Must Read: 5 Important Professional Lessons Learnt from a Mole Catcher

Growing up in the village was a great experience; one of the most memorable times in my boyhood was trapping moles that often invaded our neighbor’s Shamba. This was one of the most coveted boyhood skills especially during weeding season since the moles would multiply and destroy crops at a high rate. It’s been a long time since the last time I saw a mole but recently I learnt an important entrepreneurship lesson from a mole catcher I came across.

Since not everyone grew up in the village let me begin by a brief intro of who is a mole catcher. A mole catcher as you can see on Wikipedia is a person who traps moles for a fee and moves from one farm to another offering his services. There are several ways that that are employed to trap moles. Technology has refined the traps to make them effective and somewhat humane in killing moles!

The Story of Mole Catcher I Meet Recently

When I came across this mole catcher negotiating with a farmer who is a friend, I did not bother to pay attention to what they were negotiating about until they had a disagreement. I was invited to their negotiation to be the jury or share my opinion about the matter.

            Background 

The farmer was having a serious problem in his farm with more than 50 moles wrecking havoc to his crops. He explained he had tried to trap the moles but all his efforts were futile. In fact, in 10 mole trapping attempts he had not caught even one mole.

The crop was getting destroyed at a high rate and there was need for immediate attention from a professional mole catcher. The farmer was looking for an urgent solution to this problem and was willing to pay for the services of a mole catcher who would deliver results. In this case the moles had to be caught for the payment to be made.

     Disagreement or Bargain

I could not help but notice the frustration of the farmer as he tried to bargain for a better price paid for every mole caught. Interestingly, the farmer had fallen into the desperation trap set for him in this bargain. The mole catcher argued that since it was the weeding season he had little time to waste with negotiation on his charges.

He insisted he as on this way to attend to another farmer who needed his services urgently. He had set his price at KSH 100 per mole but the farmer was concern it was high considering the high number of moles in his farm.

 In a quick rejoinder the mole catcher argued his profession was one of the careers that are often disregarded yet people would not do without his services. I was asked if the price as fair and considering the number of the moles to be caught.

 I risked being biased by supporting my friend to get 50% off the price he wanted but we settled on 15% off the price as the ‘best’ bargain for both parties. It is at that moment I discovered the 5 important lessons that all professionals should learn from the mole catcher. I will share with you here to help you become a better professional.

# 1) Professional Help is Always in Demand

In ancient times mole catchers used pots of water buried underground where moles would fall and drown. This was a simple trap that was very deadly for moles. It seems to be something obvious that everyone could do but there were mole catchers who were still charging a fee for this service in those days.

There are many farmers who know about trapping moles but they still hire professionals. They either don’t believe they can trap the moles, they believe in a professional or simply they don’t have time. You should never despise your profession it is special to you and represent your earning ability no matter how simple it is. You should also learn the different times or seasons that your profession does well.

#2) Recognizing Market Demand for your Craft 

The mole catcher had strong bargaining power since he understood the market demand forces, I quote him “I am on my way to another farm and this season I am the only trapper in this area...I have so much work and I don’t think I will get time for your farm this week….eh…especially with such a price! “  

#3) Inventiveness and Skills Improvement 

Every professional should know new ways of his craft and the demand of the skill with the changing times. It might be helpful to fit to new customer needs by providing the same service with new technology.

Today mole catchers don’t use pots by use sophisticated traps.  The mole catcher argued he had an effective technology he had invented to trap moles in his 5 years of catching moles that was very effective.

# 4) Pricing your Services the Right way

If you want to be successful ‘mole catcher’ you should know how to price your services the right way, you should be willing to justify the prices of your services when your clients demand for a discount. You will meet many ‘farmers’ who will lure you with the concept of ‘many moles’ therefore make you lower your price in a bargain.

What if you only manage to trap only one mole? Set a standard fair price for your services and let your clients understand the value you are selling to them is worth that price.

# 5) Recognize the Power of the Word ‘No’

The mole catcher was willing to say no to this deal no matter the promise of catching many moles. It helps to think that the price of a service should not be discounted by 50% by the client unless you are the one giving the offer. You should learn to say ‘NO’ to some of the deals that will not make business sense to you.

There are many lessons you can learn from this analogy of the mole catcher but let’s limit ourselves to only these 5 for today.

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About the Author:

I offer services and consultation on a wide range of online marketing areas, to just mention a few; corporate blogging, personal blogging, search engine optimization, social media marketing and Internet marketing.  

Ideally, I develop content and content marketing ideas that will keep your readers entertained, enlightened and engaged.

I am particularly good in technology, health, web development, marketing, social media and entrepreneurship topics. This does not mean my content is limited to only these topics.  I develop content marketing strategies for diverse industries like Internet, Health, Finance, Marketing, Leadership & Governance and more.

It is possible to contact me to inquire about my services through my email:
 joe [at] njengah [dot] com or drjoenjenga [at] gmail [dot] com or simply call me 
+ 254-718-38-72-11

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