The Client Letter
September 27, 2013
The Desert of Arizona
Sunny 45 Degrees
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I started my tech consulting business way back in 2003 charging $40 per hour.
At the time, I chose that fee for what I’ve come to realize is the worst possible reason:
It felt comfortable.
As I started focusing more on working with business owners, that fee grew to $85 per hour. Again, it felt comfortable.
At no point did I actually sit down and think about what I wanted to charge.
This was a mistake.
When you’re in the business of selling YOU, I think the whole “charge what the market will bear” approach is hogwash. We’re not selling ACME widgets here.
If you play your cards correctly, and show up different, you’ll be selling something that exists in only one form, in one place… and that’s you.
And one of ANYTHING that’s truly in demand pretty much blows the lid off the rules about pricing “strategy.”
Basically, you can charge what you want.
But that’s not a natural feeling for most service providers. The natural reaction is more to charge what you think they’ll pay.
And THAT’S where we get to the real issue about fee setting.
If you’re in the habit of thinking about your fees in terms of “what they’ll pay,” then that’s a symptom of a problem that has nothing to do with fees and everything to do with something else.
It’s all about demand… for… you.
The higher your deal flow, the closer you move on the spectrum from the “charge what they’ll pay” end to the “charge what you want” end.
It sounds obvious, but how often do you sit down and focus on “stimulating demand” for your services?
Once a month? Once a week? Once a day?
And have you done the work required to offer something to the marketplace that, isn’t just unique, but is inherently BETTER and MORE VALUABLE?