3 Secrets to Pricing Your Service

Welcome, welcome to another episode of uncomplicated business. Today we're going to talk about pricing. Pricing is one of the most common things that I talked about with coaching clients. It is one of the reasons people most often come to me because they say that pricing feels really complicated. So if pricing feels really complicated for you, let's talk about it. 

This is the case, what often people come to me with is they say something like, you know, I want to make my price and not without it feeling like too much. I want to be fair to people, I want it to feel fair to other people, but also fair to me, I want it to be worth the money to me, but also feel like a good deal to them. Right. And we're looking for this like perfect balance between not stressing other people out there making enough for it to work, right. And that's tricky. 

So what we're going to talk about here on the podcast today is, you know, finding that balance or, you know, maybe hijacking that balance a little bit. Because I think there are any number of secrets, three, in particular to doing this really well. And so those are what I want to share today. Before I do that, I want to remind you that if you found this episode useful, I would love if you were open sharing it with people you know that need it. If you share it with, you know, colleagues that you're like affections was super helpful to me, that's a great way for me to help more people. 

If you're open to subscribing, that would be fun, too. You can scribe where you get your favorite podcast, or you can if you have guests or like men, but you would rather watch it on video, all this stuff also lives on the uncomplicated business channel on YouTube, too. So you can go check it out there, you want to follow Or subscribe any of those places I'd love to. So let's talk secrets. These are simple, they are not earth shattering. And also they can be hard to implement, because while we get them logically, emotionally is a whole different kind of thing. 

So here we go. The first one, and this is what I talk with people about all the time, is if you are working on pricing your service, please, please please remember that the range of prices for whatever your service is because there are more than you just providing the service, right or a service. You know, maybe your service is unique. Specifically, right, maybe it's a very specific service. But there are other service providers that's, you know, something in a similar vein, the range of prices that are out there is wider than you imagine. 

Here's the thing you can do all the research you want, what you're going to find is that there are way more people offering a service at way different price points than you realize. Like for example, I have a client who tutors I know people who tutor for $20 An hour and I know people that tutor for $200. And that's just the range. I as a business coach. Now. I know people that you know, probably tune in for more than that for specific things. But if you're like, you know what, no one's ever going to pay more than $65 an hour. 

That's, that's not it, because people do already pay more than double that I personally have been paid more than double that to tutor like I started out my life as a math teacher. I have tutored kids in algebra and, and higher math for pretty close to $200. And so were you, you know, what are the ways that you aren't accounting for the range? That you're like, Well, it can't people can't possibly market is not going to my favorite is when people are like, well, the market is not going to bear that. Yeah, it is. Because you have no idea what the market will bear. I love you. But I need you to hear that. Like I was telling a client the other day, she's like, I just don't know if people will pay that for this particular service. And I said, you know, the thing I go back to time and time again is I have a friend. I have an actual friend, a colleague, a coaching colleagues, who pays $25,000 to her coach twice a year. Yeah, yeah, you heard that right. She pays $50,000 a year for coaching. And I know in my teacher brain I was like, holy, holy cow. That's not a thing, but it is. It's a thing. So here's what I know. 

If you are a teacher, a helper, a giver, a people first kind of business owner well You're more worried about the people than you are about the money. Right? You're not in it to earn a billion dollars. But that doesn't mean people aren't willing to pay for what you have. So think about the range a little differently, open it up a bit. And in your thinking like, Well, yeah, that's possible for everybody else, but not for me not for this service. Call me. Come on over. Let's have a meeting. And I will, we will find you examples of the range that are triple or double or quadruple what you think it is, because I can always find them. I know what I'm looking for. And I guarantee you, it's bigger than you're thinking, and people are paying for it. 

Because those service businesses wouldn't exist. If people weren't, like, you know, if I said to you, I know this coach that caught that charges $25 for $25,000, for six months, you'd be like, okay, she doesn't get any clients. Yes, she does. Right, her practice is full. And this is for group coaching. So, you know, you're thinking that it can't possibly be real, when in fact, it is that secret number one, please open up the range. Please open up what you think is possible. Because then what happens is what feels fair to you and to them gets wider. 

Right? If we're stuck thinking there's a cap on how much we can charge, what happens is we keep the price low. And then we don't love it. For us, it feels like we're giving a lot and getting a little. But if we can open up the range to a place where it's like, Oh, this feels really fair. And people will pay it. It's like, oh, oh, oh, it's going to simplify pricing, when you realize the range is larger than you think. That's secret number one. Secret number two, is a hard one. This one was just talking to a friend over the weekend about is that if everybody is saying yes, your price is too low, logically, we get this. But emotionally, what we really want more than anything is for everybody to say yes, I get it. I want everybody to say yes to.

