Healthy Numbers
You are not charging what you are worth because You think your clients cannot afford to pay that much
It drives me crazy! when I hear someone say that they cannot charge the amount they believe they are worth because “the client cannot afford it”
How do they know that? What evidence do they have that the client/ customer cannot afford to pay?
It is amazing what people can find the money to pay for….
Here are just a couple of examples:
A woman I know often comments “I don’t have enough money because I don’t get paid enough” – she has her nails “done” every week and has 100 pairs of shoes.
My sister has a friend who is very “careful” when spending money – doesn’t buy lunch or drinks for the kids when they are all at the park, she brings snacks and drinks from home. She has just spent $2 000 on a kitchen gadget that does “everything”
A colleague I used to work with brought her lunch to work and brought coffee from home and rented out a room in her house to students for extra income. She always flies Business class when she travels.
Parents will “go without” things for themselves so that they can afford to pay for education for their child/ children
What is the commonality between these examples? The commonality is:
People will find the money for the things they value!
When you realise that what you offer is of value – real value – to your clients then you can charge what you are worth and not have to think about whether they can afford it or not. Your clients/ customers can afford what you offer because of the Value you provide.
What is your true value? What pain are you relieving for your clients? what is unique about what you do that your customers cannot get from anyone else?
These are the things that allow you to charge what you are worth!
“Are we There Yet?”
You are not charging what you are worth because You are waiting till you know more/ have more experience; waiting to be “there”
Recently I watched the movie The Social Network and I loved the scene very early in the development of FB when Eduardo Saverin asks Mark Zuckerberg:
“When will it be finished?” and Mark says:
“It won’t be finished, that’s the point. The way fashion’s never finished”
This is the motto for every business. Things change all the time and as Business owners we need to have this forefront in our minds:
“It’s never finished”
If you wait till you know everything, till you have it all “finished” you will never charge what you are worth
There is no point asking “Are we there yet?” because “there” keeps moving! And “there” moves all over, moves forward, moves sideways, moves up, moves down … “there” is always moving!
Decide now that you have all you need for now to do what you need to do and charge what you are worth for the service you offer now!
You are not charging what you are worth because you worry that people will see you as greedy or “in it for the money” and you would rather be seen as “a helper”
I hear this all the time from people across a variety of Businesses. “Oh, I want to be available to everyone” “If I charge too much people will think I am greedy” “I really enjoy helping people; I’m not in it for the money” and so it goes
Hhhhhmmm these are examples of interesting mindset.
Up until recently someone I knew very well was charging what she called “an affordable” rate for her service. She is quite gifted at what she does and want her “gift” to be available to a wide range of people.
Recently her personal circumstances changed and she wants to work less hours while maintaining her current income.
“Maybe I could put up my rates?” she mused to me. And she did. And there has been NO impact on her client retention.
I’m intrigued that it took an external motivation for her to try this.
What is the mindset that we need to hold so that we can charge what we are worth?
There are many different “mindsets”. Here are my top 3:
- Fully understand the service you are providing; know what pain you are solving for your client/ customer. I have written about this in the past and this is what it always comes back to – when you know that you are providing a service that your client Really wants and cannot find anywhere else, then you can name your price.
- You can help more people when you have money. Money gives you freedom to have access to getting your message out to more people, whether through your website, FB, twitter, press or other forms of marketing. When your message is out there more people will get your message and then more people have access to your expertise.
You can take your expertise to even more people when you stop working one – to – one and create ways to work with groups of people. I can help you with this through my new workshop Create New Income.
This third one is really a First Principle in its own way:
3. When you charge more for what you offer that keeps you committed to providing the very best that you can provide. What I’m saying here is that over time there are people become complacent about what they do and what they offer. When we don’t update our skills and just keep offering the “same old” we have absolutely no right to charge more for what we offer. I call this “lazy”; I call this “not being in Business”
Be true to yourself, be committed to keeping yourself and your offer fresh and up to date.
