The Client Letter
August 29, 2012
Sedona, Arizona
Sunny 78 Degrees
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What do you charge for your services? Master this skill and have your clients tell YOU.
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“What’s a fair price for my services?” I’ve been getting that question a lot.
My goal is that, after reading this issue today, you’ll never ask that question to yourself again.
What is fair, exactly?
Where does that definition exist?
You can’t really talk about “fair” isolated from a specific client or a specific situation.
Without real context, fair is meaningless.
Except it’s worse than that.
I think back to the times I’ve been concerned with fair and I have to say, it had nothing to do with fairness. It had to do with a lack of belief in my own value.
It had to do with fear.
I didn’t want rejection. I didn’t want to “take advantage” of someone. I didn’t want them to think I was trying to get “too much for doing too little.” So I wrapped up all that goodness in a “fair” coating so I could avoid the truth.
Does that sound like the thoughts of a self-confident, empowered person to you? Hardly.
Fair is not your concern. Fair is something people make up. Your concern is your fee. Your client’s concern is your fee. You ask for what you want. You start from there and work something out.
Any attempt to be “fair” BEFORE any feedback is given by your client is simply a story in your head about what’s enough, but not “too much” to charge. This is not an empowering way to price your services.
This I know.
Don’t do this to yourself.
Look at your client. Think about how valuable all of the time, energy, talent and effort you’ve invested to get good at what you do.
THAT’S what you’re getting paid for. How all of that works together to help the client do something that is valuable to them.
Forget fair, you have better things to do.