 But there are people in my world that you know, approached me about coaching that are not ready yet that aren't willing to invest in themselves that aren't, you know, thinking about building the size of business that I'm generally working with, that are not, you know, for lots of reasons, where we're not going to be a good fit for a whole host of reasons. And you know what, my pricing sort of helps me navigate that. Because for people that are not ready or willing to invest, they're not going to pay my price. Right? So if everyone is saying, yes, the price is too low. If it's a great simple deal. Cool. We like a great simple deal. But odds are everybody's saying yes, it's too good of a deal. I was talking to my friend over the weekend about this. And what's happening in her business, is that she's running out of space for new people. Everyone is saying yes. And that's, you know, great, it's a lonely problem to have. And at the same time, from a pricing standpoint, it means it's time to bring the number up, because the other thing she shared with me is that they do have a fair number of the people that are saying yes, they're like, kind of more work than there than they're bringing, right. 

They're not paying as much as they could be. And they are causing her business more effort than she expects. So the trade is not fair. I know this is a really hard one. I've helped a couple of people this year, so far, a couple of different businesses make this shift to charging more and hearing no, which is a really hard thing to do physically, like it is not physically but like as a business owner, it is hard to raise your prices, and then have people say no because of it, but that's kind of what we're trying to do. Logically, that makes sense, right? Emotionally, it sucks. 

And this is why coaching works. Because those people that are in the process of doing this need someone to come back to you and be like, Oh my god, I'm gonna go back. I'm gonna go back. I'm gonna go back because No, this isn't working for you. Yes, it is. Right? It is okay for people to say no, because most of the time and I have clients say this to me all the time. When someone says no, eventually they're like, You know what, that person would have been a really bad fit for these reasons. Or they said no, but you know, I feel like they would have been, this wouldn't have worked out because so every now and then somebody will say no, and you'll be sad about it. She'll be like, Oh, that would have been super fun. 

But listen, most of the time, the noes are for a reason. And often, almost all the time, yes as a nose aren't actually about money. They're about fit. They're about people's willingness to invest. It's about what they value where they want to spend their money. Because as my friend was saying, this weekend, she has some people that pay their current rate, and it's a stretch for them, but they're so happy to be included in her business. They're so happy to get the service. They're so happy. And then she's got people who she knows has plenty of money. And still, like poke it every single time thing every, like they ask a billion questions about things that are kind of the wrong questions that are just like no gene or gene or gene. 

And that's frustrating to her because she knows it's not a money thing, right? Because it's not a money thing. So for you think about, you know, what? How many people have said no to you recently, like, are you trying to price your service, so that the right people come to you or all the people come to you. Because we don't want all the people like not every client, or a service as a good client, you know, this, I know this. Like, there are times you give something away for free, because somebody is amazing, and you want to work with them by and you're the business owner, you get to do that. But there are times where you could double the price, and it would still be a bad fit. So for you think about what you actually are trying to do. Are you trying to get everybody say yes? Are you trying to find people you love to work with, I'm pretty certain it's the second. So think about a price that would help you filter a bit. And I know, if you're in a spot where your business is pretty new, this is a really hard thing to ask of you. 

Because you just want people. But what I want to help you do here is helping with the idea that, you know, if you get a ton of people in or not great bits and you don't enjoy, you know, what's gonna happen is you end up charging a price you didn't like, feeling bad about the level of service you want to give. And they want to receive like, it's mismatched, and the people are not people you're enjoying. And all of a sudden, it feels like the whole thing isn't working. Right? It's an end. It's not. It's not that the business is broken. It's not that you're broken, but your confidence starts to fade. And it's like when people get into the like, confidence starts to fade, and they're not the right people in front of me. This creates a whole Doom spiral thing that is not super fun to be in. And maybe you're there right now, it's not fun. We can get out of that. But what's really lovely is not started to begin with. So we're you what I'm hoping is this idea that not everybody should say yes, can help you to choose a price because it really is choosing a price like you're just picking there's no right price. 

And maybe that's secret number four, I haven't done number three yet. But number four is that there is no right price. There is no perfect answer, you're gonna be in the range. Sometimes you'll be higher, sometimes you'll be lower. It's all perspective and judgment. Like there's no answer here. You just have to choose the right one for you. So if you want to choose a price that you think some people will say no to, that's a really good place to be. 

Then number three, the last secret is that your thoughts about your price, let's say your price is $200 an hour, right? Your thoughts about that hourly rate, your reservations, your worries, your concerns, your I don't feel like I'm worth that you're not good enough. Notice your objections, all of that are the same things that people are going to toss back at you when you tell them your price. So whatever you believe is wrong with it is the same thing people are going to give back to you. It's uncanny actually. So whatever it is we're worried about people are going to say about our price. That is 100% What we are going to hear so our job as business owners, and this is like if you only walk away with one thing from this episode, this is this. 

Our job as business owners is to believe in our price. Fully what that means and I love when people say that and they're like, Okay, great, but like what the heck, what does that mean? What that means is you feel like it fits this test. It's great for them, and it's great for me, right? If you're like this price is a great value for the service. I'm giving them this is like so good for those people. And it is a really good return for the value that I have my expertise If you can stand firmly in your expertise and be like, Yes, I got this, yes, I'm worth this. Hell yeah. And also think, and it's an amazing deal for the people coming at me, it is going to be far easier to sell. 

