How Much to Charge and How to Convey Value

A business owner asked, “I’m not quite sure how much to charge for my services and I need to figure out how to talk about the value of what I do so that people are okay with paying what I’m charging.” It’s a great question.

I’ve seen this happen in more than one client and whenever it does, four things seem to be a play:

1. Charge based on outcomes

Realize and embrace that the price that you’re charging is not for the service, but it’s for the value and the outcome and the results. So when you’re looking at what results you actually cause people to experience, your prices should be based on that, not in the number of sessions or number of CD’s etc. It should be the outcome of the results that people experience after working with you.

2. Trust the value of what you do

You have to believe that whatever it is you are charging is well worth it. You can’t stutter while quoting prices. You have to quote your prices with such confidence that you believe in it and you believe that what you are about to do for this person is well worth the prices that you’re charging.

3. Make it compelling

You have to have the ability to articulate the value of what you do in such a powerful way that your prospect or the person listening to you gets really gets it the minute you describe it. So you’re not describing the service or the little components of the service. You usually focus on describing the value, the outcome, or the results that people experience when they work with you. It’s having the ability to articulate the value of what you’re doing in a very powerful way.

4. $20 in exchange for One Dollar

Number four is what I call the “dollar for 20 dollars” concept. This is where you have to be able to talk about the value of what you do in such a powerful way that the person who’s hearing it immediately sees that the price they invest to work with you is far less that what they’d actually receive as a result of working with you.

For example, if I said to you “If you give me a dollar, I’ll give you 20 bucks back,” is that a good deal? Absolutely. So when you’re talking about the value of what you’re delivering, your prospect has to see that what they’re getting in return for their investment is worth far more than what they’re actually investing.

So when you talk to your prospect, they have to feel like “Wow, if I invest this much I get this much in return?” They have to feel that way when you are articulating the value of what you do.