Be less anxious when justifying the pricing of your services to clients – Online workshop

DOES THIS SITUATION SEEM FAMILIAR TO YOU?

• “It feels uncomfortable when clients tell me we are more expensive than our competitors. Even if we offer superior benefits. They may not be aware of all the unique value we provide.”
• “We always have to justify our pricing. Our business cannot grow if cannot charge the prices we wish to charge. But how do we identify what to focus on so that we’re seen as being different?”

Highlights of the discussion about the 2-hour workshop (7 minutes)

• THE CHALLENGE WE ADDRESS

  “IF YOU THINK IT’S EXPENSIVE TO HIRE A PROFESSIONAL TO DO THE JOB, WAIT UNTIL YOU HIRE AN AMATEUR” – RED ADAIR

   

  Are you anxious when a client asks you to justify why you charge so much?

  • Do your clients hint at getting a lower price?
  • Do your clients ask you why you charge so much. Even though you may deliver great value that your competitors may not match.
  • Do you find that you get flustered when you get asked for a price justification when you least expect it, and cannot provide an appropriate response?
  • What do you do now?

• WHY YOU SHOULD USE THIS

  WHAT THIS ONLINE WORKSHOP DOES

  We help you create a message, within 2 hours, to show how your business adds unique and relevant value, so you can justify your pricing, even if you have limited marketing experience.

  HOW YOU CAN BENEFIT FROM IT

  Different thinking to improve message effectiveness

  • Our process helps you think about the reasons why you can justify your price. Around issues that matter to clients and that which you can prove.
  • Then we show you how to package this in a brief statement. One that you can recite at short notice when approached by a client seeking a lower price.
  • So you can say what matters without feeling like you are overcharging for your services. This means you have a better chance of getting the price you want for your services, more often.

  Have a valuable addition to your existing approach, conveniently, within 2-hours

  • A structured approach helps you get to a solution fast, without having to spend time researching and developing your own solution.
  • So you can have a response prepared for the price hagglers that you will inevitably meet.
  • This means you’ll spend more time providing your services at the full price.

  Access a tool to help your marketing messages align with this thinking

  • This process will show you how The Value Story Builder tool can be used to enhance your Value Story.
  • So you can communicate your valuable points of difference in other channels such as email and social media.
  • This means you expose clients to your value-building messages on an ongoing basis.

• WHERE YOU CAN USE THIS

  Responding to questions about your pricing in a convincing way

  Ad hoc queries (face-to-face or questions by phone).

  Completing The Value Story Builder after the workshop should provide you with messaging to use for the following communications opportunities so you don’t have to keep justifying your pricing in the future…

  Sponsored ads

  • Communicate through value-adding solutions. These are developed at an emotional level with value-based pricing in mind.
  • Helps you be more relevant and differentiated.

  Unpaid posts

  • Constantly show how you are adding value when prospects and clients read your posts.
  • A value-based pricing strategy provides a useful way to have sufficient relevant content ideas.
  • Build on the more powerful value adds you might be using in sponsored posts to keep demonstrating value.

  Video content

  • Demonstrate how you can address specific concerns to add value.
  • Helps give you ideas to be regarded as a solution provider.
  • A value-based pricing approach is useful here. It enables you to plan how to build perceived value amongst your followers on an ongoing basis.

  Email

  • Develop a variety of ideas to create email messaging.
  • Allows you to get closer to a sale by showing how you keep adding value. A great way to support a value-based pricing strategy using a drip marketing approach.
  • Allows you to have a higher client retention rate by reminding clients of how you keep adding value.

  Website content

  • Address issues of concern that impact on perceived value.
  • Go beyond the standard features and functional benefits approach to messaging.
  • Useful to develop relevant messages when prospects compare you to competitors on your website.

  Live streaming topics / Webinars

  • Achieve a higher webinar sign-up rate by being able to make an appeal at an emotional level.
  • It allows you to think about a variety of issues so that you can plan responses in advance.
  • Create the perception of someone who adds value in a credible way.

  Whitepapers

  • Show the benefits and rationale for how you could implement a solution.
  • Helps you through the thought process of content for a complex document.
  • Spend less time to build the perception of value where it matters.

• HOW THE PROCESS WORKS

  Before the workshop

  The Value Story Builder will provide you with an opportunity to customize the options you will use in the workshop. These include:

  1. Product and services categories.
  2. Any names of segments you may have already defined.
  3. Proof points to demonstrate the value of your offering. There is an extensive list to choose from or you can define your own.

