“Surviving is important. Thriving is elegant.” Maya Angelou
We wear entrepreneurial survival stories like badge of honor. “Look at what I’ve survived. Look at what I’ve overcome. Look at what I’ve managed to do.” We celebrate these hard moments, relishing the against all odds, underdog victory.
Now, I’m all for the underdog. On Saturday, January 2, I spent a night pacing the floors at my mother’s house while a backup, walk-on, senior quarterback from TCU came bag from a 31-0 shut-out at half-time to beat Oregon in the Alamo Bowl. {For those of you who don’t know, I don’t watch much TV, except for college football and basketball. Then, I’m one of the boys.} It was glorious. It was celebrated. It was front page news for one day. And, then it was back to the struggle to survive next football’s season.
Survival time is over. It’s time to thrive. Literally, feeling like you and your business are at the top of the world and rearing to go. And, what makes the difference between surviving and thriving is quite simple. How much are you going to charge?
The price question brings up a few fears over and over again for my clients {and me!}:
I’m sure my clients are going to see that price change and run to my nearest competitor.
I’m just not sure I’m actually worth it. If I have another ________________ {certification, training, partner, class, session time}, then maybe, I’d be okay to do it.
I’m going to have furious clients and I just don’t know if I can put up with the aftermath of price increases.
I want to be accessible to everyone and I know this is going to make my client’s feel like I’m an elitist.
In all these fears, we’ve forgotten one thing—our future.
So here’s a fact to wash away those fears: Pricing does not matter to your client. Value does.
So let’s add a bit of value and make your price less of an objection and more of a mechanism to your 2016 thriving.
- Being the Wal-Mart of your industry is a sure way to failure. When we live by price, we live in a competitive world…a red ocean of blood sucking, business clawing, client stealing viciousness. But, there’s another choice. Study, after study, after study {after all my practical research} shows that you are far more likely to thrive {and long-term survive} when you’re priced at the top of the food chain.
Why? For me, it’s simple. When you charge higher prices, you can offer a greater and more consistent experience. And, your clients are coming back to you for that experience.
When, fear rears it’s ugly head, consider what you can offer with increased prices. Accountability calls, an assistant who truly connects people to their ideal products and classes, even time to really nourish a client early on.
These are loyalty building activities that come when you’re financially secure and they can be game changers for your client’s results.
- Value comes from benefits. When I work with businesses who aren’t seeing sales, it always comes down to the same problem—their clients can’t see the value they’re providing. Value does not come from what you do. It comes from HOW what YOU DO will CHANGE your client’s life, SOLVE your client’s problem or ANSWER your client’s desire.
The simplest way to change this is to stop selling what you do with your clients and start selling how what you do can alter your client’s life forever. Start by asking your current client’s this question: “WHY to you work with me? WHAT does this solve in your life? HOW has this changed you for the better?”
These answers will guide you towards how to share your value with your future clients.
- Whenever you package your products, you can increase prices {and value} through low cost additions.
I may sound like a broken record, but please…package, package, package your services. Be sure to include those low cost, high value items that really answer your client’s needs. And, feel confident in upping your prices because no one else will be offering a similar package.
- You can change your current clients prices {just don’t forget the value quotient}. We change a lot of client’s prices {and in August, November, December and every other month that seems ridiculous to do it in}. The key strategy to doing this is to treat your client like they are brand new and you’re re-setting your value with them. It makes everything else as simple as can be.
- If fear stands in your way, turn your pricing change into a scalable solution. Big pricing changes don’t have to happen overnight. For many client’s we have a one year plan with three changes {now, 6 months from now, 12 months from now}. Each change is small and may not even affect pricing across the board, but one year from now
