Wishing you a Merry Christmas along with a story about the price of chocolate

For many of us Christmas is a time of much chocolate so I couldn't resist directing you to this amazing article about two Canadian accountants who set up a business selling some of the world's most expensive chocolate. I first read about it at Seth Godin's blog in a post with the interesting title 'Sneetchcraft'.

If you go to the Dallasfood.org source article about the worth of Noka chocolate, you will find a cautionary tale about being authentic and honest about who you are and what you stand for. You will also read a ten part article about how your customer and critics are no fools, and the lengths they may go to to keep you honest. You will probably also learn a lot about chocolate .... well worth reading.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you. See you in 2007!

Last Price Yourself Right Tip for 2006: Don't be bullied!

Do you allow yourself to be belittled or bullied? Professional bullies will expect favors and demand that work is done unreasonably quicker, better, cheaper: “I don’t care; just do it.”

Bullies will take precedence over all your time and may even demand exclusivity—but beware—they don’t want you to succeed on your own; they need you.

Bullies are usually good at “reading” people and “pushing their buttons.” They use techniques like leaving things to the last minute to block escape routes, and dangle carrots that won’t be delivered, and often use “weasel words” (words like “virtually,” “almost,” and “possibly”) as out clauses. They rely on a network of higher authorities—lawyers, accountants, politicians, and the like—but will avoid putting anything in writing.

Bullies look for clues when recruiting their “team.” For example: At the end of a job well done, have you ever belittled your efforts by saying, “Oh, it was nothing, really,” or “Anyone could have done it”? Don’t do that—as insignificant as those statements may seem—a bully will notice!
Here’s another example: You’ve just told your client (or boss) that the job they want done will take you two days. She responds by looking surprised and saying, “But it only took Sue one day.” You take two days, but only charge for one—bullies like it when you do that.

The most effective way to address bullying in schools is to empower the victim. While it’s not the victim’s fault (that’s got very little to do with it), in the long run the best strategy is to teach the victim how to disempower the bully. In just the same way, you need to learn techniques to enable you to restore the balance of power—or develop your bully “antennae” and leave these customers for someone else to deal with.

©2006 Jane Francis is the author of Price Yourself Right: A guide to charging what you are worth (ISBN: 0-595-38601-6) available at Barnes and Noble (USA), WH Smith (UK) or online at amazon.com

Price Yourself Right’ Tip 9: Never fear the rejection.

Does not charging what you are worth make you feel safe by reducing the rejection you think you’d get if you charged more?

Rejection is a fact of life. Sometimes you get to be the rejecter; other times you are the rejectee; but in either case, life goes on.

What did you do last time you bought a car? Did you buy the first one you looked at, or did you look around a bit, read the papers, surf the internet and get your “eye” in on price? Would you get more than one quote if you were printing a large run of brochures to drop in letter boxes in your area?

Some companies have a policy of asking for three quotes; that means two quotes are going to be unsuccessful—boo hoo—but it’s not personal.

©2006 Jane Francis is the author of Price Yourself Right: A guide to charging what you are worth (ISBN: 0-595-38601-6) available at Barnes and Noble (USA), WH Smith (UK) or online at amazon.com

Price Yourself Right Tip 8: Read ‘Money Magic’

I just read a book I loved: Money Magic by Deborah L. Price.

As I said in the first sentence of Price Yourself Right, ‘I can always tell when someone isn’t confident about asking for money’, I then spent the first two chapters talking about understanding your conscious and subconscious attitudes to money …. But Deborah Price’s book goes into much greater depth. It doesn’t cover how to set your fees or give you practical tips on what to say and do in business to get your price but it’s a wonderful book to help you get your mind (and spirit) around money.

I especially enjoyed her comments about how we should value our time:

‘Unlike money, which we can always find ways to earn, our life bank only has so many hours in it – and we don’t know just how many hours we have left …Perhaps if we had a currency with denominations of time printed on it that we actually had to physically spend as we use time, we might value our life hours as we value money.’ Deborah .L. Price

'Money Magic' is available at amazon - and no, I've never met or spoken to the author and am not getting paid to write this. (Tho' I do plan to go to amazon and leave a review, one day soon).

©2006 Jane Francis is the author of Price Yourself Right: A guide to charging what you are worth (ISBN: 0-595-38601-6) available at Barnes and Noble (USA), WH Smith (UK) or online at amazon.com

Tip 7: Remember that, first and foremost, your buyer is after a solution.

Customers do not want to buy something that doesn’t work, or something they do not like. So, first and foremost, the buyer wants a solution then she’ll decide if it’s value for money.