  The Workshop

  • We will run you through a 2-hour online workshop to help you craft your unique Value Story using The Value Story Builder.
  • The output of this workshop will be a paragraph of messaging that will help you to address questions where you are asked to justify your price.

  After the workshop

  We have found that 2 hours is sufficient to meet our objectives of: 

  1. Identifying what makes your service different, your key opportunity to communicate value, and how you should express this.
  2. Having an idea of how to use The Value Story Builder to communicate value for other identifiable opportunities in your own time.

  This assumes that you have done some basic preparation before the workshop as highlighted above.

  Should you wish to book further time with us, you are welcome to do so. 

• WHY YOU NEED THE VALUE STORY BUILDER

  Access a tool to help your marketing messages align with this thinking

  • This process will show you how The Value Story Builder tool can be used to enhance your Value Story.
  • This can be used for prospective and existing clients.
  • So you can improve your messaging on an ongoing basis.
  • This means that even after the workshop, you will know how to develop messages that help to convert into sales.

  What is the thinking behind The Value Story Builder?

  A brand’s products, services, policies, and processes that lower risk create value for a client. The Value Story Builder helps you create a string of clues to achieve this.
  • To show how doing business with your brand reduces various types of risk. 
  • So that you are adding more value relative to the price. 
  • So that you can justify your price or charge more. 
  • This means that you also get to create forms of value that cannot be compared elsewhere in terms of pricing.

  These clues highlight your client’s concerns about a variety of perceived risks. Then you get to show your solutions to those concerns.

  • These may be concerns that they are currently facing that you can address for them.
  • They may also be concerns about doing business with your organization, your category, or your industry.

  It takes the concern, which has an emotional basis around perceived loss.

  • Then it helps you show how you lower that risk.
  • It also helps you show the emotional and financial benefits of the solution you provide.

  It does this all in a framework you can transfer to your brand’s communications. Even if it’s a new business proposal.

  • So that the trail of clues you leave behind will create a positive emotional connection.
  • So that you can elevate the perceived value of your brand. 
   This means your brand has an easier time getting and keeping clients. And you can do this with more pricing power. 

  View your results instantly once you are done

  • Once you have submitted your input, you can view your thinking before exporting the data.
  • This helps you identify where to do edits before you hit the Export button.

  Export your results

  • Export your result so you can view it and share it.
  • Exports into CSV format that’s readable in a variety of spreadsheet apps.
  • If you need to add in more information after exporting, you can easily do so as long as you still have access.

• OUR EXPERIENCE

  Clients

  • We have worked on over 70 global and local B2C and B2B brands over a period of over 20 years.
  • Clients have included Fortune 500 companies across a variety of industries.

  Expertise

  • Areas of expertise include communications strategy, brand strategy, research, and analytics.
  • We have written strategies or have been consulted to understand how a client’s communications strategy might benefit from a change in direction to support a specific pricing strategy.

  Experience

  • This experience has been invaluable in terms of understanding what is likely to work.
  • Equally importantly, it has helped us identify what is likely to fail.

  How this works to your advantage

  When consulting with them in the areas of brand development, sales development, and loyalty development, perceived value versus price was always an issue.

  We had to find ways to show how our clients’ value-added solutions exceeded the price they were charging.

  We researched the topic and combined it with our own experience to define 33 concerns that people typically have.

  • These may be concerns that clients are currently facing where your solution can add value.
  • Alternatively, they may be concerns clients have about doing business with your organization, your category, or your industry. In this case, you can show how you add value by managing these concerns.

  Each of the 33 areas where you could build value includes 4 examples. That will help you get started to customize this for your own situation.

  Then we take you through a process of a few questions for each value-building opportunity.

  • Designed by a strategist, it assists you to think through how value is created in ways that matter to clients.
  • There are also checklists included making this process faster and more comprehensive.

   

• ESSENTIAL REQUIREMENTS & FAQ

  REQUIRES ACCESS TO THE VALUE STORY BUILDER

  Will this do my entire job for me?

  • No. You still need to customize your thinking for your specific situation.
  • But, it does do a lot of the heavy lifting for you to make this customization process easier.

  Is this approach realistic?

