimate their skills and undercharge for their work and services.
As many of the people that follow my blog know, I tend to enjoy the art of storytelling. It always seems to convey the message in a more powerful way. So today won't be that different.
There was once a wealthy man who had purchased a printing press from a foreign company, he has always wanted to start this business and he had finally reached a point on his life where he could afford such a business venture.
The purchase was not small, as some of you might know printing presses come in all sizes for different levels of production and he was not about to start off small. Since the wealthy man had spent so much on his high end printing press he thought to himself it would be wise to save some money on other areas of the business.
It took about two weeks for the technicians he hired to put everything together, but for some reason the machine was not working right. Some pages presented offset letters, the colors were a bit off as well and there was a horrible noise coming from one of the moving levers that sounded pretty intimidating.
The wealthy man was not about to give up, so he demanded his young and resourceful technicians to figure the problem out, after all he was paying them a good salary to provide maintenance and care for this machine. It would be another week before the business owner was ready to ask for help outside of his young but knowledge hungry technicians and he decided to call the authority on these machines.
As you can probably guess, in this story there was an Engineer who had been working with these machines for decades and he knew all the ins and outs, he had probably worked on more machines than anyone could even imagine. The problem was, at least in the eyes of the wealthy man that this Engineer's services were not cheap.
The Engineering showed up of course, walk around the machine, moved a couple of levers as if he was testing the quality of but not really adjusting anything yet. He finally found what he was looking for, took out a small screwdriver and adjusted one small screw.
As if it was an act of magic, the machine worked to perfection and five books had been printed before he was done telling the wealthy man what his service call would cost.
The Wealthy man's face turned red, he felt this Engineer was being abusive, he felt he was being dupped, after all he had adjusted one screw.... He quickly replied "I should report you for abuse.... unless you can provide me with a breakdown of how you came up with that number I won't pay you a dime".
The Engineering looked around, took out his small invoice pad and wrote it up.
Service Call #872
- Screw Adjustment $0.99
- Knowing what screw needed to be adjusted $999.01
The wealthy man read the invoice and his angry face turned into a smile, he knew he was in the wrong. "I'm so sorry Sir, I will have the check made out to you in just a few minutes"
Before signing off, and before I forget... Happy St Patrick's day to you all, the tribe of good intent!!!
Much success
Another great story from you! Thanks for the share. :)
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If your're using 80/20 Pareto principle it could make life easier, but the hard part it takes time and dedication to find your passion. So don't give up finding you love doing. :)
Yes, it does takes time. And finding it is the key to every other thing. This is where many give up. I almost gave up myself but it takes a lot of determination to persist.
the know- how is the cost of the service ! One can pay few thousand dollar to buy an engine ( the real cost of the metal forming the engine could be few dollars) but one pays thaousands only because of the Know-how that assembled these cheap prices together to form that wonderful machine !
Btw.. I used this very example with my clients in my business :) and I got them convinced to pay the high fees 😘
i almost did the same too man
Mirror .. But Who understanding .. Only few i think !
we learn everyday....ur post is a very good example of an eye openner...kudos man
Great lesson!
The engineer paid (in $) his knowledge (long ago) and took the time to check it in practice.
Young masters have spent time and money, but they have not solved the problem.
I bet a lot more than $ 1000!
Interesting and instructive.
The thing is even with languages.
People see the result but not the effort and struggle you take into your learning...
Thank you for the story c:
I absolutely agree with you. In general, people see the results and not the behind the scenes nitty gritty work. Also, some of the things that "look easy" actually takes a lot of time and hard work in order to get to that level.
'Service Call #897'
That's such a long walk to have gained such experience. The wealthy man has not just paid for the immediate service but for a build up of experience over the years. Great Story....... Awesome lessons
Practice = Experience/Knowledge = Greater Bargaining Power.
You always share the good content.Loving every bit of this.It’s been only achieved by total dedication , keep sharing such good stuff.
It’s no price you can pay, to trade time for money
words..smart
Really dig this!
As long as you can explain your answer, you'll be able to negotiate anything.
At first I thought it would be like every other story but to be honest its quite a excellent work.Guess i must blame your writing for that😊
Steem on my friend. You are exceptional.
Que historia tan interesante... Me encantó. Ciertamente nuestro tiempo de educación y conocimientos vale muchisimo. Lastima que hay mucha gente que no lo sabe apreciar. Soy nueva en Steemit y me ha encamtado encontrarme con tu perfil, ya te sigom iBendiciones!
Gracias....aliaskarlita
Good story to learned that something quality, in this case just like machine and technician, they have "price". Thanks for sharing @chbartist
A simple story with great message! I have seen many people who look always busy in a office. When you ask them anything, they try to wipe sweat from their forehead and will say that they have an urgent piece of work. But when you evaluate the total work done by them, you will see that their output was much lower than the output of some smart worker. It is not important to work hard, it is important to work smart so that the overall time and resources may be saved. Also, the owner or boss must realize that the busiest looking worker may not be the smartest and the most efficient worker. They must understand the value of work done by every worker in order to have a clear picture of their efficiency. Sometimes, a person whom we think useless may prove himself the most useful person. I think this is the message hidden in this story. I enjoyed it and it also inspired me a lot. Thanks.
