In the first post of this series I described two of my clients and how they each reacted to the concept of charging what they are worth.  Client #1 embraced it and raised her rates by 25%.  Client #2 struggled with feelings of guilt about raising her rates. Now let’s look at the outcomes.

Client #1 states that she shows up more fully and that her clients get better results because she wants to give more because she’s charging more. Did you get that? By charging MORE, she was giving MORE. It’s surprising that even though you think you are giving a lot, simply by raising your fees, you have to grow into a person and deliver a service worth of what you are charging, so you will improve your outcomes.

Sadly, client #2 is feeling some resentment toward her clients because she knows she’s giving it away for too little. (But thankfully she’s fully committed to changing this so is doing the mindset work necessary to make the shift.)

Let me give you a couple more examples of how this sneaky and creepy feeling comes in if you haven’t set your fees according to your value.

One client who was a VA found herself really angry when her client always complained about not being able to pay her fees, yet would spend $1500 buying jewelry and stuff from QVC! My client continued to keep her fees low and even allowed late payments from this woman! Definitely a place for resentment to begin to fester.

A colleague of mine who coaches chiropractors realized that he had charged a doctor $5000, but because of his suggestions, his client was able to grow their bottom line by about $200,000! It was at this point that he decided to shift his model and move to a profit sharing fee – something I have just begun to play with as well.

Do you see yourself in any of these examples? If so, let’s now look at how we can shift this.

The first place I want to start is with mindset.

Three questions here –
Is there a little part of me that is resentful now, or am I at risk of being resentful in the future because I am not charging the right fees?

What beliefs/inner dialogue is going on in my head that keeps me stuck? (This is where you look at your self talk. As an example, client #2 would remember the conversations she had where her clients complained about their financial situations and then hear herself say, “I can’t charge them more money….they wouldn’t be able to afford it and it’s not right of me to mess up their finances by doing that.”) Write down what you tell yourself to keep stuck in this loop.

What new belief would I have to install to be able to comfortably charge the fee that is right for ME? Some examples may be, “I give tremendous value” or “There is enough money out there” or “I only attract the clients to me who value my services and happily pay my fees.” Begin each day by looking at your new beliefs and repeating them until it becomes your natural way of being.

Now that we’ve visited what’s going on in your head, click here to read the next post where we’ll talk about what’s going on with your pricing.  You’ll see how being honest with yourself both areas will make all the difference in feeling great about being compensated for the value you provide.

Blessings,

Therese