This is part two if the three part series of what do to when you notice the trend (and probably freak out a bit) when folks aren’t buying what they used to.  If you didn’t catch part 1, the mindset piece, you can click on the link and read that article.  Once we deal with the inner game, now we’ll look at how some tweaks in your pricing can infuse some more vibrancy (and cash flow!) into your business.

Ask you list what they struggle with. Are you selling what you want or what your customers need? Sometimes we are guilty of that because we get so excited about our offerings.  How about asking them what would serve them? Perhaps they aren’t buying because what you have been offering needs a face-lift.  If you do a survey to you audience, they will likely tell you things that you have thought of before, but hadn’t yet focused on.  Ways to ask them?  You could do informational interviews or use www.SurveyMonkey.com to get the data that would give you this information.

Come up with smaller pieces for your clients to buy. My advice – don’t lower the overall prices, but you can offer new ways to ‘consume’ your offerings. This way you don’t go from let’s say charging $250 a session to $150 a session. You go from offering a 9 month program to a 3 month program but keep your value the same. (And please don’t just be charging per session! Programs are the way to go.)

Offer payment plans. One of the commitments I made to myself was to keep my prices up where I felt really good about them. Even when the economy tanked there were some folks who wanted to work with me but couldn’t afford the fees, but I refused to lower my rates because I made the decision that I would rather lose money and take a stand for my worth and value than take less and feel compromised. (In fact I wrote an article about what happens if you undercharge – how it leads to resenting your clients.) That doesn’t translate to good service.   So if you want to make it a win-win, offer payment plans so your clients can get your services in a way that also works for their budget.

Add new/lower cost offerings to your funnel. Some of us are one trick pony’s. We offer one program, one group, and maybe a book or two. When you do survey your list, ask them what their biggest challenges are and design lower priced starter level programs around this to 1) get them in your funnel so they can begin a relationship with you, 2) help more people, and 3) get some income flowing in. When I did the Body, Mind and Business Breakthrough Telesummit I created the “30 Days to Plugging Your Money Leaks” program. This has been a wonderful way for people to start coaching with me without making a huge money commitment up front. And I feel good that this program really does solve a problem for business owners. So get outside the box with your thinking and come up with something new that addresses the challenges that your market has.

Create and offer high end programs. Guess what… folks are still spending money!  And there will be people who will want a more exclusive/high end offer.  This may not be for all your clients, but don’t take it off the table either. I’ve been doing my VIP offerings and so can attest that people are willing to fly in for the day for intensive work. A healthy service provider has a range of low to higher cost programs, so again asking your list what they’d like, roll out something.  You might find that it’s a heck of a lot easier selling one $2,000 day than selling one hundred $20 books. The trick is marketing, relationship building and finding the solution to the pain and challenges that your clients have.

There ya go….how to structure your pricing.  But now you have to get  comfortable asking!  So watch for my next blog in a couple of days where I’ll talk about why the “Call to Action” kicks our butts some times and ways to get around that.  In the meantime, if you would like help with your pricing, book one of my Bold Business Breakthrough Sessions before 8/31 while there is a $100 discount.  Trust me….I can help you design your pricing, feel good about it, and blast through and mindset blocks that would get in the way.  Just go to www.AcceleratingYourSuccess.com/vip and reserve your spot.

Today I don’t have the answers.  I am not going to give you three quick tips or five easy strategies.  I’m sitting in the question.  So today I’m going to pose for you some deep questions that need to be asked.…….

If you read this blog from a couple of days ago, you will remember that I am conducting a survey, asking for people’s opinions about what they would like to see in a marking makeover program.   (The survey is http://bit.ly/8gkwb here by the way if you want to add your two cents)

It’s been really awesome to see the answers as they roll in.  I’m so grateful to all who have participated, but the last response that came in is the one that really struck a cord with me.

This person talked about taking another coaches very high end program.  They got great content, but after it was all over, the person was left feeling like, “Now what?”  The foundation was in place, ideas were generated, but there was no follow system or next steps in place, so after spending tons of money, the writer doesn’t feel like they are moving forward because they need more support.

It got me thinking.  As I work to design my program, what happens three months after the program ends?  What do my clients get if they have a questions down the road?  Am I going to avail myself to them, or will they have to wait till the next program rolls out?  It really is a discussion about what our role as information marketers or service providers is.  When people entrust us with their confidence and make investments in themselves through working with us, how much do we owe them?  I know myself and the folks that I like to hang out with tend to ‘give away the farm’ a bit, but then there are those who you can only get some face time if you are paying BIG BUCKS to.

It’s a tricky question, that’s for sure.  Is there a way to do a 90 day program but then offer three more months of some kind of additional support?  Is that for free, or for a fee?  (Maybe its kinda like the warranty on your car – “six months, six product launches, or 6 sales pages later….here’s what you get…” )

The question becomes when is a program enough?  And when should clients pay to keep getting more of you?

Probably more questions than answers, but I’d love your ideas to how you have handled this situation.

And thanks so much for the writer who shared (anonymously) with me on the survey.  May your words inspire us all to do a better job serving the people we are blessed to serve.

Blessings!