  After developing communications strategies for over 20 years, we wish we could have had this tool at the outset to show how we could add value. Several insights were developed over this period:

  • A good framework is essential to develop many ideas and do it faster.
  • Most of our clients found it easy to customize for their situation. But they needed a practical process to work within areas where they lacked expertise.

  There are over 120 examples to draw inspiration from. Each example was drawn from experience when consulting with our clients.

  Is the list of concerns comprehensive?

  • Much effort has gone into developing this list.
  • Anything can be improved upon over time. But we are certain that this will give you ideas for many opportunities to show you can add value.

  What do I do with the results once I have them?

  • We are strong believers in executing on an idea.
  • Until an idea is executed, it remains just that – an idea.
  • To this end, we have created a framework containing the essentials we know you need to build a strong case.
  • You can then export this information and either work with it yourself, or pass it onto the people in your team. We know that they would appreciate the information rather than spending hours trying to develop it.

   

Here’s the problem you face

Most of the time, you come up with your price by doing what everyone else is doing.

• Like observing what your competitors or peers are charging.
• Or, working on a cost-plus markup basis.

But clients don’t really care about what your cost is.

• They may not even think what you’re selling is worth the price, since they cannot appreciate the value of what they’re getting.
• And your competitors may be doing a better job of explaining why their offering is different and is worth paying for.

It feels uncomfortable when clients tell you, or hint, that you are more expensive than your competitors.

• You find you get flustered when you get asked for a price justification when you least expect it, and cannot provide an appropriate response.
• You feel frustrated since you do provide lots of unique value.

You have difficulty identifying what to focus on as an explanation, so you’re seen as being different.

• And how do you explain it easily, especially when you’re cornered without warning by a prospective client looking for a lower price?
• Or when clients ask you why you charge so much. Even though you may deliver great value that your competitors may not match.
• Or when clients hint at getting a lower price, to try their luck at getting a price reduction from you?

After that, it’s difficult to get new ideas to justify your current price, never mind a higher price.

• And you may be running at lower margins with longer hours just to stay afloat.
• And your competitors are getting the clients you hoped to have. Some at far higher prices. And they have more free time than you have.
• And you cannot figure out how they’re getting those prices.

Which means you face growth and profitability challenges.

Sometimes it even means you will go out of business.

Changing the conversation by being able to show benefits that make a connection at an emotional level makes it easier to justify your prices.

• It helps you get and keep your existing clients because they believe it would be difficult to replace you. Because you are different and have fewer perceived competitors.
• And you get to charge a higher price.
• And you get more free time for yourself. Instead of being at work all the time, trying to get more work done to cover your lower margins.

Research shows that between 93% and 97% of decisions are made subconsciously, at an emotional level.

• It’s done using “gut feel”, and rationalized afterward to seem like it was based on a logical, rational thought process.
• It’s normal and we’ve probably all done this.
• You may have heard the famous advertising adage: “Sell the sizzle, not the steak!” This shows that purchases are made based on how people want to feel as a result of the choice they are making. If you can make them feel more secure, it becomes difficult for them to reduce that feeling down to a price.

Unable to communicate unique benefits at an emotional level? You will likely not be seen as different, relevant, and valued.

• And you will be ignored.
• And you will lose out on sales growth and client retention as a result.
• And, you will probably have to charge less to compete (assuming you’re still in business).

You try a variety of ideas you’ve seen or read about. 

• You’re spending more time writing more messages and spending more money on ads.
• But, it’s still not working.
• You know that a different approach is necessary.
• What direction do you take now?

Here is how this solution works

Let me introduce you to our online workshop to help you create a message, within 2 hours, to show how your business adds unique and relevant value, so you can justify your pricing, even if you have limited marketing experience.

Here’s how it works:

We use a structured approach inspired by brand persuasion specialists.

• It promotes different thinking to help you become more persuasive. 
• It allows you to identify what makes you different and valuable.
• It helps you put together what you need to say in a way that is easy to communicate when you need to provide a price justification fast.

It enables you to have a valuable addition to your existing approach, conveniently, within 2-hours.

• Rather than spending hours or days trying to research a solution for yourself. 
• So that you have an idea of how to communicate why you’re worth the price by the end of the session.

This means you use an approach that could help to swing a client’s decision your way. And you find out how to do this in only 2 hours.

But, we know that you would also want to leave the workshop with a toolbox. So that you can replicate what you have learned afterward. 

