Raise Your Prices by 10%

Why you NEED to raise your prices by 10%.

You are not worth what your cheapest client thinks you’re worth.

Most people will second guess themselves as soon as they put a price tag on what they do.

When they give a quote, when they’re about to submit it, they reduce it or shave some of the price off.

They’re not prepared to stand by what they want to charge. And I’m no different (because I’m not an enlightened being of pure light). So here’s what I do.

When I finish a quote, I add on 10% right before I hit send.

Every time.

If someone ain’t willing to pay 10% more, they wouldn’t have been willing to pay the original quote.

And if they’re willing to pay the original quote, they’ll be ready to pay the extra 10%.

I call it my Courage Tax. Potential clients, if you’re listening, I make no apologies — I can promise you, the work is going to be worth it.

SUGGESTED: 8 Reasons Your Clients Aren’t Paying You

Your Courage Tax Makes You Front Up

When you have something that forces you to take yourself more seriously, there’s a lot that starts to come into play. You get the guts to actually front up, show up and stand by your pricing, because you’re almost forcing yourself to. You’re forcing yourself to be tough and firm with a client, and that will strengthen everything you do with them in the future.

For example, I feel a lot more confident in dealing with clients since I started doing this. Where before I would often feel like clients were forcing me to run my business on their terms, now I feel like I’m running my business on my own terms and my clients are willing to conform to them!

It doesn’t matter what amount your courage tax is. All that matters is that it gives you courage.

You Can Always Charge A Little More

People are generally pretty good about money. They know its value, because they know their own value. Yes, you are going to get some folks who want to haggle and take advantage of anyone, and they aren’t going to take your slightly higher fees. But guess what? You don’t want clients like that anyway.

They’re shit to have around.

One of my best clients insists on paying additional bonuses for additional achievements. They understand the value of money, and they don’t want to try and force results without paying for them.

The right kind of clients will always be happy to pay a little more.

Negotiating Is A Waste Of Time

• I never reduce my fees. I might add some services, I might take some services away, but I just do not reduce the overall project fee. People can shout and stamp their feet all they like, but it’s not going to happen.
• I won’t guarantee X results or Y revenue or anything else. Guarantees are dumb. I’m not a Soothsayer, I can’t see into the future, so it’s not worth my while to offer a guarantee.
• I don’t take crap. If people insult me, talk down the value of what I do, anything like that — I won’t take them on.

But I am prepared to help people make the deal. I am prepared to help folks out as much as I possibly can. I am prepared to listen, be patient, respect people’s time etc. Give them information. Answer their queries, questions and objections. The key is to set a limit on how much negotiation can happen, per client, depending on value. After that time, I shut down the deal.

You Need To Know How Much You’re Worth

You’re worth what you believe you’re worth.

This article was originally published on Medium on July 26, 2017

About the Author: J. Westenberg has been a Medium member since May 2017.Westenberg is a Chief Empathy Officer, Creatomic (an agency)