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Why You’re Really Afraid to Raise Your Prices with John Ray

July 30, 2025 by John Ray

North Fulton Studio

Why You're Really Afraid to Raise Your Prices with John Ray

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Why You’re Really Afraid to Raise Your Prices with John Ray (The Price and Value Journey, Episode 141)

Are you afraid to raise prices? You’re not alone.

Raising your prices isn’t just a financial move. It’s an emotional decision that can stir up fear, doubt, and second-guessing.

In this solo episode of The Price and Value Journey, John Ray explores the five hidden fears that often hold expert-service providers back from charging what their work is truly worth. Whether it’s fear of losing a client relationship, feeling pressure to be perfect, or anxiety about the economy, these concerns are real and often unspoken.

John shares how to move past those fears by focusing on what your clients actually value. He explains why your best pricing insight comes not from what you believe about your work, but from what your clients experience and are willing to pay for.

If raising your prices gives you that knot-in-the-stomach feeling, this episode is for you.

The Price and Value Journey is presented by John Ray and produced by North Fulton Business Radio, LLC, an affiliate of the Business RadioX® podcast network.

Key Takeaways You Can Use from This Episode

Fear of raising prices is rarely about money. It’s about identity, rejection, and self-worth.
Clients evaluate value, not personal worth. A “no” is not a judgment of you.
Perfectionism is a trap. Clients value responsiveness, clarity, and honesty more than flawlessness.
Cable news and clickbait headlines can distort your perspective. Trust your clients, not the media.
You can make thoughtful exceptions for certain clients without holding your whole business back.
The most valuable insights about your worth come from client conversations and feedback.
Clients often see more value in your work than you do. Your job is to listen and own it.

Topics Discussed in this Episode

00:00 Introduction to The Price and Value Journey and a Personal Anecdote
00:39 The Real Fear Behind Raising Prices
02:09 Hidden Fear #1: You’ll Lose the Relationship
03:29 Hidden Fear #2: You’ll Have to Be Perfect
04:34 Hidden Fear #3: You’ll Be Seen as Greedy or Full of Yourself
06:27 Hidden Fear #4: The Economy Is So Uncertain
08:13 Hidden Fear #5: You Know You Have Clients That Need Help
08:06 Gaining Clarity on Your Value
10:08 Conclusion and Call to Action

About The Price and Value Journey Podcast

The Price and Value Journey is a show for expert-service professionals who want more than formulas and quick fixes. If you’re a solo or small-firm provider—consultant, coach, attorney, CPA, or fractional executive—you know the real work of building a practice goes far beyond pricing. It’s about finding clarity, showing up with confidence, and learning how to express the full value of what you do in ways that clients understand and appreciate.

Hosted by John Ray, business advisor and author of The Generosity Mindset, this podcast explores the deeper journey behind running a services business: how you think about your work, how you relate to clients, and how you sustain a business that’s not only profitable but deeply fulfilling. Yes, we talk pricing, but we also talk mindset, business development, trust, empathy, positioning, and all the intangible ingredients that make a practice thrive.

With solo episodes and conversations featuring thoughtful guests, The Price and Value Journey is a companion for professionals who are building something meaningful. Produced in partnership with North Fulton Business Radio, LLC, an affiliate of Business RadioX®, the podcast is accessible on all major podcast platforms. The complete show archive is here.

John Ray, Host of The Price and Value Journey

John Ray, Author of The Generosity Mindset and Host of The Price and Value Journey — John Ray, Author of *The Generosity Mindset* and 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 business coaching and advisory work, as well as advising solopreneurs 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 expertise, such as attorneys, CPAs, accountants and bookkeepers, consultants, coaches, marketing professionals, and other professional services practitioners.

In his other business, John is a podcast show host, strategist, and the owner of North Fulton Business Radio, LLC, an affiliate of Business RadioX®. John and his team work with B2B professionals to create and conduct their podcast using The Generosity Mindset® Method: building and deepening relationships in a non-salesy way that translates into revenue for their business.

