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