The Gift of Pricing. Save more than Money
/Gifts. We remember them for others but often forget ourselves. Sometimes we remember them for others, but forget that, once given, it's theirs to use as they see fit. The Gift of Pricing, as I reference it here, is the same. Is it for you - the service or the invitation here, to awaken - or is there someone who'd love to receive this blog post or 5-week pricing strategy? For some, just what's written here is enough to inspire you to set the pricing you deserve, and to honour yourself in sticking with it.
The Price of Business
As a business owner, and before that as a corporate employee, all I did was work. On top of that, I wasn't paid what I was worth when I started my business, because I wasn't charging enough for my services, and I got sucked into the hourly rate trap. It's also the trap we fall into when our businesses aren't our primary source of income. Exchange of services, heavy discounting and pro bono before even breaking even, are just a few habits that prevent businesses from becoming truly, sustainably profitable.
On top of that, many of us leaving the corporate world simply do not charge professional rates. Instead, we charge what we were paid, forgetting that that's not what the corporation charges their clients for our time. Whatever you think of the corporate world, it's important to learn this from them. Look long-term and think big picture. Whatever they earn has to cover, not just serving the immediate clients, but everything that allows them to stay afloat, and therefore pay you the same salary each month, for years. So their pricing also covers:
buffers for slow periods, interest rates, exchange rates or unexpected business disruptions,
insurance, for liabilities, assets, health, employment,
salaries and wages that attract and retain quality staff (if you hire),
and numerous other costs, standard and unique to your business, that add further professionalism and value to your offering. I've mentioned some other costs in earlier pricing blog posts, so I won't harp on them.
The Price of Value
We're taught early to research and price according to the market, and go by our industry range. If you choose to do so, I'm not here to pursuade you otherwise. If you feel stifled by this, then some part of you knows there's an untapped market that's not accounted for in that model.
There are potential clients who are ready and able to pay for the value that you offer and, further, for the value that only you can offer. So what do people come to only you for? If you're at a loss,
what conversations end with people thanking you, profusely?
what do people ask for your support with the most?
Are these elements you incorporate into the services you offer? If not, can you do so and still enjoy delivering those services? If yes, there's a potential start to a premium you offer that others may not; something your ideal clients may pay more for. Dive a bit deeper to see what only you bring to the table.
A Few Familiar Stories
So who cares about pricing. A lot of the world will say, “urgh. What's the obsession with money?” I get it. If you've developed such a powerful mindset that everything you need truly manifests in your physical reality, as you desire it, you may have forgotten what life is like for those who haven't achieved that powerful level of belief just yet. If you've never gone without money, you also may not be able to empathize. For many folks with dependents, however, the answer?
Money lets me take care of my family. If I make enough, I'm in a position to add proper self care to the equation so that basic health becomes true well-being, so I'm not just existing but living. If I have enough, I get more free time and mental space, to have meaningful relationships, and my partner feels heard and cared for, so I don't end up making all this money just to spend it alone.
Of course, it's not the money, but what it is believed to allow us to create.
Maybe one of these stories may be easier to relate to.
Health: After just six years of working, I'd run myself so far down that I'd blacked out, dented my head (yip, still there), with no know medical explanation. In 2009, the year I started my business and halfway through my MBA, I went through a few waves of temporary paralysis, followed by a full five minutes paralyzed (it feels way longer when you're paralyzed), alone in my bed, tongue twitching. As I lay their wondering if I was dying of a stroke at 29, I figured maybe I should stop planning to work less, and actually do it. Today, I know that it could have been a combination of stress, adrenal fatigue and anxiety, but those don't explain the paralysis or twitching tongue.
Fast forward to 2015. I've raised my prices considerably, so I end up in contact with far fewer price negotiators and discount junkies, and no freebie seekers. I have fewer clients, intentionally, and still make at least three (3x) what I was making before. Mindfulness has played a huge role, I do admit, in attracting the right clients - and mindfulness is where my pricing strategy was born. I'm still paying the price around health, and that showed up in pregnancy, but imagine where I'd be if I didn't change.
Relationships: “When are you coming home”, she's asking for the nth time this month. This was not my client. I'm sharing his story anonymously, but I'm sure some of us can relate. His friends had stopped inviting him out years earlier. His only liaisons now were those he worked with and his wife. His children were almost at university, twin boys, and in all his years of promising to make it for dinner, he could count the few times he did. The boys couldn't care less now, if he did. (I think they do, but that's just me.) His wife put divorce on the table a few times. He was 50, then. Not sure what happened. He didn't share my opinion on pricing, but I always wonder, if he did, what life might be like now, for him. I do believe in free will, so I didn't push.
Money & Well-being: An amazing service professional, almost 20 years in business, 30-something in the industry, stellar reviews and track record, he's the reason I say, in business, start as you mean to go on. He's great, but his mindset around money has always been “how dare they charge so much”. It's tough to raise your prices when you don't think others have a right to raise there own. So when he finally had to change his pricing, he went back and forth, he over explained and rationalized, and always went back to discounting and exchanges. It was only when he woke up to three (3) almost maxed out credit lines, and threat of bankruptcy, that he took action. The stress of it practically destroyed his body, but with his new pricing, and clients of course, he's able to help his parents as well!
The Gift of Pricing
Any scenario could be any business owner you know. It could be you, and it was me. I'm not saying pricing alone shifts everything, but it's one aspect that, once changed, creates a positive ripple effect.
You set healthier boundaries around your schedule,
The many jaded or cheap clients walk, but the ones who appreciate you show up,
You have more time and space to breathe, so your client solutions are likely richer.
Just to name a few.
My invitation, my gift, is two-fold, to take or leave as you desire:
Let this blog post reach you, or those you know will appreciate and benefit from it, so that your pricing begins to truly honour you, your needs.
Purchase a 5-week pricing strategy, for yourself or a colleague who will appreciate and benefit from, this service. Group purchase of this gift for an individual professional, are accepted.
What truly honours your needs or the needs of the person you have in mind, right now? Let's chat.
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Crystal-Marie Sealy, MBA, is a dedicated mom, keynote speaker and entrepreneurial strategy consultant focused on sustainable business models for premium services entrepreneurs and professionals. President and founder of Successiory and her signature "Mindful Entrepreneurship for Mindful Affluence™", Crystal-Marie works with professionals who want to build sustainable (livable) business models around their lifestyles and create sustainable client community on social media. She also speaks and delivers workshops at business and motivational conferences on authenticity, entrepreneurial strategy — pricing, process, and pace i.e. feasible schedules and productivity — and client social media community. Connect with her and subscribe at www.successiory.ca
