“What I’m Worth”
“I should get paid what I’m worth.” For professional services providers, what we need or think we deserve is irrelevant. Here’s a story that illustrates the way we achieve better pricing, and it involves a value conversation. 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] And hello again. I’m John Ray on the Price and Value Journey. “What I’m worth. I should get paid what I’m worth.” I hear this sentiment and variations on it from professional services providers whom I speak to about their pricing. What I’m worth is dangerous language for a B2B services provider. You see, what I’m worth in isolation can easily get turned into what I need or what I deserve. At an extreme, what I’m worth can justify taking advantage of people.
John Ray: [00:00:40] What you need or think you deserve is irrelevant, certainly to the client, and that’s who pays your fee. What’s relevant is how clients valued the solutions you provide to their problems, their perception of that value. Better pricing for your services starts with solutions, solutions rooted in the value clients derive from the work you do. And that value, by the way, is not just rational. The value customers perceive always involves emotions.
John Ray: [00:01:17] Recently, I had a conversation with an entrepreneur whose business, while growing, has gnawing problems under the surface. Her problems have been causing her to lose focus and sleep. “What would it mean,” I ask her, “to have these problems resolved? All this is obviously weighing on you.” She looked up in a way into someplace where she could see what her business and her life might look like with solutions to the problems that she had outlined. A wave of relief swept across her face. “Wow. I’d be a lot less stressed. I wouldn’t feel bogged down anymore. I’d have the freedom to make this business a lot larger.” I’ll let that vision linger for a moment, and then I asked, “What’s that worth to you?” “Wow,” she said, “I can’t even imagine.” “Well, that wasn’t quite true.”
John Ray: [00:02:21] As our conversation continued, she started formulating tangible answers to that question. And that’s where my value is rooted, not in what I need or what I think I’m worth. What I’m worth has nothing to do with it.
John Ray: [00:02:39] I’m John Ray on the Price and Value Journey. If you’d like to know more, go to JohnRay.co, or if you’d like to send me a note, connect with me directly, email me John@JohnRay.co.
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 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, Nashville 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 1,100 podcast episodes.
