One of our Heart of Money participants was still struggling with her pricing. “I’ve had some incredibly breakthroughs in my relationship with money, but pricing myself still feels hard. How do I do this?”
After hearing her explanation, I immediately saw what was going on.
“First of all, empathy! Pricing is hard! And the big reason it’s so hard… it’s not just about your price. You’ve got at least three questions wrapped up in the question of price, and without separating them out, you can’t get a clear answer to your pricing.”
This is why we spend an entire class in our Sacred Selling Course on pricing, and another entire class dealing with the other questions that get tangled in pricing.
But let me break it down for you a little right now.
Finding the Vagueness
If you’re asking “How much?” then one natural extension is “For what?”
What in the heck are you selling? A lot of struggle with pricing can actually be traced to a real vagueness about the offer.
The vagueness descends in three places.
1. What are the results of taking advantage of your offer?
In Sacred Selling I talk about the destination your client wants to get to. Does your offer look like the destination they want to reach? Or does it look like a roadblock?
How can you be more honest, open, and clear about how your offer is the path to the destination your client is trying to reach?
2. What is actually provided in the offer?
It seems silly, but people actually need to know. Are you available for email or phone consults outside of regular sessions? Are there worksheets, workbooks, guided recordings, who knows what? that you offer.
Make sure your clients know, and make sure you know. If you think it through, you may be surprised at how much you offer. And maybe you’ll be inspired to add.
3. What does it take for you to provide the offer?
Once clients actually bring conscious attention to what’s needed so they can provide all that’s included in the offer, they often end up wide-eyed. There’s a lot more going into what you offer than you thought.
You need to buy premium tea so it’s available for clients? You need space on your schedule so you can respond to emails and phone calls in a timely manner? You need continuing education and mentorship so your own skills stay sharp?
Suddenly It’s More than Just an Hour
If you start to get the big picture about your offer, all that you offer and all that you need, you start to see that it’s a lot more than you imagined.
Take a moment in your heart to encompass the truth of your offer. Then return to the question of price, and notice how different prices you had been considering feel.
This may not clear all of your worries and upset about price, but I’m willing to bet that it eases the struggle, and takes a certain amount of confusion and pain out of the process.
What did you notice?
p.s. More about sales, no cost.
If enrolling new clients isn’t super easy for you, try out the Sacred Selling No-Cost Learning Series. First lesson arrives April 9. It’s true, I’m hoping the right people are inspired to join the full course that starts in May. But, the best way I thought to inspire you was to actually give you real teachings.
So dig in, and find more ease in enrolling clients.
9 Responses
Thank you for this Mark. I do list on my site all the ‘extras’ that are included in my price, (though I could definitely do it better) but I’d never taken the time to really reflect on just how much research, training, thinking, learning and ‘stuff’ i do in order to provide as best a service to my clients as I can, which has really helped me see the price in context. Thanks again.
It goes deep, doesn’t it, Sally? So glad this helped you dig a little deeper so you can get what you do even more profoundly!
Hi Mark,
I really needed to read this article today. I am in the beginning stages of building my business and I have struggled with pricing. It can be quiet painful actually! In one hand I want to provide services to my client at a fair and affordable price. At the same time I want to be fair and respectful to myself as an entreprenuer! I have spent the better half of my life preparing to provide the services I offer. And yes I continue to invest in my education so that I can provide better services to my clients. This article was an answer to my prayer. It gives me a great perspective. Thank you so much for sharing. Wishing you many blessings and peace,
Peace, Love & Gratitude,
Neseret
So glad this was helpful, Neseret!
Mark,
I think your article refers to “services” as opposed to “products”, right? I find it fairly simple to price my items but I’m not selling services; I’m selling products. Well, I take it back…even if you’re selling an item and nobody else has it, you’ll have some hard time figuring out the fair price. Thanks
A big problem that lots of people make for themselves is initially pricing their services too low. Do that and raising them later on can cause problems with clients who have gotten used to paying a certain price. So, don’t under-sell yourself to start with. Or, maybe make it clear that the original price is a special offer.
Harriett- I actually strongly disagree with that. I think pricing oneself too high to start can shut down your business. Clients know when the price is too low- it’s rarely big deal to raise your prices to your right price once you are in flow.
Hi Mark,
Thank you for this post – I found your 3 questions to be very helpful and they helped me price my latest offering.
I have typically undercharged and the 3rd question helped me understand why undercharging doesn’t serve me, or my clients – it creates stress for both of us.
Warmly, Karly
So glad that was helpful, Karly!