For years I've been paying specialists 10-50% more than they quoted me. The return turned out to be human rather than financial — and it works.
Paying people more than the agreed price is a good investment.
At first glance it may look odd: if we owe someone 1,000 hryvnias and we pay more, where exactly is the benefit?
I’m talking first of all about the long-term effect of that decision.
For the last few years I’ve been practising a new habit. When someone quotes me a price for their work, I may pay a little more. Sometimes it’s 10%, sometimes 30-50%.
The reason is very simple — I want the person to know that I value their work.
When a specialist receives more money than they asked for, they understand that you could have paid nothing extra, but you chose to thank them for their work with additional money.
When I first started practising this habit, I noticed an interesting effect. I call my barber to get a haircut the same day, even though I know his schedule is booked two or three days ahead at minimum. A slot appears for me. He moves someone else to another day and fits me in a couple of hours later.
I’ve seen dozens of examples like that by now. And it’s not about the person getting 550 instead of 500 hryvnias — it’s about the human attitude. He understands that I genuinely value his work.
I don’t do this 100% of the time. If I didn’t like the service in a restaurant, or if someone did their job poorly, I won’t add anything on top.
There’s one more interesting effect of the habit of paying more than you were asked for — a kind of elusive sense of sufficiency and prosperity in your own life. When you bless people with money, that same blessing comes back into your life. At least that’s what I believe.
Have you ever tried paying people more than they expected to receive, over a long stretch of time?
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