3 Ideas to help you, the next time they say you’re too expensive!

culled from:http://jimsmarketingblog.com
If you are sick of talking to fee sensitive prospective clients, you are making 1 or more of 3 common mistakes, which I am going to share with you right now — along with the solution.
Let’s get started!

A quick look at value

I want to start by looking at the way your prospective clients think about value:

• It’s always too expensive, when the price or fee is considerably greater than the value.
• It’s always great value, when the price or fee is considerably lower than the value.

To get that price / value balance right, we have 2 options:

1. We can pump more value into the product or service.
2. We can lower the price.

The race to the bottom

Most small business owners focus on lowering prices or fees, in order to make themselves appear better value. This is why we often see competing businesses in that dreaded race to the bottom, where business owners race to out discount one another. It’s a low leverage and unsustainable way to run a business.

Here’s the thing about slashing your prices: Your prospective customers or clients can go to Google and find 20 lower priced alternatives to you, in minutes.
Here’s the thing about increasing your value: High value providers are rare. Rare value comes at a premium, which the right clients are happy to pay for.

3 questions you need to answer

The following 3 questions will help you identify why you are attracting too many fee sensitive inquiries. Go through each question and spend a moment to consider your answers.
Firstly: Have you put so much value into your product or service, that the price or fee represents great value? As every quality brand will confirm, we can always sell a superb product or service for a great price. However, we are fooling ourselves if we expect prospective clients or customers to pay a premium, for something that’s average or close to average.
Secondly: If you have created a product or service that represents outstanding value, is that value clear from your marketing? In other words, when a prospective client reads your marketing or talks with you, can they easily see a clear reason why your services are of great value? Use the best copywriter you can afford, to make the value obvious, attractive and crystal clear. I find the vast majority of small business owners get this wrong and use DIY copywriting, thinking they are saving money. In reality, it’s losing them a fortune.
Finally: Is your marketing attracting the right type of leads or inquiries? You can have an amazing service, offered at a wonderful price, but if the people responding to your marketing can’t afford it, you’re wasting your time.

For example: A diamond ring that’s worth a million dollars, would be amazing value if offered for sale at $100,000. However, if you’re trying to sell it to someone, who knows the value, but is broke, they can’t buy it.

Getting your value balance right

Lowering a price is easy. It can be done in seconds. It requires no creativity. However, the easiest decisions in business are seldom the right decisions.
Instead, look for inconsistencies between; what you charge, what you offer and who you are marketing to.
In short: You will always be able to sell a high quality product or service for a good price, so long as it represents great value and you are marketing it to the correct people. If you are struggling, it’s because you need help in one or more of those areas.
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