There are so many of us who just aren’t charging what we should be, what we’re really worth. Are you one of those people? Are you scared that you’ll chase people away if you raise your prices? Are you offering discounts before people even ask, because you think no one will pay what you really should be charging? Well, I’m here to tell you it’s time to stop.
As women entrepreneurs, we all need to start charging what we’re really worth. We need to be charging based on the results we get for our clients, not for the time we spend or how much we think the market will bear. So how do you do that? How do you convince yourself (because if you can’t convince yourself – you won’t be able to convince anyone else either) that you really can ask for more?
Charging what you’re worth is really quite simple. First, you have to know the value of the results you get for people, the results you deliver. Second, you have to know, really know, that you’re worth it!
Here’s something I hope helps: Value is defined by your clients. Pricing is defined by you. So if value is defined by your clients, how do you determine or quantify value? Easy. You ask precise questions to learn what matters most to your prospective clients. Once you have those answers, you now know what they define as value. Deliver that value, and pricing/cost isn’t even an issue.
So, what sort of precise questions could you ask? These are great questions to bring up in an initial consultation, or your first meeting with a prospect. By asking the following questions, you can find out the real value of your results to your clients:
1. What are the end results your client wants to accomplish?
2. How will they know when they’ve accomplished those results?
3. What is the cost to your clients if they don’t get those results?
4. Once they do accomplish the results, what will that mean for them or how will it change their live or their business? In other words, what’s all the fun stuff they get to experience as a result of accomplishing those results?
Now, when you ask these questions, don’t accept vague, “I don’t know” type answers. Just keep being patient, but persistent, so you can gather detailed, quality, real answers.
You’ll find that when you ask these types of questions, that focus on results and what a client achieves as a product of working with you, it makes getting a “yes” decision a lot easier. Easier for them to make that decision, and easier for you to ask for that decision. And best of all, it makes it so you can price your services based on results, and not on what you think the “market will bear.”