What is going to happen is the objections are going to be, you know, there's always going to be something because there's always something we believe, right. But when I started, I can say this for my own business, when I started to really, really believe in my price, as you know, exactly the right thing as the, you know, sort of the perfect price for me, that feels really good for me and feels really good for them. And everybody's happy about far fewer people argued. 

Fascinating, right? Like, I didn't get as many like, oh, gosh, you know, like, Are you sure it's worth that kinds of objections. And that's what I always got those objections, because I wasn't sure it was worth that. But when I sat down and did sort of the mindset, and the practice work, and the things inside my head, because that's where all this lives, it's inside our heads, I did all the inside my head work, to be really confident that at that price, people were getting a really good deal. And it's a great value to me, suddenly, it wasn't such a big deal. And for you, you know, if you're gonna charge, let's say, $200 an hour, and you're like, Oh, my God, I have nothing I could ever do would be worth $200 an hour. 

People are going, it's coming back to you. So our jobs are to sit down and think about things like, why is it this value? Like, what are they actually getting? And how much is that worth? Sometimes I sit down with clients, and we go through this thing where I'll say, Okay, write down a list for me of things you do within the service, right? Of the things somebody gets, when they sign up for the service, where they actually get, we make a list, and then we put an individual price point on each of those things.
And then we add it up. And it's like, oh, the price I'm charging is way lower than the value they're actually getting. So if you've never done that one experiment, it's like, what are all the things they actually get for this service? And what would that be worth out in the world as individual pieces? Look, even just guess numbers like this is $50. And this is $50. And this is $100, and blah, blah, suddenly, your $200, an hour's worth $600 an hour. And it's like, oh, we will wait, this is a better deal than I thought. 

Because they're getting more than I realized, it is important for you to be sitting in your value, to be aware of your expertise. Like I was talking to my friend over the weekend, and she was, you know, she was like, you know, my husband, we should work with our husband in business. She was like my husband went to school for all this, you know, all these things, people come to them to their family business, because of the expertise that's been developed over 20 years. Right? If people could do that on their own, they wouldn't need that this my friends business, but they can't, because they don't have the same expertise. So part of the price they're paying is the value, that they bring in expertise. That matters. Every little bit adds up.

 So can you walk back in to be like, Okay, here's the thing that I know how to do. Here's what they're worth, here's what I think they're valued at. And then if I look at the price, I want to charge Oh, yes, it's a really good deal. I think it's really important for you, as a business owner, to really think about what you believe about your price. It's hard, right? It's hard to look in this mirror, I think. But the things you are going to object to are the same things other people will and listen, here's the one that gets me all the time, it is really hard to charge a price or something that you yourself would not pay. I know that sounds kind of crazy on some level, but like, it's the truth, like if you are going to charge $200 an hour for the service, but you wouldn't pay someone $200 an hour for the same service or any service, it is going to be very hard for you to sell. Because if you don't believe someone's time is worth that amount of money. How can you be? So it is just one of those things to reflect like, would I be willing to pay this? If the answer is no, you have some work to do. Because your service could very much be valued at that.

 People are going to be willing to pay you that much. But it is going to be harder for you to sell if you yourself would not be willing to pay it. So I think that's like sick Secrets maybe like so we have, the range is bigger than you imagine that everyone should say, yes. You have to believe first and your objections and your concerns are going to be coming right back at noon. You have to be willing to pay what you're willing to charge. It really, really helps me now, do you, but I think you do. And, you know, pricing is a judgment. 

There's no right price. So for you, take some time, sit down, think about your pricing. Think about your objections, think about the objections other people are giving you. Or if there are no objection, objections at all. Because everybody's saying yes, think about the objections you think you're gonna get when you raise your price because you need you. And if you get stuck, call me send a message. I'm on to Facebook, send me an email. I'm Sara Torpey, coaching.com. Let's talk about pricing. This is a great thing to do in our one bite coaching session, you I will send you the calendar link, we will hop onto my calendar, you'll schedule a 90 minute block, you'll pay $225. And we'll be done. 

We'll sort out all your pricing stuff because it really is not going to take me 90 minutes with you just sort it all out. And we'll sort out your pricing and some other stuff. And then you'll walk away. Like there's no pitch, there's no nothing. There's like bring your best, and we'll untangle it. Or you can come for longer term coaching because as I said, you know, sometimes when you're in the midst of raising your pricing and changing your thinking, doing all this, having someone to come back to week in and week out and be like oh my god, I can do this. Or Oh my God. Somebody said no. And having someone like me to turn around go like yeah, that's we're trying to do that purpose. This is the plan feels incredibly helpful. It is helpful for me, I noticed my clients, it makes a huge difference.

 So if you have questions about person, send them over. If you're not in my Facebook group, it's the same name of this podcast. We talked about this all the time. Come on in and keep listening podcast. I'd love you subscribe. I'll see you in the next one.