That’s why we show you how to use The Value Story Builder as a part of the workshop process:

• It’s our online tool to work on your unique value-based communication strategy.
• So that you have a value-based message that helps you connect with clients at an emotional level.
• This means that clients appreciate the value they are paying for. Because it feels right. The value they previously may not have been aware of. So that your price feels justified.
• This also means unique value-based benefits, so it’s difficult for clients to make comparisons to lower-priced competitors. So you have less competition from a client’s perspective.
• But, it’s also about being able to use this tool to develop messages that you can use proactively ahead of time. Like in an email campaign. Or your social media posts. So that a client will be less likely to ask you to justify your price in the future. Because they will be better informed about the extent of the value you deliver.
• Red Adair, an innovative American oil well firefighter, was noted as saying “If you think it’s expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur.” You want your clients to feel this way without even having to hear your price justification.

Access to The Value Story Builder is purchased separately from the workshop.

• It is made available, at a reduced price, for a 30-day period, when purchased with the workshop.
• So you can keep using it for a month after the workshop, and renew your access to it if you find it delivers the value you were hoping for.

Here’s how it works…

• It helps you think about what really matters to your clients. Then it links this to your solutions and the emotional benefits you wish to associate with whatever it is you are selling.

  • So connecting what’s important to clients with the value you deliver becomes easier for you.
  • This means an opportunity to prove greater value, create a perception of being unique, and justify your pricing.

  It provides a researched list of thirty-three issues people deeply care about.

  • So you can consider the things that keep clients awake at night.
  • So you can identify opportunities and solutions to deliver value that are relevant (and make the price less important in the bigger picture).
  • So that your thinking is always value-based.
  • This means you can focus your time on building a comprehensive list of value-based messages that are more relevant, at a deeper level, for faster results.

  It uses a structured approach inspired by brand persuasion specialists.

  • So you are guided to focus on the message content that really matters when it comes to being seen as valuable.
  • So you can communicate your value-based strategy more effectively, so you can justify your pricing.
  • So that the potential of losing that value tugs at clients’ heartstrings. Because they are anxious about the loss they may suffer without it. And then pricing becomes a secondary issue.

  But, it’s better to demonstrate value ahead of time. So you won’t be asked to justify your price. This helps you do that so you have less work to do when using the output for building a value-based strategy framework in all your:

  • Sponsored ads
  • Unpaid posts
  • Email content
  • Video content
  • Live streaming topics / Webinars
  • Website content
  • Storytelling and case study material
  • Whitepapers
  • New business proposals
  • Annual pricing reviews

  It provides a framework to store relevant information – which is pre-completed with useful ideas  – that you can then customize for your situation.

  • So you can back up your claims;
  • and refer to your products, services, or market segments relevant to the solution;
  • and consider the emotions you wish to inspire to get you to a sale faster;
  • and consider the communication channels you wish to use

  as you develop each message without having to tediously rewrite it each time.

  This means you have less frustration with the little things that slow down your progress when trying to plan how you will build your value-based communication strategy. 

  It provides an easy way to develop your ideas and review them as you put all the bits together.

  • So you can build a value-based messaging strategy in one sitting if you have the time.
  • Or, plan value-based messages one at a time, as and when you need them if you only have 30 minutes to spare.
  • This means you can work around your schedule while being reassured that what you are working on makes sense.

  It helps link your ideas to one or more client segments.

  • So you can direct your value-based message to those who are concerned about the places where you add value.
  • This means that you have more confidence in targeting the right people with your value-based messages.
  • A value-based strategy also means you can grow your market by packaging the right benefits each segment desires at different price points. That way, you can justify your pricing using relevant benefits.

  It allows you to share the output with your Agency or freelancer.

  • So that you know the value-based messaging ideas that have been created with your industry knowledge are relevant.
  • This means you can avoid some of those lengthy strategy meetings while still building a value-based messaging framework to justify your pricing.

The research behind this

We have worked on over 70 global and local B2C and B2B brands since 1999.

Clients have included Fortune 500 companies across a variety of industries.

While helping them to grow their brands, sales, and client loyalty, perceived value versus price was always an issue.

• We had to find ways to show how our clients’ solutions exceeded the price they were charging.
• This required a value-based pricing approach within our communications strategy.

As we were able to see what worked for our clients, we started to identify the essential components.

• We further researched the topic and combined it with our own experience to define 33 concerns that clients typically have.
• These may be concerns that clients are currently facing where your solution can add value.
• Alternatively, they may be concerns clients have about doing business with your organization, your category, or your industry. In this case, you can show how you add value by managing these concerns.