If you are the salesperson and the deal is uppermost in your mind remember to put that thought to the back of your mind and solve your customer’s problem first. Price is more important in the mind of the seller than the buyer.

Tip 6: Never belittle what you do.

I know of several people (women, actually!!) who unintentionally diminish their value in a misguided attempt (and interpretation) of modesty.

If you have just done someone a favor, and they are expressing their gratitude, here are three things you can say to instantly diminish the value of what you did:

1) “It was nothing really”
2) “Any fool can do it”
3) “It only took a few minutes” [when it didn’t]

As soon as the magician has shown you how he did the trick, the magic disappears.
If someone is grateful for what you did, accept their praise (and money) without discrediting what you did. If they thought that what you did was magic let it remain that way. Just say: Thank you.

Tip 5: There will always be some customers you can’t afford to do business with …

… for a number of reasons. Here are 12:

1) The client or the job is too big for you – you don’t have the resources;
2) you’ll lose other customers that are important to you;
3) you’ll become too specialized;
4) they drive too hard a bargain;
5) they’ll be too time consuming;
6) their dodgy reputation will taint your good name;
7) you’ll generate bad press from the deal;
8) they will bully you;
9) you suspect they’re working for your opposition (or they will become your competition);
10) what they want is unreasonable or unachievable;
11) the risk of failure is too high;
12) doing business with them will ultimately cause you some commercial harm.

©2006 Jane Francis is the author of Price Yourself Right: A guide to charging what you are worth (ISBN: 0-595-38601-6) available at Barnes and Noble (USA), WH Smith (UK) or online at amazon.com

‘Price Yourself Right’ Tip 4: Know when to walk away.

There will always be some customers you simply can’t afford to do business with so you gotta know when to walk away!

Kenny Rogers immortalized those words in the song The Gambler*

“You got to know when to hold ‘em, know when to fold ‘em, Know when to walk away, and know when to run. You never count your money, when you’re sittin’ at the table. There’ll be time enough for countin’ when the dealin’s done.”

*words by Don Schlitz

The same as gambling, when you pitch your price, you gotta know your odds, know your limits and know when to call it quits.

©2006 Jane Francis is the author of Price Yourself Right: A guide to charging what you are worth (ISBN: 0-595-38601-6) available at Barnes and Noble (USA), WH Smith (UK) or online at amazon.com

Tip 3: Price makes a statement about credibility.

So you want to buy a genuine Rolex™ watch for ten dollars? I don’t think so!

As part of our growing up process we learn to think cheap = nasty and expensive = quality. It may not be true but that's what we learn to associate with those words. And if that's what's in your customer's mind you'd better not forget: Perception is Reality!

Does your price reflect your quality and credibility?

There’s a lovely saying attributed to the Gucci family:
Quality is remembered long after the price is forgotten.

© 2006, Jane Francis is the author of "Price Yourself Right”. You can buy the book here.

Tip 2: Don't confuse volume with margin

It is ingrained in our psyche to expect to get a discount on volume. Even as children it doesn't take us long to figure out that sweets bought individually are more expensive [per item] than the whole bag!

Somehow it is easier to see the discounts and savings on products as apposed to time ... which is why service providers often end up getting busier and busier, doing more and more for less per unit of time sold.

Those that want to work (and that's a large percentage of self-starters) also want to feel busy -that way we don't need to worry we're going to run out of work. Besides if we're busy we won't have time to worry or we'll have something to do to take our minds off it!

But the important question to ask of yourself, and others, is not ‘Are you busy?’ but ‘Are you profitable?’ You can be very busy and still go bust (or have a heart attack) if you are not keeping a disciplined eye on your gross margin.

So today's tip is to watch it: Don't confuse volume with margin.

© 2006 Jane Francis is the author of "Price Yourself Right”. You can buy the book here.

Tips to help you 'Price Yourself Right' start today

Over the next six months I will blog a tip every couple of days. Here's today's tip:

Always remember that if your competition can sell at those low prices [and go out of business]—you can to.

Do you sometimes wonder how your competition can afford to sell at such low prices? The truth is often they can't ... often the low prices are a sign that they need the cash flow [to pay their suppliers and staff without which they wouldn't even have a business]. The low prices are a last ditch attempt at survival—and you don't want to join them!

Barnes and Noble, Union Square, New York

'Price Yourself Right' is now available in store: Level 3 in the business new release section at Barnes and Noble, Union Square, 33 East 17th Street, New York, NY 10003. Ph: 212-253-0810

What do you have to gain by charging less than you are worth?

