Increase Your Value To Increase Your Fees

So many consultants and contractors get caught up in pricing wars and feeling like they’ve got to be cheaper than everyone else. They feel like they’re going to lose the work or not be able to build a project pipeline if they raise their prices or are more expensive than their competitors.

Today I want to flip this viewpoint and this discussion on its head. 

I’ve been doing a lot of work recently with clients in my coaching programs around pricing, the value proposition and their positioning in the marketplace. 

You see if you get your positioning wrong in the marketplace, meaning that you've positioned yourself as a generalist, that you can do everything and that you’re all things to all people AND you don’t talk about the value that you add or how you solve your clients problems or how you deeply understand your clients world, then of course you have to be the cheapest!! 

But if you completely flipped this on its head and can change your thinking around your positioning and you start to talk to your clients and the marketplace about how you DO add value, how you SOLVE your clients problems and how you DEEPLY understand your clients world, then the conversation around pricing largely becomes irrelevant. 

If you really start to understand your clients world, you’ll see and understand that your fees as a part of the overall project are such a minor percentage and really you could charge a lot more than you already do.

It’s just that your clients are conditioned to always want you to be cheaper and they haven't been shown the VALUE you can bring to their projects and solving their problems. 

So if you can shift the focus of your clients away from pricing and onto the value that you bring, how you’re amazing at what you do, how you have 10 or 15 or 20 years of experience, know how to solve your clients problems and how you can make their lives easier - that’s when you can move the conversation towards increasing your fees, charging more and charging what you’re really worth. 

So the next time you find yourself worrying about dropping your fees or cutting your costs or trying to be the cheapest in the marketplace to gain market share - stop yourself. 

Have a different conversation. 

Flip the conversation in your head to - how can I add value to my clients world, how can I show them how I'll add value to this project, how can I show them how I can solve their problems - and watch the conversation around cheaper fees drop away. 

Josh 'Increase Your Fees' Stone

PS: If you’re interested, here are 4 ways I can help you right now:

1. Join the Leaders In Engineering community designed specifically for engineering leaders and business owners
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3. Book in a 15min Check In Session
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4. Have me work with you and your team privately
   If you’re serious about getting real results and you’d like me to work directly with you and your team… just send me an email at [email protected] and put “Private” in the subject line...tell me a little about yourself, the challenges you are facing and what you’d like to work on together, and I’ll be in touch to discuss a plan!