We then put this in a framework that helps use those emotions as part of a value-based messaging strategy.

• Where and when you need it.
• So many more businesses can access it.
• This means we do our bit to help more business owners achieve financial freedom.

Not sure about this approach and need more information?

Read through our free articles such as:

• Why you should be using benefit segmentation as part of your pricing strategy 
• Should pricing strategy aim at building profitability or market share? 
• How well do you integrate your pricing strategy with your communications strategy? , and
• Are you using your pricing strategy to retain your clients?

to better understand the strategic thinking that went into why we developed The Value Story Builder.

Complete version of the discussion about the 2-hour workshop (27 minutes)

What you will receive when you buy this together with The Value Story Builder

A 2-hour online workshop to help you create a message, to show how your business adds unique and relevant value, so you can justify your pricing, even if you have limited marketing experience. The workshop will consist of two parts:

1. Identifying what you excel at in ways that clients value, for the service or product and the specific segment you have in mind. It should also be a differentiator, if possible.
2. Helping you package this into a brief explanation for clients that’s easy to remember and adapt should the price justification question arise.

30 days of access to The Value Story Builder that only starts the day after you make the purchase. (So you have extra time to become familiar with the tool before the clock starts ticking.)

A space to customize your selection of choices before you start using The Value Story Builder. This dashboard lets you create and store the information that will appear as checkbox options when building each value-based pricing message in The Value Story Builder. This means you save time by not having to provide the same information more than once. These include:

• Your product and service categories.
• Segments you are targeting, such as markets or personas.
• Emotions you want your messaging to create. So that you can link your brand to specific emotional benefits to be unique. This list contains many researched options. You can add to this if you wish.
• Proof Points to provide proof or a “reason to believe”.  An extensive list has been set up to get you started. You can add to this if you wish.
• Communication channels you can run this message through. An extensive list has been set up to get you started. You can add to this if you wish.
• Options to confirm whether your promise is unique and supported by clients. You can add to this if you wish.

Space to create up to 20 value-based pricing messages that, when complete, can be exported to a spreadsheet for further use.

Questions to guide and refine your thinking for each of your value-based pricing messages. These include:

• Selecting from one of 33 researched concerns (or “hot-buttons”) where you can address a concern to build value-based pricing messages. (These concerns are linked to over 120 brief examples to draw inspiration from – just to make it easier for you to get started.)
• Questions to identify the exact problem that requires a solution and how to fix it.
• Checkbox options to align each concern with what you have to offer and the segments that will benefit from this.
• Checkbox options to provide proof or a “reason to believe.” This is to back up the solution and benefit you are promising.
• Checkbox options to identify communication channels you can run this message through.
• Checkbox options to confirm whether your promise is unique and supported by clients (so you know which are your most credible messages to start with first).

A place to review your work where all of your thinking has been pulled together in one easy-to-review place. Review and edit here before you export your thinking.

Extend access to The Value Story Builder beyond 30 days for only $39.99 per month if you want this available for a longer period.

You can access a dashboard to edit more than one “project” containing strategies you have already submitted in The Value Story Builder, just in case you’re working with more than one brand or market.

 

Need to build more than 20 value-based pricing messages but don’t wish to spend any more on The Value Story Builder? Just delete your existing work – after exporting it to a safe place – and add as many more strategies as you like in that 30 day period.

 

Is it worth the price?

There are examples of businesses where one good idea to build brand value changed their destiny forever. That’s all they needed to justify their pricing. But they did things differently.

Think about technology, clothing, or vehicle brands as an example. Or the specialty coffee you pay for each day…

Still not convinced? Try to calculate the cost of not using this…

This cost includes:

• The cost of trying to figure this out on your own with YouTube videos, e-Books, blogs, articles, etc. You know the time this will take. 
• The cost of a freelancer to put this together for you.
• The time you are spending on this already, without getting a positive result.
• The massive cost of lower margins and its knock-on effect on the rest of your business, such as more turnover to get the same profit, longer hours, more people, higher client acquisition costs, etc.
• The cost of losing an existing client, since existing clients see many of your communications, even if it is not directed at them. Use this to show them they are receiving value for what they are paying.
• The cost of not getting additional sales from existing clients, as they may not value your product or services sufficiently to pay what you’re asking.
• The cost of not getting an additional client because they think you charge too much.

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