If you really care about your clients... Please charge them properly

Ok people, we are gonna talk about the most controversial and triggering subject there is... (no, not sex - or DM aubergines??) - I'm talking about money!

Money seems to scare so many people, which is why you get the whole 'let's teach you to sell without selling' crew come out in full force to help you feel better about silly money and sales ideas (you can't sell without selling... and every communication is sales, but that's another conversations for another time)

But for today's #SaturdayServing, I'm coming with a full blown public service announcement about how one of the most caring thing that you can do for your clients is to charge them properly - and why you are doing both yourself and them a disservice if you don't charge them properly for what you have to offer.

Sales and Fair Exchange

As I said in the intro - every communication is sales, even if there's no money involved, because long before we sell as ask for money, we sell our vision, values and ideas - and all those have to be bought long before someone will give you their money. So everything is sales and it's something that we've been doing from birth. Babies sell the idea of you feeding and taking care of them by screaming the house down, and they are incredibly compelling in their pitch, as you will forgo sleep, comfort and half of your sanity to appease them, and meet their demands... (check out Daniel Pink's book on sales for more on this)

So it really fascinates me how much of the business development world has jumped onto the money drama, and awful mindsets that exist in swathes of the population at large, and instead of tackling things at the root, they are charging ridiculous amounts to fix symptoms rather than root causes.

I'm not a Judgey McJudgeface - but, yeah, that's a pretty crappy thing to do... But everyone's an adult - so those who know better should do better...

So l will start by saying this...

Business works best when there is FAIR exchange of value... and that fair to both parties involved in the transaction.

Money is just a value store - a universally accepted and understood repository of value. Of energy... and given that money is everywhere... (it really is, run with me on this, even if you've told yourself otherwise) - and what you have is (or at least should be) unique to you... the balance of power and value should ALWAYS be in your favour when you are offering your services...

You can get money from anywhere (or at least you have more that one ideal client)

But leaning into your unique sparkle and general weirdness... they can only get what you have to offer from you. So since you win on the scarcity stakes... you have the advantage in the negotiations... (truly).

So your only job... is to ensure that the value you offer is clear.

You need to live, breathe and speak in terms of the value you have to offer... and lead your lead to the promise land they want in the route and guidance only you can offer.

Price is only an issue when value is in question or unclear

You get good at that... and you will literally change the world.

But fair works both ways - and while it's obvious why it's a crappy thing to do to overcharge your clients, it might be less obvious as to why it's a crappy thing to do to under charge them, so check out some reasons below

Making them Pay is Better for them...

The kindest thing you can do for your clients, is to make them pay for what you have to offer. It's the kind thing to do - and giving them the opportunity to pay you is actually a really important part of the service you are offering:

1. Skin in the Game

Allowing your clients to pay you enables them to put skin in the game. It allows them to have meat-free stakes - and stakes are a powerful lever for change.

The case in point is the number of people who sign up to free challenges and do nothing with them. Or those who get free copies of programmes and courses and don't even complete them.

There's something about making a payment that means that you now have an additional reason to succeed. And giving them more reason to vote for their own success is a powerful show of your faith in them.... and another powerful way to show you care.

2. Those who pay money...

There's a saying that I stand by - which is why I insist on paying even my closest friends for their products... and that is

Those who pay money, pay attention

I'm possibly one of the most diligent people about learning. I was a straight A student at school and was one of the top of the class of almost 600 Economics graduates. And yet - when I pay my money to learn as an adult... I FOCUS

I don't play. I don't make excuses... I hella execute.

And I'm not alone. Every course creator on the planet has a story to tell about free tickets and places to family members who have done nothing with the access that those have paid thousands for, and have gone on to change their lives.

Because of what money means to us in our society - when we give it away, we start considering where it's gone and for what purpose and focus on making sure that we come good on that investment.

That is entirely missing from the things that you give away for free - and so giving your clients an additional layer of focus is a powerful and caring way to improve the experience that they have with you.

3. Accountability

It seems like the same point as above, but what I will say is this.

We don't like waste. And so to avoid waste, we hold ourselves more accountable for the things that we pay for. Even for tiny amounts... which is again why you are seeing the rise of the $7 challenges. It's not because they need your $7... it's because your brain will treat that challenge completely differently than if you paid nothing for it at all...

And you will ask yourself what you did with that $7... and will be harder on yourself if you can't come up with a reasonable explanation for the spend.

Since accountability is best done by you for you (as per Brian P. Moran's explanation in the 12 week Year), giving your clients a better opportunity to hold themselves accountable

But the biggest reason of why it's the caring thing to do is also wrapped up in you and your world.

4. Benchmarking

It sounds weird - but if people don't pay for things - they have no real idea of the true value... and that's no good thing when it comes to your products and services.

It's even worse if they are given something that has taken so much time and effort, only to have it dramatically underpriced. It doesn't help them to accurately access the value or to be able to proxy or benchmark what it is you have to offer

And I'm neither cynical or daft to believe that something charged at ￡197 is worth 10 x less than something that is charged at ￡1997. But I tell you what - they are definitely benchmarked differently in our minds. For good or for ill

And it sends me a signal about what I should think of what you have put in front of me - and perhaps that's not quite the signal you are trying to send, so you are misleading your clients around the benchmarks for your services.

The Caring thing to do...

If your product genuinely helps people... and gives them the transformation that you promise, then undercharging for it is actively working to sabotage something that helps your client.

Because undercharging can lead to them undervaluing your service and can lead to you undermining the success and profitability of your business.

And what happens to your client, and the solution you offer if your business goes under?

It's one thing to wonder that when you're thinking about 'things happening'

But it's another thing entirely when you consider that you are ACTIVELY taking steps to harm your business as a going concern by not charging fairly for the value that you offer, which in turn puts your clients ongoing transformation and opportunity with you in jeopardy...

YES... that's YOU doing that.

And you say you care!

Ok - so I know it sounds dramatic, but in this day and age of pandemics, recessions and uncertainty - and in a sea full of sharks... If you add meaningful value and support for your clients and you care about them AT ALL. Please for the love of God, charge them properly for what you have to offer...

There are a number of definitions of 'properly' and the idea and concept of premier positioning and premium pricing is one I will leave for another day - but a number of options are available to enable you to serve different segments of the market without screwing yourself or them.

These can include:

• Asset creation to remove your time from your labour productise your services and knowledge as well as create the opportunity for leverage and scale.
• Group services to spread your fees over many customers
• Subscription models, creating continuity and income streams that also serve as an additional asset within the business
• Hybrid payment models with pay as you go, or project based costings.

Pricing strategies differ depending on your goals and requirements, and these are matters that I have spent a lot of time focused on with clients in both my BlockBuster Toolkit, and Strategic Sparkle support packages (PM me for more details)

All pricing models have their place - and with group coaching and imminent toolkit launches, I will absolutely be focusing on these and many other pricing strategies.

I leave you with this quote and hope that this inspires you to continue to grow in confidence and competence in pricing strategy, sales, and in the explanation of value through your marketing:

Because I care deeply about my clients - I want them to win

And for that very reason - I allow them the privilege to pay me properly. I hope that you'll do the same!