I can think of many ways you might be rewarded. For example, not charging what you are worth might make you feel safe by reducing the rejection you think you’d get if you charged more.
Perhaps undercharging allows you to feel like the “underdog,” and that makes you feel justified when you complain to your family how your clients don’t appreciate you. In this way, it buys you sympathy or gives you a sense of belonging within the group you associate with.
Here’s another not very pleasant but possible reason you may undercharge. It provides an “out clause”; i.e., you don’t want to finish the job properly, so you think that if you leave it as it is and charge a bit less, “they’ll understand.”
Or perhaps, if you’re not 100 percent confident in the job you’ve done, you might think: “Well, if it all falls apart, at least they didn’t spend too much on it.” Or: “What did they expect? It was only a hundred dollars.”
If you see yourself in any of these situations, own up and learn a better way of communicating with your customers. Talk to your customer, so you are both clear about the details of the transaction. Perhaps that should include the option of them paying you less to do less, or you improving the quality and lifting the price.

About the Author:

Jane Francis is the author of "Price Yourself Right”. She is available as a coach, trainer and workshop leader to help sales teams and companies pitch and present their price with creativity and confidence. To find out more go to: http://www.priceyourselfight.com or buy the book

Nice feelings don't pay the bills!

‘It’s kind of a spiritual snobbery that makes people think they can be happy without money’. —Albert Camus

Have you ever worked out how much money you have “left on the table” just because you never asked for it?

You’ve probably seen the sort of advertisements that investment companies like to use; in graph or table form, they show how savings reinvested with compound interest mount up—how $100 a week earning compound interest of 8 percent becomes nearly $110,000 in just ten years.

Add up all the hours, weeks, months, and years of cheap deals you’ve been doing, and estimate the opportunity cost of all that unclaimed money. Now resolve not to let it continue.

Focus on how good the future will be—how much better you’ll feel. To help keep you motivated, place a reminder of the real reason you go to work somewhere you won’t forget—near your diary, computer, or phone. It could be a picture of your child with the crooked teeth that you want to have straightened, or your dream home, or the feeling of pride and accomplishment you’ll get when you bank the money—whatever it takes for you to resist the temptation to belittle your worth the next time you quote on a job.

Once you’ve set your price, be strong. Remind yourself that you are worth it. If the customer wants you, they’re not going to get you any other way.

I was wearing a beautiful pink stone bracelet, when it got caught in some clothing and the setting was damaged. I knew the stones weren’t valuable, so I continued to wear the bracelet until eventually one stone fell out. Do you think I would have done that if it had been a valuable pink diamond? Of course not, I would have gotten it fixed right away.

Make yourself valuable. Put a high price on your worth, and you may find that you get treated better.

Become discerning, and be willing to give up clients you don’t want, so you can find clients you do want. If you spend all your time with clients that are only willing to pay $10 an hour, when will you have time for those ready to spend $100?

In conclusion, remember the prophetic words of W. Somerset Maugham: ‘It’s a funny thing about life: if you refuse to accept anything but the best, you very often get it’



About the Author:

Jane Francis is the author of "Price Yourself Right”. She is available as a coach, trainer and workshop leader to help sales teams and companies pitch and present their price with creativity and confidence. To find out more go to: http://www.priceyourselfight.com or buy the book

Value what you do

“When you undervalue what you do the world will undervalue who you are.” Suze Orman, American financial guru and author

Here are three ways of expressing a similar sentiment in a different way:
1) If other people are charging $100 for something and you only charge $10, your customer will wonder what is wrong with what you have to offer.
2) If you pay 20 cents for a pen, you don’t care who you lend it to; if you pay $200 you make sure you get it back.
3) If you buy an authentic Gucci™ product and it comes wrapped in a branded paper bag with a ribbon you will probably keep the bag and the ribbon; if you buy a cheap knock-off product and it comes wrapped in a paper bag with a ribbon you will probably chuck the wrapping out.

Jane Francis is the author of "Price Yourself Right”. She is available as a coach, trainer and workshop leader to help sales teams and companies pitch and present their price with creativity and confidence. To find out more buy the book here.

The dangers of discounting

Discounting as a business practice is so entrenched that I probably don’t need to help you recreate the arguments that justify it.

The dictionary describes the effect well: “to deduct from the amount, cost; to disregard; to make less effective by anticipation.”

Before you succumb to the temptation to win new business by offering a discount take a moment to consider these seven problems associated with discounting:

1.Negotiations over discounts, focuses attention on price—as if that were all that matters. If your only competitive advantage is price, you are in trouble, because price can always be matched.

