If you've been conditioned to undercharge and overdeliver?
(and haven't we all) Charging what you're worth (aka raising your prices) will feel like OVERCHARGING and UNDER DELIVERING.
Read that again.
Pricing-wise, I recommend you're in your “high-end stretch”: A price point range that gives you a fluttery feeling when you pitch (OMG, I can't believe I just pitched this!), but makes you feel ELATED when they say yes (OMG, I can't believe they agreed to pay me this much!). And time-commitment wise you want to offer an amount of access to you, that makes you think to yourself, “I hope to god they don't try to do the math on what I charge/hour based on this price point”. In other words – discomfort is going to be part of the process of raising your prices. But fear not. In my pretty vast experience, having clients sense the deep value of their time with you, makes them use that time wisely, and that increases the results they get. It doesn't just serve you – it serves them as well.
Below, find 7 keys to unlocking your courage and raise your prices to where they belong:
1. Decide it's time and Raise your Prices
What's at stake? For the sake of whom, what dream or cause can you no longer afford to undercharge? Draw that line in the sand. Raise your prices!
2. How will you Raise Them? Do the math
What do you need to be making every month? Can your current offers carry you there? No? Revisit your offers. Your audience if you have to.
3. Afford excellence with Higher Prices
Charging more will help you afford the support you need to create more exquisite client experiences. Chicken and egg? Bitch please – you know the truth.
4. Have options
So you can move from “do I want this?” on sales calls to “which one do I want?”. Options give people with different budgets access to your brilliance.
5. Sell to the right person
You're going to fall back into lower price points if your client isn't getting results. Selling high-ticket to someone POISED to have a breakthrough is key to confidence in your abilities.
6. You're not at their beck and call
If you're noticing the “whore archetype” showing her face in your client work? No worries. But be a high-paid escort with a whip: you say when, you say who, you say how much.
7. Enjoy your wealth
Make sure that the evolution from “talented but undercharging” to self-funded phenomenon is worth it. Reward. Recharge. Remember “working hard” isn't for you anymore. Ease. Breathe.
Allow for it to be a journey.
And know that as long as you're in your high-end stretch (excited, slightly scared, but OMG… if they say yes), your income will evolve rapidly into maybe even the 6-figures/mo. I remember my first year in business (as a copywriter back in the day), I made $25,000/year. 18 months later, I was selling website packages (6 pages) at $25,000 a pop. This happened because I stayed committed to my “high-end stretch”.
Final tip:
Make big leaps in price increases – not too many small ones. Every time you change your prices, your audience shifts. In other words, the effort it takes to move from charging $5,000 to $50,000 (and finding new clients who can afford and are willing to invest at that level) isn't necessarily harder than shifting from $5,000 to $10,000. Of course, your new rates need to feel in the realm of possibilities. As in, you can picture yourself quoting that number on a call, and you're not completely freaking out. Just a little. In essence, this is about learning how to tune into your body. You want to learn how to tune into your nervous system, and stretch into your ability to raise your rates, without straining yourself. Wondering how to break to your (potential) clients that your prices are going up, without making them feel they're paying double now? Sign up for my guide on raising your rates. And inside, you'll find the ultimate how-to guide and how to introduce new rates to existing clients, almost clients, former clients who want to re-enroll and your audience in general.
© 2022 Merel Kriegsman Media. For permission to reproduce or repost this post, email team@merelkriegsman.com
