Your Value as a Consultant is NOT Your Time

I got a text that made me sad last night.?

It was from a former consultant. She used to work at a firm doing all types of complex financial analyses.?

She’s now retired and agreed to do my bookkeeping for my nonprofit, Remedios Cat Rescue.?

Simply because she loves animals and used to work with my Board Treasurer.?

But it isn’t supposed to be for free.??

I insisted that she be paid because what she is doing is extremely valuable to me for all kinds of reasons.?

So, as tax season hit, I was furiously sending her things.?

She created a spreadsheet that was a thing of beauty.?

She sorted through what I sent her and made sure every expense and donation was accounted for.?

She was meticulous and responsive. Everything I could hope for.?

I thanked her and told her to bill me.?

That’s when the text came in.?

“I feel bad charging you for the time. It was not that many hours.”?

My response: “You must charge me! It was so valuable, and the reason you could do it so quickly is because you know your stuff! You value is far more than a unit of time.”?

I get it, though.?

It’s easy to think of the time it takes us to do something as the thing we are charging for, or, in her case, not charging for.?

But if you only think of your value as a unit of time, you will penalize yourself for having more expertise and being more efficient than someone else who could do it but not as fast.?

Think about it. If you’ve done something for so long that it only takes you an hour and a less-seasoned consultant takes four hours to do the same thing, why should they be paid more???

The client is getting the same result and likely more value because you are faster!?

And you should be paid fairly for your value. ALWAYS!?

Now, here’s the caveat…?

You should always be paid for your value, and there is no single right pricing model that is always right in every situation.??

Yep, that means that charging hourly pricing isn’t always wrong.??

It just shouldn’t be the default.?

Especially if you know your stuff and are efficient!?

And free is generally wrong, unless you truly are volunteering for a good cause.?

So, heck yes, I am going to pay her for what she did. And I’m going to pay her based on the value.?

And I want you to be paid for EVERY TINY BIT of your value too!?

So, if you want to learn more about when different pricing models make sense and how to price your consulting services…?

Join me for a FREE live training on?HOW TO PRICE YOUR CONSULTING SERVICES: How to Price Your Services Right, Get Clients to Say Yes, and Get Paid for Your Value???

Date:?Thursday, May 9th, 2024?

Time:?12:00 pm EDT (9 am PDT, 4 pm GMT)?

Location:?LinkedIn?

When you register, you'll get a free tool to?develop your?unique?value proposition.?Your value proposition?describes your value and is critical to picking a price that prospective clients will know is worth paying.??

REGISTER FOR THE FREE TRAINING??

Link to register for the free training:?

https://www.dhirubhai.net/events/howtopriceyourconsultingservice7188168873794285568/comments/ ]?

?

Cheering You and Your Value On!??

Deb?

P.S. If you sign up by?Friday, May 3, 2024?by the stroke of midnight, you’ll also get your free copy of my workbook: Know Your Zones: The Consultant’s Guide to Describing What You Can Do. Use this workbook to help you articulate to clients what you can do to help them get the results they want and how you can do it.?