The Secret to Raising Your Rates Without Turning Away Clients or Prospects!
QUOTE: "If you know what to do to reach your goal, it's not
a big enough goal." Bob Proctor, Author and Speaker
Raising rates for self-employed professionals can be a
really nerve-wracking thing. I think there are a lot of
fears and questions that come up. Will I lose local or
global clients? Will prospects not sign up with me? Will I
be nervous? How do I deal with a sliding scale or currency
conversion? Should I discount? They're afraid of asking too
much and scaring perfectly good customers and prospects
away... and they're equally terrified of asking too little,
and leaving money on the table.
Now, I know from experience that great Client Attraction
Marketing has no regard for price. The good news is that
you have so many different options to raise your rates for
your local and global clients.
Let's first look at five reasons for wanting to raise your
rates.
Number One - Perception is reality. If you're giving your
item away, you better be doing it because you have a client
attractive backend product or service. And, you better be
able to do lots of volume. When you're rates are too low, I
find that it creates a perception of poor service in the
global marketplace. You may be doing a fantastic job; you
may be the best at what you do but if your rates are too
low, people will not think that you have anything unique to
offer.
Number Two - You have too many clients and not enough time.
This usually resulted from my clients not charging enough,
so basically the answer from just about every prospect was,
'Hey, I might as well work with them. It's not a lot of
money.' Which was great at first, but the problem with that
is when you are at full client capacity, you still want the
money so you keep taking clients on. Then you discover that
you have no life with your friends or family whatsoever.
Number Three - Catching up with the marketplace. You may
have been in business for a while and set up your rates a
long time ago, but because you haven't increased your rates
in a while, the entire marketplace has moved beyond you and
yet, you're still at the same rate you were at a year ago.
Number Four - Creating exclusivity in the marketplace. What
I mean by that is if your service or product is expensive,
you work your soft-sales pitch around that fact. If you are
asking the big bucks, quids in, then you need to justify
your expense in your client communication. Don't make your
client justify your cost for herself/himself. If you think
your global clientele is going to gasp from "sticker shock"
then you need to set them up with a client attractive
headline, "Before I tell you how much this is, let me ask
you a question. Would you spend one dollar/euro/pound a
week to add 25 miles an hour to your golf swing?" People
will begin to assume that you have this exclusive service -
this perception of real quality - and that really can
become very client attractive. It depends on who you are,
when you do it, and how you do it, but this could be one
reason that you want to raise your rates.
Number Five - You want to make more than you're making now
within the hours that you have. And I find most of my
clients are in this section. They want to make more, they
know they need to be making more, they want to spend more
time with the people they love and they're just not sure
how to charge more.
People are sensitive to price in an absolutely crazy way.
They'll shop clear across town to save 30 cents on a
six-pack of bottled tap water, and then drop an insane
amount of cash for a new car that loses half its value the
second it's driven off the lot.
Why do adults from every culture around the world do this?
Clients who study my Keys to Client Communication System
know. It's in our mental software, which shapes our
cultural values. Finding a store with cheaper bottled water
feels like a small victory. Buying a new Mercedes or Rolls
Royce is more like joining a special club, or adopting a
new identity.
Use this lesson in your Client Attraction Marketing. In
terms of raising your rates, I really want to point out
that charging has to do with your mindset more than
anything else - Please write this down and hang it above
your computer: YOUR MINDSET affects how much you charge;
what YOU believe you are worth and the value that YOU
believe you bring to your clients. I find that once I begin
working with clients on their mindset and self-worth,
immediately we can raise their rates and start attracting
local and global clients that are willing to pay more.
People will pay what it costs to get what they want. And
it's not the deal you get... it's the deal you think you
get. All we need is a good reason, and we'll buy your
stuff. With 100% clarity, you need to be confident about
the results you bring your local and global clients. Then
raising your rates is not a big deal.
This week, consider these three tidbits from the trenches:
The quickest and easiest way to raise or even set your
rates is to model your prices after a successful colleague
in your industry. Look at what others are charging and
whether it's on the high end or the low end, and actually
pick a middle price point on the scale. Now, that's a valid
way to start, but after a while when you need a better
reason and a better rationale for charging more, you'll
notice that the problem is most people don't charge enough
in your industry.
Try bumping up your prices incrementally. Let's say, just
for a round number, if you're charging $400 (or, 300 EUR) a
month or $400 a session, then maybe you just bump it up an
extra $100 every three months.
Try offering three different programs or infoproducts with
three different prices. My clients know this option like
the back of their hand, because I talk about it in great
detail within my Keys to Client Communication System. If
you are a Direct Marketing, Network Marketing, or
independent consultant, consider using my system to create
a infoproduct around what you sell. For example, if you
sell financial products, then create an audio CD or
downloadable document that contains 10 reasons why the
average person needs to become financially savvy. What I
want you to understand is that people who want to pay more,
people who when offered 3 different prices automatically go
for the highest one because they feel they deserve it. The
minute you let that sink into your mindset it'll be much
easier for you to raise your rates.
Ok, you are ready to take action and increase your rates
incrementally, but what if you are not sure how to
communicate the rate increase to your clients? Then sign up
for one of our Client Attraction programs. My clients know
that with every call they are offered many more scenarios
on how to increase their rates, when to increase your
rates, when to "grandfather" in clients at the old rate,
why you should avoid discounting your services, how to
create scholarships to your programs, create programs and
infoproducts that are client attractive, the proper
culturally intelligent language, and all the letters and
templates you need to let clients know the rationale behind
you increasing your rates. Within my Keys to Client
Communication System, I reveal my simple-to-implement
secrets, step by step, and give you an opportunity to
create the same results in your own business, faster than
you thought possible. Get more details on our programs by
visiting www.SchottCulturalConsulting.com. I learned Client
Attraction Marketing the hard way. Why struggle, when you
can just model my proven system?
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Kim Schott, your Global Client Communication Expert, is the
author of the Keys to Client Communication System, the
step-by-step, paint by numbers client attraction program to
attract more clients in less time. To receive your weekly
how-to articles on consistantly attracting more local and
global clients in less time, visit
http://www.SchottCulturalConsulting.com
