Get Paid A Lot For What You Got

Get Paid A Lot For What You Got

Tired of your clients trying to bring down your fee? Dump the nickel-and-dimers and sell to the people who value what you have to offer!

Of course you deliver great service, or you have a great product. But have you fallen into the trap of under pricing your services just to get some revenue coming in? Unfortunately this can trap you into a survival cycle that is very difficult to pull out of.

Here are five tips to reset your pricing to reflect what you're worth, and attract the clients who willingly will pay:

1. Double your fee, no questions asked

Most self-employed professionals tend to underestimate their worth, a symptom of the "underdog" syndrome. This is why I often recommend to my new clients to double their fees right away, whatever they are at the moment. Think of it, by doubling your fees, even if you lose half of your clients, you're still earning the same income with half of the workload! And the clients who stay end up being the ones who are worth your time and effort.

2. Be a Top Gun

Positioning yourself as an expert is a powerful way to enhance your perceived value to your clients. Communicating your expertise by writing, speaking and training demonstrates to your market that you have confidence in your abilities, and confidence sells. People will pay more to hire someone perceived as an "expert" than someone of equal competence, but who is unknown.

3. Filter out the tire-kickers

Provide tire-kickers a simpler way to sample who you are and what you offer, without having to take up your time. Group your products and services into Bronze, Silver and Gold packages, with the first level providing a basic level of service with clearly defined parameters and a basic fee. The Silver and Gold packages provide increasing levels of support or results, at higher fees. Your Gold and Platinum levels can be an "all-you-can-eat" or custom package reserved for those who are willing to pay top dollar. In this way, your clients are clear about what they will get for their investment, and you don't have to provide Gold level service on a Bronze budget.

4. Pick your team

Who your clients are speaks volumes about who you are and what you offer. So isn't it important that you have a good caliber of customer? Be picky about who you accept as your clients, and don't let ability to pay be your only criteria. Take the point of view that you are recruiting a major league team, where each client is a marquee player.

5. Money is commitment

The biggest realization I had in my business is that the clients who paid my new, higher fees were the ones who were most committed to making our work together a success. As soon as I started discounting my fees, I noticed that those clients took our relationship less seriously. Your client's fee is an investment, not only in your services or products, but also in the outcome they want. The more they are invested in the outcome, the more they will cooperate and support you to create a mutually successful result.

Incorporate these five tips into your business strategy, and you'll quickly discover that you'll attract a higher quality of clients that value what you offer, and you'll work less for more income!