Right? Wrong? I don’t care. I only want to do what I do well. But thanks.

I agree with you completely. That’s why I’m announcing, today, that I’m doubling my rates…just kidding.

For many of my clients (though not all) I ask about budget. Do they have a budget for the project we’ll do together? Combining their budget with their needs/expectations has often gotten me clearer on what I need to charge for a specific project.

Business Blogger,

I feel that’s where value comes in. Not how I value myself. But how well I communicate the value I can bring to my clients and their businesses. To me, that’s key. That with honesty, integrity and a desire to be in a relationship with the clients I work with. Often, then, the price is more about whether they can afford the service based on their budget.

Rammel,

First impressions certainly last a long, long time.

Personally, I don’t like to make it about price at all. When I interview a potential client (yes, the interview goes both ways) we talk about them and their needs, wants and expectations. We talk about their business and the problems their business faces. Then I offer solutions and examples of how I can help solve those problems in our work together. The focus is almost completely on the client and their needs. Only after that discussion do we talk about price.

Reason? I want to give. So even in my free 25-minute phone consultation people will often leave with a few solutions to their business issues. I want them to take that with them and so I focus the meeting on that instead of price and then justifications of price.

My motto…Serve First

Not so simple as a simple price comparison…..[/quote]

You have a point there Karin. If you are the client, you might want to choose the fastest and the highest quality while maintaining a fair price.

While if you where the service provider, you might want to give a qood experience to the client. Finish on time, quality work and a happy client/customer.

[quote]In your example, what if R charges the same $1000 for the same shotty work? But F charges $1500 for a much better job, is kind, friendly and cares about you and your home. Would you pat the higher fees?…..[/quote]

Like I said, If I were the client/customer, I would want the fastest and the highest quality while maintaining a fair price.

But,

Say that I had experience both R and F services. R price is maintained at $1000, F was $900 at first, then change to $1500 later, I would choose F. Why? because I was satisfy with his previous work.

“First Impression last forever”
correct me if I’m wrong.

Karin H – I find myself struggling with a similar situation. I have a business directory under development and I want to find a good price point. I can’t charge what the yahoo directory charges, I would have no customers, but I can still have a solid price point (professional quality directory) and not cut myself short.

Perhaps a good exercise might be the following: The next time you are quoting a medium-sized, fiscally healthy client, ask them what they expect to pay. Please try not to keel over when you hear their answer, one most likely far higher than what you were thinking of charging!

Clients expect to pay for quality work. Price is never an objection when they fully understand and appreciate the value you are offering them. The services they are buying reflect directly upon their company’s public image. They will never skimp on that.

Be confident and stretch!

I have to respectively disagree with you on this point of value.

Sure marketing copy is about creating safety. No doubt, will not debate.

AND, purchases are most often about whether ‘it’s worth it to me.’ That’s part of how your patrons will read your marketing copy – regardless of your intentions.

You know me well, I’m not going to debate the importance of the heart connection. In essence, it’s what I do for a living.

Yet most people don’t understand ‘listening to their hearts.’ and so many more factors come into play than just heart resonance. Remember nafs (ego)? You have to travel through nafs to get to heart. That’s a pretty deep state of being.

Since I’ve abandoned trying to convince people of the value, and spent more time in connection, witnessing, and empathy, and being as transparent about what I’m offering as possible, my enrollments and sales have continued to grow and climb.

And since I’ve been listening to my resonant price in my heart, my business has become increasingly profitable.

No doubt. But don’t you think that has far more to do with how you’re, personally, in alignment with your business, your heart, your soul’s purpose then anything else? I’d say that your clarity for yourself and your alignment with that clarity is what makes your business successful. The heart connection with your prospective patrons comes after that.

Because I know you well, I can already hear your answer. Yet consider what I’m saying in relation to the teachings you base your work on. Think of it as faqir – the awakened goal of someone studying Sufism. Just an offering…

I love your work – even the pieces we see differently. And I certainly recommend people checking out what you do.

As for your comment;
“Yet it should be obvious that how the consumer perceives the value of our offers vs. cost is a vital part of our business success. Isn’t that why we spend so much time writing marketing copy?”

Actually, no. My experience is that our hearts know what course to take. We meet someone’s business, and we know what feels right. That’s the attraction in our hearts.

Marketing copy isn’t about value versus cost- marketing copy is about safety. It’s about helping the ego of the person considering feel safe enough to trust the attraction in their heart.

It’s not about convincing someone that the value is there- their heart already knows if it’s right for them or not.

However, that attraction in the heart is sometimes hard to heart, and definitely hard for the ego to trust. Marketing copy is about helping the ego feel safe. And that safety is created far more strongly through empathy and witnessing than through trying to convince someone of the value.

Since I’ve abandoned trying to convince people of the value, and spent more time in connection, witnessing, and empathy, and being as transparent about what I’m offering as possible, my enrollments and sales have continued to grow and climb.

And since I’ve been listening to my resonant price in my heart, my business has become increasingly profitable.

There are structures and strategies that support the regular actions I take, but those are the core.

Thank you…I was waiting for someone to talk about that. We can’t just have a business based in ‘created’ pricing. We also need to consider the necessity of making an amount to take care of our living needs. In an overall business model, income needs should be foundational.

