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- the Online Marketing Newsletter
for Independent Professionals
from Action Plan Marketing
and Robert Middleton

In This Week's Issue: Are you getting paid what you're worth? Learn how to get your price for your services.

 

Getting Your Price

"Know how to get your price for things."

This is the opening statement of the 150th epigram or "pithy paragraph" (of 300) from the "Art of Worldly Wisdom" by Baltasar Gracien, a spanish writer and priest of some renown.

I'm still on vacation in southern California and picked up this book at an Ojai bookstore. It's had me thinking for several days.

Gracien touches on literally hundreds of subjects that can be taken to heart by the Independent Professional struggling to make his or her way in the marketplace.

That this book was originally published in 1647 proves that there is very little that is new in the modern world of commerce.

If you want your business wisdom in concentrated form, this is certainly the place to look. I was especially struck by number 150 and his brilliant insights into pricing one's products or services.

My comments follow his writings which I have placed in quotation marks.

"Their (the products or services you offer for sale) intrinsic value is not sufficient, for not everyone bites at the essence or looks into the interior. Most go with the crowd, and go because they see others go."

The true value of something is not readily apparent to most and so most services are compared on a superficial basis. If you offer a professional service, it's very easy for people to assume that it's pretty much like everyone else's professional service.

To hope that people will have the discernment to understand that your particular service is worth more than the average, is only fooling yourself.

"It is a great stroke of art to show things at true value..."

And this is the art of marketing. Effective marketing is the skill of revealing to your buyers the true value of your service. Gracian goes on to explain several ways to do this.

"...at times by praising them (for praise arouses desire)..."

But you usually can't praise your own services; you need others to do it for you. Testimonials are one of the most powerful tools to get your buyer to reconsider the value of your services. The best testimonials tell an unembellished story of how your services helped to solve a familiar but vexing problem.

"...at times by giving them a striking name (which is very useful for putting things at a premium), provided it is done without affectation."

In advertising this is called branding. Coca Cola certainly is more attractive than "sweetened, colored soda water." In the same way, "The Management Challenge" conveys more value than "a three day management retreat."

"Again, it is generally an inducement to profess to supply only to connoisseurs, for all think themselves such, and if not, the sense of want arouses desire."

Make your services exclusive, not for everybody, certainly not for the garden variety buyer. To do this without arrogance is a bit of stretch for many. We don't want to appear snobbish. Yet Gracien addresses the pitfall of doing the opposite:

"Never call things easy or common--that makes them depreciated rather than made accessible."

This always smacks of desperation. It is a paradox that trying to make your services appeal to everyone actually decreases their desirability.

"All rush after the unusual, which is more appetizing both for the taste and for the intelligence."

And to make your services unusual is the never ending quest of good marketing. This forces your buyers to look beneath the surface to see their true value which they will then pay for with little hesitation.

Three hundred and fifty years ago Baltasar Gracien revealed, in one pithy paragraph, the secrets to getting your price for your services. If you heed his words, I predict a very prosperous year in your business.

Happy New Year!

More on "Getting Your Price" in Marketing Flashes below.

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Changes Are Coming to the InfoGuru Marketing Manual

Thinking of getting the InfoGuru Marketing Manual but you've been putting it off? Here's something you might consider:

In two or three weeks I'll be making some changes to the Manual. One, the price will go up. Two, I'll be creating a more in-depth home study version. which will include a complete audio program on 12 CDs with a study guide to help you implement the action plans in the program.

Now the manual costs $59. It will be $79. With the home study the complete program will be $178. Order the InfoGuru Marketing Manual now and you'll be eligible to receive the home study portion for only $99.

If you already have the manual, you'll also be eligible to receive the home study portion for $99. Keep watching More Clients for details.

For complete details on the current version of the manual and to order online (saving $20), just click below.

http://www.actionplan.com/infoguru.html

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Marketing Flashes on "Getting Your Price"

Are there other ways to get the price you want for the services you provide? Here are some things that work.

* When demand exceeds your ability to provide your service it is always time to raise your prices. I have known people to double their prices at this point and still see no drop in the demand.

* Scared to raise your prices? Try this exercise: Say you want to increase your hourly fee from $100 to $150. Walk around saying to yourself, "My hourly fee is $300." When you go to quote $150 it will seem low to you.

* Add value. When selling intangible services it is easy to increase the perception of value by adding additional services that cost you very little but make a real difference to the client.

* Educate and communicate your value at every opportunity. This is the InfoGuru approach. Web content, articles, reports and teleclasses are all ways to demonstrate your value at very low risk to the client.

* Above all else, think value, not price. What ultimately will the client receive from the use of your services? Even a small change in their situation can be worth a fortune. Always keep your mind on this and point them in this direction.

Until next week, all the best, and Happy New Year!

Robert Middleton

ACTION PLAN MARKETING
Helping Independent Professionals Attract More Clients

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www.actionplan.com

210 Riverside Drive
Boulder Creek, CA 95006
831-338-7790

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© 2004 Robert Middleton, All rights reserved. You are free to use material from the More Clients eZine in whole or in part, as long as you include complete attribution, including live web site link. Please also notify me where the material will appear. The attribution should read:

"By Robert Middleton of Action Plan Marketing. Please visit Robert's web site at http://www.actionplan.com for additional marketing articles and resources on marketing for professional service businesses."

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