When you follow these 3 mindsets, you will be able to charge what you are worth because you will say to yourself”“I offer a unique service that relieves the pain that my clients experience and through using the most up to date and freshest methodology I am able to bring my Best Self to my clients/ customers and for this I am prepared to ask for what I am worth and my clients/ customers pay willingly.”
You think you cannot Charge What You are Worth because you believe that to have a client paying something is better than not having any clients
This is one of my favourite objections to people being able to “Charge What You are Worth”
Have you read the earlier posts in the series “Charge What You are Worth”? We are exploring the various objections to “Charging What You are Worth”
There are many people who believe it is better to have low paying clients rather than have no clients.
Just last week I was talking to an accountant who was bemoaning her situation. She was describing a client (who sounded to me like the client from hell) and how she was trying to find someone else to do his accounts. As part of the discussion she revealed that she was just about doing this work for free! (a second reason to be rid of him)
I’m thinking to myself, “there is something wrong here; this less than ideal client (to say the least) is getting great expertise for almost nothing.”
How does this happen? As part of our discussion she revealed how she had got herself into this position. “When I came to Sydney I didn’t know anyone … and I took what I could get”
I’m sure some of you reading this can resonate. There have been times when almost everyone has been tempted to take work that pays less than ideal rather than have no work at all.
It is so important not to fall into this trap for many reasons:
- You could get so busy doing low paid work with less than ideal clients that you don’t have time to seek out ideal clients
- You could lose perspective of the characteristics of your ideal client so that even if you had the time to look for them you have forgotten what they look and sound like
- You could lose confidence in yourself – for me, this is the real tragedy of doing this. Taking on low paying clients can leave you demoralised and lacking in self-worth to the point where you might not believe that you are worthy of the higher paying clients
- How do you get rid of these lower paying clients when you get busy with high paying, Ideal clients?
Trust me, don’t allow the lower value clients into your business. I would make one exception to this proviso. In only one situation would it be appropriate – where the Overall Benefit to you is greater than the overall cost to you.
Example: you might take on a lower value client who is in an industry that you are keen to get into and you don’t currently have the experience and this would give you the “foot in the door” with the industry
Example: the client may offer some other intangible benefit to you. You might be the accountant of a Gourmet Food company and they gift you delicious food hampers of new and delicious products. Or the client is located in an exotic location and just being there is like having a holiday (I’ve actually done this and it feels so good that none of the reasons not to take on this client apply).
What is the solution?
Firstly: Be really clear about what you offer your clients – think about what you offer in terms of the benefits to your client, the actual tangible difference that you make to their lives, their family, their health, to their business – things change!
Whatever service you are providing the only reason that your clients/ customers engage you is that they believe that you will change something for them; something that needs to be changed, something they want to be changed. They hire you to help them make the change because they cannot do it on their own.
Think about what you offer from their perspective, from your clients’ perspective.
Secondly: Target people who can pay; ensure your target customers are people who are willing to pay the amount that you want to charge.
Ultimately it comes back to your offer; what are your clients paying you to solve for them. What aspect of their lives do they want to change and they want to you to help them change it. What do they need to learn and they want you to teach them.
Think about the service you offer and what pain relief you provide. Think in terms of the results for your clients – this is the real key to charging what you are worth!
You think you cannot Charge What You are Worth because you have compared your fees to others in your industry and you can only charge an amount that “fits”
I was at dinner with friends and one of them is a highly skilled HR professional. She was explaining that she had discovered that there was a threshold for how much she could charge Clients.
I was intrigued as you would imagine. As I listened to her explanation it seemed to me that the threshold was self-imposed.
Her hypothesis went something like this: “I can only charge $X per hour to my SME clients because they pay their accountant $X per hour and that seems to be the threshold dollars per hour for SMEs”
Interesting. This is an example of thinking of oneself in terms of “dollars for hours” and then comparing oneself to other “hours for dollars” service providers.