2.Discounting starts price wars. The company that usually wins is the one with the biggest balance sheet—the one who can afford to hold out the longest.

3.Discounting can affect the customer perception of your service. The less they pay, quite likely the less they will value it.

4.Discounting will affect your profit margins. Consider what would happen if all your competitors met your discounted price—do you think your customer is going to accept any less quality?

5.Discounting may affect the quality of your service. Yet, if you compromise the quality of what you sell, you risk disappointing customers and you may lose repeat business, and lose credibility or gain a bad reputation, or end up spending time fixing complaints. One way or another today’s discounts could rob you of future business, and profits.

6.Discounting may lead to ‘stockpiling’ where customers purchase more than they need while the price is cheap. This will affect demand and potential profits in the future.

7.Habitual discounting can become psychologically disempowering. A reduced price can be a short-sighted ‘quick fix’ that reduces business growth in the long run. Before you discount, stop and think: is this the only way to give value?

Be mindful when you’re offering a discount. Why are you doing it? Is it an investment, and will it net you a greater financial return in the future? Or is it something you do all the time, a thinly disguised (yet noble!) excuse for not charging your worth?

Are you offering a discount as the “lazy way out”—instead of making the effort to explain or demonstrate your value? One of the basic rules of negotiating is that if you are going to offer a discount, you offer a different product or service. Perhaps negotiate different terms, or a shorter guarantee, or longer lead times. Challenge your customer’s proposition for a discount with: “If you want a better price, give me a better order.”

You have permission to publish this article electronically or in print, free of charge, as long as the bylines are included. A courtesy copy of your publication would be appreciated.

Byline: Jane Francis is the author of "Price Yourself Right”. To find out more buy the book here.

Price Yourself Right

What do you have to gain by charging less than you are worth?

I can think of many ways you might be rewarded. For example, not charging what you are worth might make you feel safe by reducing the rejection you think you’d get if you charged more.

Perhaps undercharging allows you to feel like the ‘underdog’ and that makes you feel justified when you complain to your family how your clients don’t appreciate you. In this way, it buys you sympathy or gives you a sense of belonging within the group you associate with.

Here’s another not very pleasant but possible reason you may undercharge. It provides an ‘out clause’ i.e. you don’t want to finish the job properly so you think that if you leave it as it is and charge a bit less ‘they’ll understand’.

Or perhaps, if you’re not 100% confident in the job you’ve done, you might think: ‘well if it all falls apart, at least they didn’t spend too much on it.’ Or: ‘what did they expect; it was only a hundred dollars?’

If you see yourself in any of these situations, own up and learn a better way of communicating with your customer. Talk to your customer so you are both clear about the details of the transaction. Perhaps that should include the option of them paying you less to do less, or you improve the quality and lift the price.

You have permission to publish this article electronically or in print, free of charge, as long as the bylines are included. A courtesy copy of your publication would be appreciated.

Byline: Jane Francis is the author of "Price Yourself Right”. To find out more go to: www.priceyourselfight.com .

Excerpt from Chapter One

I can always sense when someone isn’t confident about asking for money. There’s usually a telltale hesitation in the voice, and words that come out as an apology.
Many of us have been brought up not to talk about money. Money is still a taboo subject, and we don’t like to talk about it, so we don’t. But if you want to claim what you deserve, it’s no good saying, “I hate asking for money.” You will have to learn how to change, because it won’t happen on its own.
Think about the last time you knew you should be charging more, but instead, sold yourself for less. What were the consequences? Here are some possibilities:
 You tired yourself out.
You accepted less than you are worth, so you have to earn more tomorrow, never catching up on yourself.
 You belittled your value.
You gave your customer an extra dose of time. You gifted them with a portion of your life, belittling the value you place on your life. Your time is your life.
 You devalued your worth.
You gave away free information. You undermined the value of your intellectual property or special skills that you invested time and money acquiring and developing.
 You exposed your lack of wealth consciousness.
You demonstrated your ignorance of or disdain for the power of money to accumulate, and compound, over time. The money you didn’t make this time can’t be put to work for you until you’ve earned it.
 You made it harder for yourself next time.
You denied yourself the chance to acknowledge your self-worth and you taught others to undervalue you. You signaled to your customer your availability to be exploited. “Here I am, going cheap! Be my guest—help yourself to the profits.”
 You reinforced your own doubts about your self-worth, digging yourself deeper into the rut.

You have permission to publish this article electronically or in print, free of charge, as long as the bylines are included. A courtesy copy of your publication would be appreciated.

Byline: Jane Francis is the author of "Price Yourself Right”. To find out more go to: www.priceyourselfight.com .