Don't Use Yourself as Your Pricing Yardstick
BY Marcia Yudkin
"I wouldn't pay more than what I charge now."
If you are not a member of your target market, toss
this thought about your own preferences out the window
this very minute. What you consider a reasonable
price has nothing to do with how they spend money.
Even if you are a member of the market you are selling
to, it's a fallacy to assume that everyone in that
group feels as you do. Chances are, some feel that
your current rates are more than they want to pay,
some feel you're charging just about right and others
feel you're a real steal. You probably don't need to
sell to all three of those categories and can do well
by aiming at those who'd respect you more if you
charged more.
The belief that she couldn't charge more than she
herself would pay was a huge barrier for a friend of
mine who was a photographer. She had to do a lot of
talking to herself about her customers' enthusiasm for
her work, her strengths as a photographer and the fact
that the few colleagues charging more in her town
weren't any better at their work than she was.
She also had to steel herself against customers trying
to bargain with her. She reminded herself that when
she held firm on her fees, most customers did pay what
they'd just objected to. Some people bargain mainly
as a habit or a game.
Additionally, she joined a mastermind group of other
photographers and picked up a few pointers on subtle
ways to increase the average amount a customer spent
with her. For instance, photographers offering frames
in different sizes along with enlargements of family
portraits always sold the most of the next to largest
size on display. By adding a larger size frame to
those hanging on the wall of her studio, she sold more
of the next-to-largest size, previously the largest.
Create a solid difference between yourself and
competitors to feel more confident about raising your
rates. To separate yourself from colleagues, you can
emphasize selectivity (you accept only a certain level
or kind of client), specialization (you possess more
experience and expert knowledge on one aspect of your
industry), results (your superiority consists of a
spectacular success rate that you can document) or
concrete benefits of your work (results that your
colleagues also produce but never explicitly point
to).
Pricing is a psychological phenomenon primarily, and
the road to higher profits begins with getting your
own head straight about what's reasonable to charge.
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More Great Articles by Marcia Yudkin
Marcia Yudkin marcia@yudkin.com is the author of the newly updated classic guide, 6 Steps to Free Publicity
(Career Press), and 10 other books. As an author,
marketing consultant and coach, she has spent 22 years
successfully turning words into money. By going to
http://www.marketingformore.com/survey.htm, you can
download a free report, "Charge More & Get It," that
discusses five common self-sabotaging beliefs that
stand in the way of higher earnings.
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