In my experience more and more accountants are packaging their service so that clients pay a regular monthly or quarterly fee because they are moving away from the “hours for dollars” model.
Again, this takes us back to “what are you offering?” which was the topic of my first post in this series. When you “get” this concept of really being clear about your offer, these other arguments fall by the wayside.
People pay for what they value.
What did you pay for your last haircut? Prices for haircuts vary enormously. You could pay $20 for the apprentice to cut your hair and it would be what it is – an apprentice haircut. Or you could pay $400 for Stevie Smart Scissors who creates fabulous styles every time. Or pay somewhere in between.
Both hairdressers might take the same amount of time to cut your hair so this is not an “hours for Dollars” transaction. This is payment for offer! The person paying $400 is paying for (example):
- Confidence that they will look fabulous
- Confidence that the haircut will suit them
- Confidence that the haircut will make them look younger/ professional/ older/
If you find yourself looking around your industry or similar
industries to benchmark your hourly rate; Stop Doing That! Right Now!
Think about your offer; what are your clients paying you to solve for them. What aspect of their lives do they want to change and they want to you to help them change it. What do they need to learn and they want you to teach them.
Think about the service you offer and what pain relief you provide. Think in terms of the results for your clients – this is the real key to charging what you are worth!
You think you cannot Charge What You are Worth because the “current economic climate” won’t support the fees you want to charge.
In my last post I started to explore "Are you charging what you are worth?" and I suggested thinking in terms of your Value to your clients from their perspective and I hope that has prompted you to shift your perspective (even a little) about how you think about your worth.
People often say:
You cannot charge what you are worth because the “current economic climate” won’t support the fees you want to charge.
What “economic climate”? if you look back over time there has always been economic conditions that influence the ways that people spend money. Look around you – are there people spending their money? The answer is “yes” so they can just as easily spend their money on you.
The hard fact here is that if your clients are not prepared to spend their money on the results that you can provide for them – refer to previous article – then you are targeting the wrong people.
If you are targeting people who have money issues or who need more time to think about whether to get started with you or who ask for a discount … you know who I mean. These are not your people.
How would you describe your ideal client in terms of paying for your services? Some of the characteristics of my ideal clients are:
- Willing to do what it takes to get the result
- Highly self motivated
- Always turn up on time
- Always have their preparation/ pre work completed
- Inspire me to want to serve them at a higher level
- Know what results they want
These people are prepared to pay for what they want, now. No matter about the economic climate.
In ANY economic climate people will pay for value; the perceived value to them. And even if someone might look like they don’t have the money, they will find the money for the thing they believe will give them true value.
I remember last year my sister telling me about one of the mothers in their play group. She is a really nice person and always fun to be around and her children are well behaved. They live a simple life and there is never much money to spend; they bring their own drink and lunch to playtime and the other mothers know that she has limited funds. Out of the blue she spent about $1 000 on a special kitchen gadget because of the value it would bring to her family:
- Help her children to eat more vegetables
- Help her make more interesting meals
- Help her make more tasty snacks and treats
Again, it comes back to the value that you provide: Stop their pain and fix their problem! And your clients will pay what you are worth!
Are You Charging What you are Worth?!
Can you honestly say that you charge what you are worth? Consistently? With every Client?
How many times do you wake up at night thinking “They just don’t pay me enough; why am I doing this again? How is this happening? …. Again?”
Why don't you charge more? You don't because you:
- Are still thinking about “trading hours for dollars” and not thinking in terms of the service you provide to your client/customer
- Worry that the current “economic climate” won’t support the fees that you want to charge
- Compare your fees to others in your industry and charge an amount that “fits”
- Believe that to have a client paying something is better than not having any clients
- Don’t want to appear greedy or appear to be “in it for the money”
- Feel embarrassed or uncomfortable talking about what you charge
- You are waiting till you know more/ have more experience
Today I am going to tackle the first of these, and will cover the other points in future Blogs:
You are not charging what you want to charge because you are still thinking about "trading hours for dollars" and not thinking in terms of the service you provide to your client
Are you actually clear about how much you want to charge? or is it just “more”?
