Quoting your Price with Confidence. Avoiding Common Mistakes.
Aug 26, 2021One of the most challenging parts of entrepreneurship can be coming up with a price point that helps both you and your client feel supported. Even more challenging, perhaps, is talking about that price point in a confident manner. I mean, let’s face it. Money is one of those sticky subjects that everybody has their own feelings and beliefs about. Even knowing that, you can’t base your price point solely on what others might think of it. You need to come up with a number that feels right for you and your business and then stick to it confidently. We’re often told what we should do when it comes to quoting our price, but rarely are we told what not to do, and that’s exactly what we’re going to look at together. Let’s take a look at some of the most common mistakes entrepreneurs make that prevent them from confidently quoting their price points.
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The first thing that you should avoid when setting your price point is trying to beat all of your competitor’s prices. You shouldn’t aim to charge more than them, either. That’s right. Believe it or not, you don’t want to be the lowest or the highest price point within your industry. Your price point is a clear reflection of the value that you are offering your clients. If you set it too low, you may appear as though you don’t have the same knowledge or expertise as your competitors or that the quality of your work is sloppy. Consider a time where you received multiple quotes for a particular product or service. Did you automatically go for the cheapest option to save a buck or did you wonder why and how that bidders price could be so much lower than the others? Alternatively, if you come in at the highest price point, it may be perceived that you are price-gouging or taking advantage of your consumers. Neither is your best look. Ideally, you want to check the market in your area and land somewhere in between that feels like an ideal fit for you and your business.
The second mistake that you don’t want to make is to offer a discount straight off the bat. The exceptions to this rule would be if a client specifically asks you for a discount, indicates that your price point might be a factor holding them back from making the purchase, or to match a competitor’s discount, but don’t assume that any of these are the case. In the event that they are, you still want to make sure that making the offer won’t affect your bottom-line revenue. Offering discounts just to end up upside-down isn’t going to help your business survive, let alone, thrive. The decision to offer a discount should be made with the health and well-being of your business at the forefront of your mind. Just because your competitors are discounting everybody and gaining clients that way doesn’t mean that they are succeeding or making money. You have to think of the long-term, bigger picture.
Lastly, don’t fall into the trap of explaining your price or apologizing for what you are charging. Remember that you set this price for a reason and that it aligned with your current business model and the bigger vision for your business, overall. Once you start qualifying your price, it works to effectively diminish your value and the value of your brand in the eyes of your prospective client. A pause in the conversation while your audience digests the information that they have received is not a natural indicator to jump in and start justifying your price. It’s more likely that they just need a moment to think things through rather than that they are thinking you are charging too much or waiting for your explanation. If they have questions that they still need answered or are unclear on what they are getting in return for their money, trust that they will ask you. If the pause lasts too long, an alternative might be to say something like, “Let me go back over everything that you’re going to receive” and then walk them back through your services to remind them of the value you are providing.
Stand confidently in your price point, knowing that you are providing a valuable service and/or product. You believed in it enough to start a business around it, so there must be something there, right? Keep going back to that and, if you still need some help building your confidence in this arena, remember that you don’t have to do this alone! I have gone to great lengths to ensure that there are myriad resources available to you to help you expand on this, regardless of what type of learner you are. If you like one-on-one support, head over to my website and book a consultation call. If you’re more of a self-paced learner, check out my 6-week online training course! If you prefer to be boosted up by a group of like-minded individuals, head on over to our Facebook group, “Be a Confident Entrepreneur, Gain Confidence and Grow Your Income”. Tell us who you are and what you do and let us support you on this entrepreneurial journey! I’m looking forward to it!
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Video Transcript
Hey there. Does the question, how much do you charge make your mouth dry and your hands clammy? Yeah, I get it. Quoting your price with confidence is what we're talking about today. Today is about what not to do. But first, let me introduce myself.
I'm Tracy Beavers. I am a business and sales coach. And my passion is helping small business owners solo Pennhurst and salespeople find the parts of their businesses that are no longer working. Those disconnects that are stopping the income from growing. We get those things figured out and cover them. Get you reconnected and get you back to growing your income the way you want to, because everything that you do daily needs to grow your income. Am I right? OK, so let's dive into that to today's topic.
