Are you happy with the amount your clients and customer are paying for products or services or are you afraid to charge your full worth?
Charging what you believe is proper value for what you do or produce isn’t just a fanciful desire but an essential if you want to succeed.
Far too often you undercharge, end up doing extra work or meeting tight deadlines for free and then end up resentful and the relationship with the client breaking down.
If you want to ensure that you build a successful business that you enjoy you need to be confident about your pricing and charge a reasonable amount for what you are doing.
Below are our top tips to learn to charge what you are worth.
Be confident about your pricing
Never use the word ‘sorry’ when discussing costs, if you feel bad about asking a customer to pay what you are charging they will notice and the lack of confidence will lead them to assume you are either charging too much or that they can haggle down.
Send out a written quote
Even if you quote in a meeting or over the phone ensure that you follow it up with a written quote. It is best to do this immediately though as the longer they wait for the quote the less likely they are to go ahead.
Don’t just give a brief description and price – make sure you include everything you are doing to show what good value it is and a detailed breakdown of what they are getting for the fee.
You may also wish to show them what is included in the price and that they may wish to consider additional services. This can not only potentially lead to an increased fee but also makes it clear what is not included so there is less scope for confusion.
Consider a set price list or minimum fee
Having a set list helps you to state your rates with confidence, and removes some of the risk of you blurting out a cheap rate if you feel put on the spot! Or allowing someone to haggle you down.
It may be that many of your commissions are unique, but even having price brackets or general guidelines for pricing can help you state your value with more authority and confidence.
How much are you willing to lose to be liked?
One of the reasons we don’t like to charge our full worth is that we want to be liked. We want our clients to walk away from an interaction with us thinking ‘Wasn’t she a nice lady?’
What we don’t want them to do is to inhale sharply when we tell them our rates and think that we’re cheeky, greedy or over-valuing the quality of our work.
But being liked comes at a high cost. Because in order to keep our clients happy, we mentally slash our rates, and charge them an amount we think they’ll like. And who doesn’t like a cheap rate?
But we’re not in business to be nice or be liked. We’re in business to do something we love, that we’re good at, and be paid good money for it.
If your rate is fair and just, then your clients will be happy to pay it. If some think it is too expensive, then let them go elsewhere – they’re not your ideal target market anyway.
Be happy to lose some customers
You’re never going to please everyone with your prices – and that’s fine. By charging what you’re worth and sticking to it, you may lose some customers along the way.
But as long as you are confident you have established reasonable prices and are not pricing yourself out of the market, or over-valuing yourself, you should find customers who are willing to pay what you are asking for.
If some customers decide to go elsewhere then they were never your ideal customer in the first place. They would never have paid what you need to charge, and would not have sustained your business.
So instead of worrying about losing them, make sure you focus your marketing and attentions on the customers who are happy to pay what you’re worth – and go and find more of them.
If you are looking for more guidance on your prices or other aspects of your finances, don't hesitate to get in touch with Catherine on 01423 431 889 or email catherine@bctaccountants.co.uk for your FREE consultation call.