Stop discounting your expertise
If you compete on price, you are in a beauty parade and chances are, you’re unlikely to ever win more than your fair share.
When your pricing model doesn’t work, it results in poor attraction, poor conversion and poor retention. The clients you do win are often poor ones.
These clients that don’t pay your worth also hang around in groups and refer each other, so you attract even more poor clients.
I was approached recently by a client who said they wanted to work with me but asked me to price match somebody else they were speaking to.
I smiled (through gritted teeth) and asked them why they wished to work with me and to list the reasons.
I then asked if they understood why those things commanded a premium?
They did, agreed to my rate and we shook hands.
This is called the value gap. The difference between the price they were considering paying and the investment they should be making.
If you price too low, you not only lose margin but you lose authority. You train clients to see your work as interchangeable, you attract the wrong buyers, and you create a business where you have to work harder just to stand still.
Underpricing quietly erodes confidence, profit, positioning and energy. The real cost isn’t the discount; it’s the message it sends: “I’m not sure I’m worth this either.”
If they want your experience, your models, your thinking, your standards, your judgement and your outcomes, then they are not asking for the same thing at a lower price.
They are asking for better value at someone else’s rate. Not yours.
Price matching is value leakage and you need to fix it - fast!
Five strategies to charge your worth:
Anchor on outcomes, not hours - sell the result, not the time it takes
Ask why they chose you - let the client articulate your value
Articulate the value-price gap - show the difference between cheaper and better
Hold your price with confidence - silence often sells better than over-explaining
Offer scope options, not discounts - reduce deliverables, not your worth
The goal isn’t to be seen as expensive. It’s to be seen as high value.
The best thing I ever did was to have the confidence to walk away from clients and prospects who did not see my worth.
It’s tough when there is money being offered but it never leaves you space for bigger and better.
Funnily enough, the clients that pay the premium prices also hang out in groups and refer each other. Imagine a high paying client referring other high paying client - bingo!
If you are not charging the highest in your sector, somebody else is.
Are they really better than you, or just better at articulating the value on offer?
If you are struggling to attract clients that pay premium prices and are fed up of constantly being in a beauty parade, then it’s time something changed.
Let’s chat.