The Pricing Journey of a Professional Concierge

John Ray: [00:00:00] Hello again, I’m John Ray on the Price and Value Journey.

John Ray: [00:00:04] Recently, I welcomed a professional concierge to one of my shows. Julie Hullett is her name. Julie Hullett Concierge is her business. She handles a wide range of personal concierge services for clients, everything from grocery shopping and delivery to paying bills, to running errands. She seems to do just about everything that a client might need to save time. She also does event planning and travel booking and has a relocation service. If you’re in Nashville, I encourage you to look her up. That’s where she’s based. She seems like she does a fantastic job for her clients.

John Ray: [00:00:42] Now, the interview we did was about her business and how she has grown, and she had a lot to say about how changing her pricing changed her business. Now, I didn’t bring this up. I didn’t ask the question. She brought it up on her own, which is telling, I think, because Julie understands how crucial raising her prices has been to the overall growth in her business.

John Ray: [00:01:06] Julie’s story illustrates the power of how changing your pricing can change your business for the better not just in terms of making more money, but in terms of working for clients who appreciate what you do, value it highly, and are willing to pay you for it. Let’s hear a little bit of my interview with Julie.

Julie Hullett: [00:01:26] Over time, my clientele has changed. Back to me running around and not making money, I wasn’t charging enough. And part of that, John, was because I didn’t understand the value of what I was offering. Right? And, as I saw that unfold and saw how much people appreciated it, I thought, “Well, maybe I’m missing something here.” And there was some fear around an increase because, you know, I think that’s natural with business owners.

John Ray: [00:01:53] Sure.

Julie Hullett: [00:01:53] But, guess what? I went up and my clientele changed, and I started getting a different set of clients who had different expectations and gave me bigger responsibilities. And I guess I kind of grew into the job, you know. And then, I became different. I evolved with it. And that’s pretty much my path. I mean, that’s how I got here.

John Ray: [00:02:15] And because of that change in your pricing, you attracted clients that valued what you do more.

Julie Hullett: [00:02:23] Correct. And that, you know, I realized what I had to offer people. Because, again, back to my very early comments, I’m really giving them their time back. That’s what they’re paying for. Because if I am doing the things we’re talking about like finding a therapist or taking the car to the emissions, then a dad gets to go to a soccer game with his son, right, or, the mom gets to take her mom out for a girls’ lunch and shopping. Or, you know, they’re doing things that are meaningful to them.

John Ray: [00:02:57] And you’re giving them something that’s priceless essentially is what you’re saying, right?

Julie Hullett: [00:03:03] Not to quote MasterCard, but, yeah, pretty much.

John Ray: [00:03:07] Let’s quote them. I love it.

John Ray: [00:03:12] So, what did we hear there? Well, Julie had a fear of raising her fees. That’s natural. We all have that. But she saw how her clients valued her services and she figured out where the client perceived value was and how much that value was relative to the low fees that she charged. Seeing that gap gave her the confidence to raise her prices. And then, that price increase actually attracted better clients.

John Ray: [00:03:40] Now, why would this be true? Because some clients may have looked at her early offerings, and maybe they thought the pricing was too good to be true. Or, maybe she hadn’t fully grasped the perceived client value, that time savings, and what they were able to do with that time. And she wasn’t talking about her services from that perspective.

John Ray: [00:04:02] She went on to explain the perceived client value quite well. It’s not that she is just giving time back, but she’s giving time back to do what? For dad to take, go to his kid’s soccer game or for a daughter to take mom out for a girls’ day out. It’s not just the abstract of getting time back, but the value of what clients are now able to do with that time, and those things that she described, those family times, they’re priceless.

John Ray: [00:04:35] You see, when you understand where clients perceive value, it makes it much easier for you to get over the fear of raising prices. And then, when you raise prices, you attract better clients.

John Ray: [00:04:51] Thank you, Julie, so much for sharing your story. Congratulations on your success. And keep up the great work.

John Ray: [00:04:58] Hey, and by the way, if you’re interested in Julie’s services, go to juliehulett.com. That’s julie, J-U-L-I-E, hullet, H-U-L-L-E-T-T, .com.

John Ray: [00:05:12] I’m John Ray on the Price and Value Journey. You can find our episode archive at pricevaluejourney.com. And if you’d like to get in touch with me directly, email me, john@johnray.co. Thank you so much for joining me.