Do you want to charge what you are worth? Here’s the exact answer.
In response to last week’s blog, I received the question:
“I want to charge what I’m worth. Can you help?”
Sure, here’s the number:
Infinity.
Next question?
Ok, seriously. There’s a bunch of stuff out there about “how to charge what you are worth?”
It’s all a bunch of garbage, much of it written by self-proclaimed gurus who are preying on your fears and insecurities.
You have infinite worth as a human being.
HOWEVER, your worth has ZERO relevance to what you charge your clients or what they will pay you.
What is relevant to your clients?
Only one question:
What is the value to the client of solving a particular problem?
That’s it.
It has NOTHING to do with you. It is all about them.
If you walk around hoping that a client will pay you what you are worth, you are setting yourself up for sleepless nights and years of disappointment.
If instead, you look at the issue completely from the perspective of the client and their problem, you can determine a specific pricing strategy that makes sense for the client and for your business.
If you are going to seriously examine your pricing, you have to start by examining how you are thinking about pricing.
In other words, your pricing problem is not your problem. How you think about your pricing problem is your problem.
To change your thinking, change the questions you ask.
If the question you ask leads you into fretting, anxiety, and endless churning, most likely it is a dysfunctional question.
Such as “How do I find someone who will finally pay me what I’m worth? ”
If instead, you asked a question such as:
“What specifically would I have to change in my business order to raise my fees by X?”
You are now dealing with a functional question that will lead your mind to identify specific actions. Then go do them.
If you want specific guidance to get CLARITY and CONFIDENCE on your pricing, contact me and check out my upcoming events.
Ron, Im loving your perspective on fees. In the last 2 years Ive gone from an hourlty based caoch to a fee based coach. One of the most challenging experiences of my career. And Im still on my edge with it. My question revolves around intangibles. My gift as a coach is finding intanglible levearage points that produce not only better results but more happiness and well being. Often though clients who have not done a lot of work dont see this connection or understand it. They werent making x before and are making xxx after and their realtionships are better etc but they cant see that the coaching was vital to the shifts in their lives. How do you help people see the connections between whats happeing in the coaching conversation and the things that change in their life as a result? How do you create value on the intangibles?