The Desert of Arizona
Rain 62 Degrees
During a private coaching call yesterday, one part of the conversation centered around delivering far more in value than you charge.
Years ago, when I got into the freelancing business, I thought that “over delivering” meant I did more work for less money. It’s easy to think that. That might sound appealing to a client, but it’s hardly appealing to a service provider. As nice as it sounds for the client, how could that possibly be a smart move long term?
It certainly doesn’t feel smart when you do it. In fact, you can very easily “over deliver” yourself into a crazy and miserable life. You’ll be so busy “over delivering” you won’t have time for anything else.
I can’t speak for others, but I can speak for me. “Over delivering” is something that’s always been flavored with an “I’m not enough as is” feeling. You feel like you have to “over deliver” and do more than you were paid for to make up for something else.
Yuck. This is a terrible thing to do to yourself. There’s a difference between giving a gift to a client and trying to make up for a lack of belief in YOU by doing more than you were asked or paid to do.
The real question to ask in relation to this is WHAT exactly are you supposed to over deliver?
Value isn’t the stuff you do. It’s not the deliverable. It’s not found in the service.
Value is found in a RESULT.
So what is the result you deliver? Do you know? Does your client know? Do you ever even talk about it?
In my work, I design client attraction systems, I do copywriting, marketing consulting, private coaching etc. But that’s not what people are really paying for. And that’s not really what I’m charging for.
I’m charging for other things.
One of those things is clarity.
Now let me ask you:
How valuable would it be to you to know what the next steps in your business looked like? And how valuable would it be for you to know exactly what makes you a unique and better choice for your prospective clients?
Most people don’t really know how valuable that clarity would be. What they DO know is how expensive it is for them NOT to have it. And they know all of the problems that arise (wasted time, wasted money, frustration etc.) from not having it.
So basically, clarity is pretty darn valuable. Far more valuable than any fee you’d pay for a salesletter or an email series, or a marketing plan or a coaching call.
So when it becomes clear THAT’S what people are getting from me, “over delivering” takes on a brand new definition.
When the client gets a result that is far more value than the fee paid, you have just “over delivered.” That’s how I view it.
So the key is to get clear on the result(s) you deliver. After that, you start communicating that. And when the clients show up who WANT that result, you will be amazed at what happens.