Pushing Yourself With Pricing
I held a group call with an amazing group of ladies on Monday and much of the conversation was about how they could be brave and look to raise their pricing.
I told them a story which proves we all have to be brave.
2 weeks ago when I was in Padstow, I was approached to speak at an event. I looked at the company that wanted the help and thought it wasn’t really ideal for me.
Whilst I know the methods I have for sales relate to all industries, the sweet spot me and my team have is working with the Financial Services marketplace. The company that approached me were not in this space at all. They were in a very mainstream product area.
They were keen for me to speak but knowing I didn’t really want to do it, I provided a high price for a 90 min speaking slot. I thought to myself they wouldn’t want to pay that figure.
My PA sent the figure over and a few hours later they came back and said fine and booked me in.
Now I was doubly hacked off!
A) I hadn’t wanted to do the presentation and so I had given a top-end price thinking they might say no; and
B) now they had said yes so quickly, I was frustrated that I hadn’t put my price up to an even bigger number.
What are the key lessons I learned here, and which I think you could also take pointers from?
Be brave about your pricing. When you think about a price that is high add a further 10% to 20% and push on up. The only way you increase prices is by trying the market out and adding a bit more every time.
Try out higher pricing on clients you are not sure about working with. This is the best place to test the pricing level and market since you won’t be too bothered if they don’t buy.
Focus on reminding yourself why you are worth that figure and if you don’t think you are then we need to fix that as it’s ultimately a self-confidence issue.
Focus on the value you bring to your customers and the return they will get. If something costs £10,000 but provides a return of £100,000 then it’s a good return, right?
Don’t judge the price by your own expectations of price. What may seem expensive to you could be inexpensive to someone else.
Don’t pre-judge what someone will say or do, and therein prepare to react… You can’t control what other people will do. You can only control what you do.
I told the ladies on the call to be brave about pricing and I gave them a simple method to do this.
Repeat the figure time and time again so that it becomes indelibly fixed in your brain. If you keep repeating, “the investment for my services is £2500, the investment for my services is £2,500”, then eventually (after 100 times of repeating it) your brain just tells your mouth that this is the price to say.
The next key point I told the ladies was that you have to back up the pricing statement with that inner confidence that shows you mean it.
If the people you meet sense that fear or uncertainty within your voice, then they will prey on this and try and push you back.
Repeat a statement like this:
“The investment for my services is £2500, and I’m not quite sure how I do it for such a good price!”
We want to have this assurance that says, “I am good, I am worth this, I deserve this, I’m great value at this price.”
It’s no guarantee that the other party will agree, but it’s always better to start high and come down than start low and go up!
So, if you are thinking that it’s been a slow start to the year and you are behind the numbers vow to change it, but vow to work smarter as well as harder.
If you want to achieve £5000 of revenue then you could do 5 customers at £1000 each; but it’s far easier to deliver 2 at £2500 each.
Back yourself, ingrain the pricing in your brain, show the return working with you gets and show such confidence in what you do that others can’t resist not working with you!
It’s not easy but it’s the route to greater sales success and business growth.