I don’t think the basis of what you’re offering is immature at all. I think starting with the question how much do I need to make each month to pay my bills, feed my family, save a bit and have something left over for leisure is very important.

Since the teachings of Sufism were brought up earlier in this post, we have a saying: Trust in God, and tether your camel. Translation: trust your own inner knowing about what to charge. AND, remember that you’ve been given the faculties to make sound desicions (or not). So trust AND take correct action.

The way I figure out base pricing for my services is with a worksheet that helps me figure out the amount of money I need to live (make rent, pay bills, etc). Then I look at what the hourly rate it calculates is, glance around at other people with my experience and skills and see what they’re charging (just to make sure my price isn’t too outrageous) and then I look at what the client wants. Sometimes what the client is asking for is worth more or less than my average rate, so I adjust accordingly.

I also have to know whether or not a job is worth my time. If it’s not, maybe I’ll charge a little more than usual to discourage the client without flat out telling them “no,” because then if I get it, the amount of money I’m making is worth it.

After reading most of the comments here, my way seems a bit… immature, a lot of looking around at what other’s are doing and copying it. But that’s one of the best ways to learn, right? You have to start somewhere!

On the point of your quote from Sufi teachings…now worries. Since I know you so well, I was just surprised. Personally I know that you don’t hold things that way. But others are not so fortunate to have a long-standing relationship with you and may misconstrue the point you’re trying to make.

So thanks for the apology. No harm, no foul.

No worries at all Karin. Here we’re about the conversation. And conversation isn’t always easy. I appreciate your comments and your perspectives.

And I happen to agree that price isn’t the biggest motivator for decision making. It seems to only be when price is what’s marketed (think WalMart in the States).

Mark,

I think it’s inevitable that our services/offerings and pricing will be compared by people looking to use them. It’s human nature.

But that may not be the perspective you’re talking about. It seems that you’re comments are focused on how we decide to price ourselves. And I’ve been moving between that and how our pricing is perceived by others.

Certainly if we’re comparing our pricing to other businesses, that can be a dangerous slope. One that can lead to inner turmoil and uncertainly about our business.

We do need to feel solid in what we charge. And if we tether ourselves to what we ‘value’ in ourselves, it can lead to uncertainty.

Yet it should be obvious that how the consumer perceives the value of our offers vs. cost is a vital part of our business success. Isn’t that why we spend so much time writing marketing copy?

I also agree with you 100%, Karin, the it’s rarely about the price. However, if you don’t feel solid about the price you are charging, whatever it is, you can literally unsell someone who has already, in their heart, said ‘Yes’- because they lose confidence in you.

I’ve found it’s far better to use the Your RIght Price exercise and have a price that is perhaps a little lower than you think you ideally want to charge, and build your confidence and ability to receive appreciation, until your confidence in a higher price sits in your bones.

I did the same thing you did, Dawud, in the beginning- I filled my practice with free or very low-paying clients, simply to feel what it was like to have a full practice. Now I charge fees that are higher than many people in my field, but I still have a waiting list.

It’s not about value, and it’s not about worth. It’s about listening to the resonance in my own heart about the price that feels right to me, and it’s about my ability to receive appreciation.

If we call something ‘good,’ or something ‘bad,’ or something ‘exciting’ we are, at a very basic level, labelling something, making a judgment upon it.

‘Value’ or ‘worth’ is in the same category. Someone may ‘judge’ that something is ‘worth’ a certain amount to them, and someone else may judge that it isn’t.

I wrote this article about value versus appreciation. It applies to value pricing as well. I agree strongly with the concept of packaging your services, I’ve just seen a lot of people get into trouble and struggling trying to ‘value themselves’ and taking the time internally within one’s own heart to receive appreciation rather than ‘value’ works a lot more consistently, without the wavering and doubts your friend experienced, in my experience.

As for ‘comparison is from the devil’ – I feel some shame- I can’t find the reference in this moment, and so I withdraw it. If I can find the reference again, I’ll let you know. If I spoke hastily, or misquoted from memory, I really do apologize- it doesn’t do to not be careful with these things. Ugh.

Pricing is indeed tricky, but if you study the statistics of customer questionnaires on this subject the truth is that most customers choose a company on many other items, price being the lowest nominator.
That’s another wise thing my mentor showed me and we have followed his advice. Like I said in one of my other comments: it’s about positioning yourself from day one on. If you want customers coming for the lowest price only, that’s the customer you get.

(Sorry if I have very strong opinions on this, our first venture – where we had to manage someone else’s business – went horribly wrong because of this pricing – wrongly pricing – subject.)

Karin H.

Oh, I totally hear you, Doug. I feel the same way. And have done similar things to find the ‘right’ clients.

I was just mentioning that I’ve actually used that line on a client I wasn’t sure I wanted to work with and they walked. And I was fine that they did.

We need to charge what we feel we’re worth. My good friend Mark, from above, has a nice exercise on this. And there are other ways. But the bottom line is we need to feel right about our fees. Otherwise our businesses will suffer in some way. It’s something that many solopreneurs don’t get.

Doug,

I’ve used that one, actually. It’s not worked. What kind of reply have you gotten?[/quote]

The folks that recognize quality over price stay, Dawud. I simply do not want to work with people that can not recognize my value. They are usually the ones who argue every invoice, pay late, and continuously pressure for still cheaper.

I know I’m worth more so I don’t waste time there.