Selling a Digital Kidney
Pricing an online coaching session–or anything else, for that matter–can turn into the equivalent of selling a digital kidney when that pricing exudes whiffs of desperation. Always remember that prices can act as marketing signals.
The Price and Value Journey is presented by John Ray and produced by the North Fulton studio of Business RadioX®.
TRANSCRIPT
John Ray: [00:00:00] Hello. I’m John Ray on The Price and Value Journey. Some time ago, I noticed a solopreneur services provider offering access to their expertise in a live online session. Given the value of what they claim to offer in this session, from my perspective anyway, I would have expected a three-figure price easily. The price, it was $99. It got worse, though. For a limited time, the offer claimed, seats were available for half that price. Well, my perception of the value they were offering collapsed completely.
John Ray: [00:00:40] Why is that? Well, price is an indicator of value in the minds of buyers, particularly in the absence of any other marketing signal. That price can signal quality or is, as in this case, mediocrity. We’ve all made some version of this mistake. I sure have, anyway, early on in my career. We think that cutting prices attracts buyers. When, in fact, it often repels them. When the gap between price and what’s promised is gapingly wide, it often screams too good to be true, or there’s a catch, or something’s not right here.
John Ray: [00:01:21] Most especially if you’re a solopreneur early on in your practice, one of those something is not right signals that you must be very careful to avoid is the whiff of desperation. Looking like you badly need revenue, any revenue, just to stay alive. Even if you didn’t intend it that way, you might be signaling that you’re selling a digital kidney.
John Ray: [00:01:47] Maybe this individual was trying to attract prospects into their funnel. If so, it’s illustrative of how solopreneurs and smaller firms get tripped up by digital marketing whiz bang. When, in fact, all they need to move the needle for their business is a handful of new or deepened relationships which turn into revenue.
John Ray: [00:02:09] This person might have been better off if they’d handled the limitation a little differently. One idea is limiting the number of seats available at that super low price and holding to that limit even after it’s met. Even with that change, though, the negative signals of poor pricing remain.
John Ray: [00:02:31] I’m John Ray on The Price and Value Journey. If you’d like more information on this podcast, a link to our show archive, or also information on a book I have coming out in 2023 – the book is called The Price and Value Journey: Raise Your Confidence, Your Value, and Your Prices to Grow Your Business Using the Generosity Mindset – if you’d like information on any of the above, you can go to pricevaluejourney.com, and you’re also welcome to email me directly, john@johnray.co. Thank you for joining me.
About The Price and Value Journey
The title of this show describes the journey all professional services providers are on: building a services practice by seeking to convince the world of the value we offer, helping clients achieve the outcomes they desire, and trying to do all that at pricing which reflects the value we deliver.
If you feel like you’re working too hard for too little money in your solo or small firm practice, this show is for you. Even if you’re reasonably happy with your practice, you’ll hear ways to improve both your bottom line as well as the mindset you bring to your business.
The show is produced by the North Fulton studio of Business RadioX® and can be found on all the major podcast apps. The complete show archive is here.
John Ray, Host of The Price and Value Journey
John Ray is the host of The Price and Value Journey.
John owns Ray Business Advisors, a business advisory practice. John’s services include advising solopreneur and small professional services firms on their pricing. John is passionate about the power of pricing for business owners, as changing pricing is the fastest way to change the profitability of a business. His clients are professionals who are selling their “grey matter,” such as attorneys, CPAs, accountants and bookkeepers, consultants, marketing professionals, and other professional services practitioners.
In his other business, John is a Studio Owner, Producer, and Show Host with Business RadioX®, and works with business owners who want to do their own podcast. As a veteran B2B services provider, John’s special sauce is coaching B2B professionals to use a podcast to build relationships in a non-salesy way which translate into revenue.
John is the host of North Fulton Business Radio, Minneapolis-St. Paul Business Radio, Alpharetta Tech Talk, and Business Leaders Radio. house shows which feature a wide range of business leaders and companies. John has hosted and/or produced over 1,700 podcast episodes.
Coming in 2023: A New Book!
John’s working on a book that will be released in 2023: The Price and Value Journey: Raise Your Confidence, Your Value, and Your Prices to Grow Your Business Using The Generosity Mindset. The book covers topics like value and adopting a mindset of value, pricing your services more effectively, proposals, and essential elements of growing your business. For more information or to sign up to receive updates on the book release, go to pricevaluejourney.com.