What are you basing this amount on? How are you arriving at this amount you want to charge?
Are you in a “trading hours for dollars” mindset?
Or do you think of the service you offer in terms of your client?
What I notice is that as soon as you start to think about what you offer in terms of the benefits to your client, the actual tangible difference that you make to their lives, their family, their health, to their business – things change!
Whatever service you are providing the only reason that your clients/ customers engage you is that they believe that you will change something for them; something that needs to be changed, something they want to be changed. They hire you to help them make the change because they cannot do it on their own.
Think about what you offer from their perspective, from your clients’ perspective.
What benefits are they deriving from the service you provide? This is not about you, this is about your client. You do what it is you do, you use all of your expertise to provide them with the outcome they want and it is this outcome that determines the price they will pay.
Ask yourself “when I do what is the result they want?”
Then ask yourself “How valuable is this result to them?”
And this leads to “How much are they prepared to pay for this?”
I’ll give you an example. Recently I have had an injury/ affliction on both my thumbs. I consulted 4 different medical/ health experts and no-one was able to offer me a solution, in fact none of them were able to diagnose what it was.
I was suffering from increasing agony in both thumbs. The physical pain was now creating problems in the rest of my life – the pain made me grumpy and irritable which impacted relationships. I was frightened that major surgery/ amputation might be necessary – it’s amazing what we come up with at 2 am!! I could already feel the beginnings of defeat ….
The fifth person I consulted (sort of by chance) suggested I attend the Sydney Hand and Rehabilitation Centre. She said they would be able to help me! I headed to my appointment prepared by this stage to pay almost any amount just to have a result; to make the pain stop and fix the problem.
Immediate relief! I cried with joy at the ceasing of my physical pain and when they handed me my bill I was astounded. So little? Is this all? For what you gave me? For the results? For the solution? For the pain relief?
Every one of you who offers a service is offering to Make the pain stop and to fix the problem.
Think about the service you offer and what pain relief you provide. Think in terms of the results for your clients – this is the real key to charging what you are worth!
Happy New Year 2013
Today as we move towards the New Year I thought I’d share this 2013 SURVIVAL KIT to help you each day............
It would be fun to prepare an actual 2013 SURVIVAL KIT and keep it at hand … the joy of technology we can gather these items together and keep them to hand anytime and anywhere!
ü Rubber band ... to remind you to be flexible; things might not always go the way you want and being flexible can help how you respond to how things work out
ü Rubber/Eraser ... to remind you everyone makes mistakes; we learn best from errors
ü Chewing Gum ... to remind you to stick with it and you can accomplish anything
ü
… to remind you to look for the good qualities
in everyone, including yourself
ü Pencil ... to remind you to list down the goods parts, the blessings of every day
ü
... to remind you to listen to your intuition and let the good ideas flow
ü Band-Aid ... to remind you to heal hurt feelings, either yours or someone else's
ü Tea Bag ... to remind you to take time to relax daily and go over your list of blessings
ü
….
to remind you everyone needs a compliment every day, including You
ü
… to remind you to look for the music when the
noise takes over
This is what makes life worth living every minute, every day
Wishing you love, gratitude, friends to cherish, caring, sharing, laughter,
music, and happy days
Iron out your wrinkles
The joy of this is that the product is fabulous and then the Business systems give people choice and freedom. Who wouldn't want to be involved.
ageLOC generated $14M in sales last year in Australia. Based on growth projections in other markets the sales for this year are likely to be $25M. and by 2014 that will be $50M - just in Australia. These sales will happen with or without me; I've decided it will be with me.
As we get older our skin becomes more wrinkled and the summer sun dries out our skin. Some people have found a way to enjoy the sun and iron out their wrinkles
ageLOC helps iron out our wrinkles
Confessions of a Carb Junkie
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