“Can I ask you a personal question, Lin?”
“Um, ok. Not sure if I’ll answer it but give it a go.” (My standard reply to a question about a question.)
“Why would you ever pay so much for a handbag?”
I was carrying what some would consider to be an “expensive” handbag. I agree, it was expensive, but all my handbags are expensive. I have a thing for beautiful handbags, not because they’re expensive, but because they’re my kind of beautiful. The woman asking me this question was a fellow coach that I simply adore. She was being curious… not an ounce of judgment in the question. She had no desire for anything other than a utilitarian handbag.
In typical fashion, when I realize there’s no right or wrong answer (and because the lawyer in me compels it) I asked her a question as a way of answering…
Why wouldn’t I pay a lot of money for a handbag that is so gorgeous and feels so amazing to wear?”
“But what’s so amazing about it? Is it a couple of thousand dollars worth of gorgeous?” she asked.
I was tempted to ask her another question, just to see if we could have an entire conversations based on questions, but instead we got into an amazing discussion about money and prices and are expensive things actually “worth” what they cost, etc., blah blah, yada yada, and so on, so fun.
It was fascinating. And it brought home the fact that you can’t judge value by price. Value is determined by all kinds of criteria (determined by the person assessing the value), so there is no one answer to the question we all ask ourselves…
What should I charge for my coaching services?
Now, I’m NOT one of those coaches who will tell you to raise your prices, raise your prices just because you think your coaching services offer a ton of value.
It doesn’t matter what you think.
It matters what your ideal clients think. And if your ideal clients are low-price seekers, not necessarily value seekers, then you’d better price your services low.
But if you never want to compete on price, you’ll have to show people how much value comes with paying for your brand of services
Notice I didn’t say tell people. You have to show them the value, no matter what price tag you put on your offer.
A low price doesn’t promise good value. A high price doesn’t promise good value either.
Value is open to all sorts of interpretation.
The only constant is YOU.
“She changed the way I see myself.”
“She changed the way I show up in the world.”
“She changed the way I do business.”
“She made me see how I was holding myself back.”
“She showed me what it looks like when a woman is fearless and unstoppable.”
This is how I know I am providing value to my clients… because they tell me. And I show them more and more value every day. I’m not interested in working with people who base value on a low price. (Oh boy, did I learn that lesson the hard way.)
My handbags make me feel delicious. They may do nothing for someone else, but for me, they’re worth every penny. And trust me, no sales person ever has to “sell” me on a handbag that I love. The decision to buy is made long before I walk into a store.
[HAVE YOU LISTENED TO THE MESS MAGIC MONEY PODCAST?]
The way I coach women makes them feel delicious. It turns them into women they never thought they could be. The value never changes, no matter what price tag I put on my services.
Pricing is not a personal judgment of you, it’s a value judgment of your offer, and value is determined by two things:
1. The relevance of the stuff you put “out there” to serve your market;
2. The impact your stuff has on the people who represent your ideal clients in that market.
Your “stuff” won’t be for everyone, just like my handbags aren’t for everyone.
But when you find the people who want the very definition of the value you promise, you won’t ever have to sell them anything. They’ll show up, expecting to buy.
In love and guts,
Lin E
PS: Want to know when doors open to the next 100k DNA Masterclass? Click HERE.
