One of the things I coach people on a lot, I work with a lot of my clients on, is negotiating.

I think most of us are bad at negotiating.

I think even some folks who think they’re good at negotiating are not as good at negotiating as they believe themselves to be.

Maybe I’m one of those people, but I think I’m pretty good at it.

However, I wish my skills worked better with local contractors.

I mean, the short version of some of my advice is that everybody thinks they have to start higher than they want and then meet in the middle, whatever else.

I think it’s a crappy way to negotiate.

I think if you are the person with the price and you can say, hey, this is the price and this is what you get for that price, and then people ask for the ability to pay less, you can tell them, well, if you want to pay less, then you get less.

That’s how it goes.

On the flip side, if people come in and you can tell that they are aiming high, I understand the ways to negotiate low, and it’s not to go lower than you intend so they can meet you in the middle.

It’s to get them to the right place.

But yeah, so anyway, we probably have to redo our driveway, which I mean we have to redo our driveway.

When we moved in, the driveway was one car width wide and it needed some repair.

And eventually we got it repaired and widened.

When the guy came to widen it, he didn’t quite make it wide enough.

And it became like 1.8 or 1.9 cars wide, which is basically not useful because it means that if somebody parks in the driveway, you can’t get out of the driveway if you’re in the garage or something.

And also the people who did it didn’t do an amazing job when they widened it.

And the sides where they extended things in both directions are crumbling, particularly on one side where it’s really crumbling, like where it’s not quite rubble, but it doesn’t look like a driveway anymore.

It looks like a broken, busted-ass driveway.

So I really wanted to do it right this time when I was going to fix it, not just patch it up, but like really do what should have happened the prior time, which is they take away everything and they compact the dirt and they add the stone, like several inches of stone, and they leave that to get flattened and pressed down by your car going up and down for several weeks.

And then they smooth it all out and do the thing and paving and whatnot.

I want you to imagine what do you think those quotes could be?

How much could that job really cost?

Just think, what’s your number in your head?

And if you’re wondering, how long is the driveway, Lex?

I need to know that number.

It’s slightly longer than a driveway should be.

Not by our request, just that’s how the driveway was built.

That’s how the house was set back.

So not a crazily long driveway, but a longer than average driveway.

Okay, do you have a price in your head how much this job should be?

We got a quote for $16,000.

We got a quote for $14,800.

I did not want to spend either of those things.

And then I really had to struggle for days with do I want to do this job at all?

Can I just have a driveway that slowly deteriorates, that’s not wide enough?

And the answer is yeah, I possibly could have a driveway that is rubbly and not quite wide enough.

Or I could just fix it.

And if we fix it and do it the right way and pay these exorbitant sums, that’s the better way to do it than doing a half-ass fix.

Even though that half-ass fix that we did last time lasted seven or eight or nine years.

But it’s like what if we just did it right?

And then I could not be annoyed by it anymore.

So I go to each of these two companies.

I let them know I was getting quotes from the other company because these are the two best companies for doing driveways in New Jersey.

I said, hey, just so you know, I’m also talking to the other guys.

Then they immediately both went deep on how horrible the other one was.

And they’re both extremely well-reviewed, well-loved companies.

And that’s honestly the best thing about this process is that I know that these two companies do a great job.

They are the ones who are considered the best in the local area at doing driveways and doing them the right way.

But they hate each other, which is hilarious.

And, in fact, they each kind of said, oh, you can use the other one if you want.

They do a fine job, but then you’ve got to deal with them.

Basically, they’re each saying the other company is jerks.

And I’m like, look, I’m not going to share the other company’s quote with you, but obviously I want to do this right, but I also don’t want to overpay.

Is this the best that you can do?

One of them said, one of them basically took my advice that maybe they attended my webinar, and they’re like, well, yeah, we can charge you less if we do fewer things.

Great, but I want to do this.

And the other one was like, I can make $200 off.

And I’m like, $200 off a $14.8K job is not enough money off.

That does not show me a discount.

Can you actually do this for less?

You can put your sign up.

I’ll leave it up for X period of time.

Can you X, Y, or Z?

And, oh, the discount I got eventually, a mere $14,000.

And my complaint is you can spend $14,000 on this driveway.

And at the end of the day, when it’s all done in two months or whatever, so what?

You have a driveway.

Like I was saying to Lauren, like, okay, great.

We pay all that money, and we wait all that time and deal with the annoyance, and then, okay, the driveway’s better.

And Lauren’s like, no, actually, I’ll really enjoy it.

Like I love going out there and seeing a perfect, smooth, even, lovely driveway.

So I will get enjoyment.

I was like, great, that helps.

Because I don’t.

I do not care.

It could be just straight gravel, and I wouldn’t care.

It’s just a mechanism for getting from the street to the garage.

Like I don’t care.

But at least Lauren will take some joy from it.

But, man, I hate spending the money, and I can’t believe that they – they’ve both tried to tell me how low the margins are on their business, and I don’t know.

I find – I’m hard-pressed to believe that, but I’m also not a driveway expert.

It’s definitely not a job I’m doing myself.

I know that for sure.

So, anyway, go pay for a LexGain subscription or become a LexDreaming consultant client or something, because somebody’s got to pay for this damn driveway.

Lex.