On my podcast, ‘The answer is brand’ I received the following question…
What is a simple way to increase my prices?
There’s two ways to go about this.
Let’s discuss them!
The ‘barbarian’ approach.
The barbarian approach is just putting the prices up.
Risk is associated with this strategy, as you have to record the ripples it makes in your customer base.
A common fear I see in business owners is the belief that once the price is increased, you dissuade customers, and they relocate to a competitor.
However, a lot of the time this isn’t true.
You could attempt to increase prices for new clients and keep it the same for current ones and delay that increase for them.
Ultimately here, there’s an element of value (and self-worth).
Determining your value, and in turn the value of your services is instrumental in having a successful business.
The ‘formulated’ approach
This approach could take more time, but it has its positives.
One question you need to ask yourself is this…
Where am I the most valuable?
Let’s say for example you’re a coach or accountant.
You have a plethora of varied clientele who could potentially walk through that front door or send you an email of enquiry.
You could specialise in value for a specific section of your client base.
Now, don’t get me wrong here.
I’m not suggesting that you should conform your business to fit into a niche.
What I’m suggesting is adjusting your messaging to appeal to a particular client type.
What does this achieve?
It simplifies communication with your selected client.
- It makes it that much easier to discover the specific issues they face, and the struggles they encounter.
- This provides you with the tools to think on how to rectify that issue, how to solve that problem.
- Once you’re known for providing that exclusive service, clients start to come for advice and commerce, transferring from a competitor to you.
- All of this is achieved because you solved that specific set of issues for the client.
“If you’re everything to everyone, you’re nothing to no one”
In my time in branding & marketing, I’ve heard this a few times.
Its integral to understand that thought process the client goes through, and the context behind that.
If your message is for ‘everyone’, it’s likely that the words are falling on deaf ears.
With the steps above, you’ll have the justification to increase your prices. You’ll get to a point in the enterprise where you’re full to capacity, and you’ll simply have to put the prices up to cope with the influx.
How does this manifest?
- Hiring.
- Creating new products.
- Opening capacity.
The business’ ‘ecosystem’ flourishes with further investment, and that’s what you’ll be providing with this.
Back in the day, when I got started as a freelance graphic designer, I charged £150 for a basic logo.
Back then, the average was a lot smaller.
I realised that I was trading time for money and I needed to find a way to grow the business beyond myself.
How would I do that?
By increasing my prices drastically.
I know now that I went barbarian.
Every 60 days, I’d double my prices, and I continued this for 14 months.
Until one day a prospective client said no.
I realised my true value with this method.
However, it was still a sore pill to swallow to understand just how low I’d been valuing myself before this.
The client’s perspective of your value is completely different to your own.
So, learn from my mistakes!
This is the episode where I challenge each and every one of you.
- Interact with your customers.
- Ask them about pricing.
- They may respond and state that you’re undercharging them.
- Inform them of potentially rising prices.
- Receive some feedback around the problems you’ve solved for your customers.
- You work hard for providing your service.
- It stands to reason then, that you should be paid for that service handsomely.
If you have a question about starting, growing, or scaling your business head here to record and send your question in. It’s not only a great way to promote your business, but it also helps other businesses who might be encountering a similar issue/question to you.
