So you’ll remember from last post, I outlined Trap #1 which is I have to do it all myself syndrome. Have you asked yourself those questions?  What difference has it made for you so far?  I’d love to hear about your journey by leaving a message in the comment section.

Who else is sick of hearing about the economy and lack of business? Mindset block #2 is the belief that People won’t pay higher fees. This mindset gets you in the trap of having to try to keep your rates low, under charging, and feeling guilty if you ask your clients to pony up their dollars for your services. For me, I need only go to one of the restaurants in my city (Scottsdale, AZ) and notice just how many people are spending money!

The trick here once again is to discover if there is any part of you that pulls back from either asking for the sale, or from raising your fees. Usually there is a story underneath that it’s not right to ask for that much money or the tendency to jump into other peoples’ financial situations and make decisions for them. I think the heart of this mindset block is two fold. The first could be a lack of boundaries and a tendency to take in the ‘popular opinion’ which you must stay away from! If you find yourself believing that no one will spend more, begin to notice things to the contrary. Go to malls, nice restaurants, or car lots. See evidence that while some people are constricting in their spending, there are still loads of people who are willing to pay for good service and value. And stay away from the nay-sayers or any negativity that could lead you to buy into the lack consciousness.

Next is to understand the value you provide. If you have the story that people won’t pay for your services, it might be because you haven’t done the work on getting the clarity you need around the results you bring. I guarantee that if you really take a stand for what you offer and believe that deep in your core, you won’t pull back from offering your services. How to do this? One way is to ask your past clients to list what they have gotten from your work together. And you don’t want to stop at the surface level…do the ‘deep dive’ with them about how they were impacted 6 months later, 2 years later, etc. If you charge someone $1,000 but your client was able to get new business and bring in $5,000 that year, imagine the lifetime of their business and the results gained from your expertise. Its mind boggling to think of the reach you can have.

I’ll also give you a link to a short visualization where I guide you in getting clarity on understanding what you bring: http://www.audioacrobat.com/play/WP6c64cx.
It’s about 6 minutes long, and will give you a jump start on identifying the value you bring. Once you own this, you’ll not again have to worry if someone can afford your services.

Join me next time and discover the simple steps involved in mastering Traps 3 and 4.

Blessings,
Therese

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