Let's learn that what not to do when quoting our prices for our products, programs or services. Here's the thing, you guys. I've made these mistakes. That's how I can effectively coach my clients to correct them. So please don't think I'm perfect and that I haven't clammed up when someone has asked me how much something costs.
So a few weeks ago in another training, we talked about pricing, quoting your price. And I outlined the things that you should do. Hopefully you are able to look at that. I think it was dated July 22nd. If you want to go back and grab that and find out the things that you should do.
Today, we're going to talk about the what not to do. Number one, do not try to be the lowest price set in. Your price can be so tricky. You don't want to be the lowest and you don't want to be the highest either. You want your price to reflect the value that you give your clients, setting it too low. You run the risk of your service appearing cheap. And from a psychological standpoint, the client is going to think, why is this so low? What am I missing? They must not provide the best work. Or maybe they left something off the estimate. Think through it. Think about a time when you asked for the price of a service. You got the quote and you were like, did they leave something off? What am I missing? Right. What's the catch? So check your market area for what your competitors are charging and then think through the value you give your clients that your competitors don't. And remember when we talked about giving your clients an amazing experience that was in another training recently, customer experience versus customer service. Go back and catch that one. All of those customer experience items that you give your clients, all of those factor into your price, too.
Number two, do not offer to discount your price unless the client mentions it to you, asks that of you, or indicates that might be a reason for holding them back because or you're trying to match your competitor. That could be another reason why you might want to discount your price. You do not and should not offer a discount on your pricing unless you know it's going to be OK for your bottom line revenue. You don't want to get caught up trying to discount your way into jobs only to find out that you're losing money. I had a client that was doing this and it was devastating to her. When we figure that out, if your competitors are notorious for giving discounts, then work through your numbers and see what you might be able to do to compete. But again, only if it fits your business model. You know how we talk a lot about your decisions being authentic to you and you're running your business the way you want it to be run and your goals that are yours, not your competitors, not what other people think. Just because your competition is tossing out discounts like candy at a parade doesn't necessarily mean you have to do that, too. And who knows, their bottom line revenue may be running at a loss. They may be living in the red for all you know, and that's not where you want to be. As I mentioned, one of my clients recently got caught up in the discount whirlwind. And, you know, thankfully, we were able to walk through that and talk through it in time for her to not lose a lot of money.
Number three, do not feel like you have to explain your pricing or apologize for it with this one. Ladies, especially, I want you to listen up. My female clients tell me often, why do I feel the need to apologize for my price? I mean, no offense to the men, but I'm finding that in large part, men don't struggle with this problem. They state the price, they give the call, and they move on. If your client asks for an explanation of your service, remember, that's not the same thing as wanting you to apologize or explain the price. The client may just be wanting you to go back over everything they're going to receive. And that's very different from explaining why your price is the amount it is. I hope that makes sense. You could simply say, let me get go back over everything that you're going to be receiving and then walk back through your services and show them the value that they're going to get. Remember this? The value is in the price. And once you start. Explaining, apologizing, or discounting from a psychological standpoint, it diminishes you, it diminishes your business and your brand. If the client is quiet after you quote, it's most likely because they are processing through what you said and you need to give them a little time to respond. It's not because they're thinking you're charging too much or they're expecting you to explain it or give a discount.
Stand in your confidence. Don't try to be the lowest price. Don't throw out discounts like confetti and don't feel like you've got to explain or apologize for your price, especially if a client has or has not said a word about you explaining it. What they may be asking for is you explaining the value of everything they're going to receive and walking back through everything that they're going to get when they hire you.
If you want more tips and guidance on quoting your price with confidence, grab my six week online course because we spend a week on just this topic alone. Go to TracyBeavers.com/workwithme and you'll see to be a confident entrepreneur. Of course it's self-paced so you can complete this on your own time, in your jammies, on the couch. My students are loving it and gaining confidence not only with pricing, but knowing how to navigate sales and not feeling sales. They're increasing their networks like crazy with my tips on how to network the right way. They are using my strategies to turn their customers into their best referral sources, and they are leveling up their businesses. And it is so much fun to see their excitement. I want this for you, so go check it out. And if you want to join us in my Facebook group to get catch the real-time conversation on our pieces of training and all the things we offer there. Join us in our Facebook group. Just search, Be a Confident Entrepreneur, Gain Confidence and Grow Your Income. Dive in, make yourself at home and let us know who you are, what you do, and how we can help you.
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