In the 9-week, drinking-from-the-firehose experience known as Jumpstart, one of our biggest topics is pricing. Often my group of up-and-comers are asking questions such as:
How do we determine – and raise – our rates?
Should our proposals include detailed cost breakdowns?
How do top firms get away with charging more than competing firms?
My response here is to step back and remind everyone that you are not selling hours, rates, services, etc. Rather…
You are selling subjectivity.
Which means your top priority when negotiating / closing a project is to simply…
Get all the money out of the client’s pocket.
Then use that money to create a solution that brilliantly solves the problem… produces the greatest result/outcome/value… while also maximizes your profit.
Take advantage of this subjectivity! The game is in your favor once you realize how much control, power, options, latitude you actually have. This is where costs, rates, overheads, etc. become increasingly irrelevant.
But I can hear the buzzers going off in your head. You feel stuck, thinking:
“But our clients won’t let us!”
“That sounds great, but there’s just no way…”
“But our clients’ budgets are going down, not up!”
If that’s you, your problem isn’t pricing. Your problem lies deeper: an unfocused Genius, weak positioning, and/or a service-based offering. You are also likely accepting an unhealthy amount of repeat business and/or not consistently developing new business.
In which case, I would agree with you. If you believe you’re stuck, you are.
Does this topic resonate with you? Great. Hit reply and let me know you’d like me to focus on this topic in the weeks ahead.
Or if you know you’re ready to get unstuck / overhaul your pricing strategy, jump into my next Jumpstart in Q4.
Cheers,
Joel
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