Thank you! All the Best...
Hmmm.... Very inspiring... Value of knowledge. Most people actually don't place value on what they know.. It is also very important to gain or seek more knowledge in your area of specialization so that u can be like the external technician because if he didn't know what to do, he wouldn't have been able to place such high value on it.. So hunger to know more about your work.
I think what I like most about this story is actually how it shows how satisfying it can be to lose to a worthy opponent, even though that might not have been the point.
This story is a wonderful way to portray the tremendous value of blue-collar workers to society. A respect much deserved in todays high speed modern reality.
Great storry,thanks for great intention of inspiration .You are fantastic.
me hubiese gustado verle la cara al dueño de la impresora , finalmente el sr pudo entender que no se le puede poner precio a nuestro conocimiento , nadie quiere pagar lo que haces y a veces ni por lo que sabes sea poco mucho a la gente le cuesta entender que para hacerlo tuviste que estudiar , desvelarte etc. El conocimiento es un bien, que es intangible y no tiene medida determinada.
Agree 100% !! Good posts give life a lot of inspiration. That the key to success is within us, then we should introspect ourselves ....
You forgot about mentioning the engineer mumbling under his breath "screw you" as he walked out the door. =)
that is really amazing, would that I also had a sbd to invest, promote like you dear,
very impressive
Thank you for the story.
The engineer should have charged for his time as well!!, he was lenient to the owner of the printing press
yes you are right people should dont underestimate everyone has ability to do something special and unique :) good post , i like it @chbartist
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Good job
Knowledge has a value and we have to learn to value ourselves as professionals that we are and that we are in the capacity to face and solve problems, because for that we prepare ourselves
very good...nice job man...digging deeper into my heart..thumbs up
Honestly, at first I wasn't getting. But the message in this story is quite multidimensional. Inspiring too.
This post has received a 21.73 % upvote from @boomerang.
dear your blog very nice and beautiful knowledgeable for peoples ,,
Please sir
Give me a votes follow me back , nothing will happen to you but I will get the benefit
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This is a situation I find myself all too familiar with. I have been an electrician for 9 years and people never understand that your knowledge is more valuable that the man hours you put in. Great post
just like 10+ years of learning music to be able to only start getting into music industry ;P
How about using such to nego a good salary pay out?? Haha...
Creating value and having worth are very different things.
I love the way this story talks about the value of understanding. People who have understanding have worth. Having worth isn't the same as having value. Finding someone who recognizes your worth is priceless.
Great idea it encourages me to inspire of how worthy each of individuals. I'm also a computer technical and I'm proud of it.
Great telling of a classic story. There is the aspect of how some "leaders" will look for ways to find a short cut, look for the cheap option, or think short term.
I liked your article. I invite you also to read me. You have my vote, greetings.
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A good motivational story to make my morning feeling better. Keep posting ..
You are really good at story telling. Enjoyed it
Nice Content.
I Like It
Most people have a great skill but they keep it to themselves believe it's unuseful to them, not knowing by starting showing it people will yield to it if it turns good
Great job! 👍
True. The story gives a very good insight to how much one should value ones knowledge irrespective of how trivial it might be. Knowledge of a loosed screw could earn one a whole machine.
the post is very inspiring. how can we respect skill. It not just thing, but hjow to think. the tool is cheap but the cost of skill is veri high. WE must put in high rating.
Great post!!!!
I agree with you, my friend.
The way how someone shares his message can make a big difference. Storytelling vs. just giving information. Defiantly storytelling will win.
For a simple reason. Our brain is set up to save stories not just raw information. The story will stay in our memory much longer when it is es remarkable story with a specific influence. It depends from person to person.
I think you transported your message here in a good way 👍🏾
I do .... work on homes and businesses, the Hardware-Lumber box stores have messed up a lot of construction, folks can buy a saw, hammer, plumbing, plus electrical materials and tools and get advice from the person working that department that has never actually working in those fields. I send a Tech out to their house and 99% of the time they say, but the guy at ..... said it was this and after they try to fix it themselves and can't they will call us. Then when we tell them what the actually issue is and how to fix it, give them a few options, they always reply, "but the guy at ..... said it had to be this"
It is amazing at how much we deal with this. I am sure its not just our industry with all the shows on TV and Youtube
Great post, just found you and I will be checking out more
Gus
As a photography business owner I can relate to that, people think we come, snap snap and that's it. They don't know as a small business owner you do a lot more than what meet the eye ( accounting, marketing, maintenance of equipment and in my case editing in front of the computer for hours...). Great article Sir.