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!