John is also the host of North Fulton Business Radio. With over 880 shows and having featured over 1,300 guests, North Fulton Business Radio is the longest-running podcast in the North Fulton area, covering business in its region like no one else.

John’s book, The Generosity Mindset: A Journey to Business Success by Raising Your Confidence, Value, and Prices

John is the #1 national best-selling author of The Generosity Mindset: A Journey to Business Success by Raising Your Confidence, Value, and Prices.

If you are a professional services provider, your goal is to do transformative work for clients you love working with and get paid commensurate with the value you deliver to them. While negative mindsets can inhibit your growth, adopting a different mindset, The Generosity Mindset®, can replace those self-limiting beliefs. The Generosity Mindset enables you to diagnose and communicate the value you deliver to clients and, in turn, more effectively price to receive a portion of that value.

Whether you’re a consultant, coach, marketing or branding professional, business advisor, attorney, CPA, or work in virtually any other professional services discipline, your content and technical expertise are not proprietary. What’s unique, though, is your experience and how you synthesize and deliver your knowledge. What’s special is your demeanor or the way you deal with your best-fit clients. What’s invaluable is how you deliver outstanding value by guiding people through massive changes in their personal lives and in their businesses that bring them to a place they never thought possible.

Your combination of these elements is unique in your industry. There lies your value, but it’s not the value you see. It’s the value your best-fit customers see in you.

If pricing your value feels uncomfortable or unfamiliar to you, this book will teach you why putting a price on the value your clients perceive and identify serves both them and you, and you’ll learn the factors involved in getting your price right.

The book is available at all major physical and online book retailers worldwide. Follow this link for further details.

Connect with John Ray:

Website | LinkedIn | Twitter

Business RadioX®: LinkedIn | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram

Emotional Intelligence in Client Conversations, with Dawn Cook Causey, DayBreak Enterprises

December 4, 2024 by John Ray

North Fulton Studio

Emotional Intelligence in Client Conversations, with Dawn Cook Causey, DayBreak Enterprises

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Emotional Intelligence in Client Conversations, with Dawn Cook Causey, DayBreak Enterprises (The Price and Value Journey, Episode 119)

In this episode of The Price and Value Journey podcast, host John Ray welcomes executive coach and trainer Dawn Cook Causey to discuss the critical role of emotional intelligence (EQ) in professional services. Dawn, an expert with over 22 years of experience in EQ, explains how EQ can enhance client value conversations and ultimately improve service pricing. They explore the four key components of emotional intelligence: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and relationship management. Dawn shares practical techniques and examples, including the ARC (Ask, Reflect, Confirm) method, to illustrate how service providers can better understand and meet client needs. The episode highlights the importance of empathy, active listening, and self-awareness in building trust and effectively serving clients.

The Price and Value Journey is presented by John Ray and produced by the North Fulton affiliate of Business RadioX®.

Dawn Cook Causey, DayBreak Enterprises

Dawn Cook Causey has over 25 years of demonstrated excellence in leadership development of executives and teams via facilitating business and personal skills development workshops, performing executive coaching and consulting with clients on their developmental needs. Her vast experience includes working with such companies as UPS, Cox Communications, SunTrust (Truist), Verizon, Raymond James, Siemens, Optum, Northeast Georgia Health Systems, Emory HealthCare and Fox Sports.

She has held key director-level positions in small to medium-sized companies prior to graduating into her roles as consultant and coach. Her unique perspective comes from working within corporate headquarters with worldwide responsibilities, in franchise offices with district and regional responsibilities, and externally to small and medium-sized companies.

Educated in Adult Learning Theory and Neuroscience, Dawn applies this knowledge to developing and coaching others for success in various business arenas, including emotional intelligence, communication, leadership, customer service, public speaking and sales. By using an analytical, science-based and research-supported approach to understanding and changing human behavior, she is able to connect with even the most black and white thinkers.

Certified in Emotional Intelligence (EQ) by 6 Seconds, the Institute for Health and Human Potential, and TalentSmart, Dawn incorporates EQ into much of her coaching and training. In 2002, Dawn underwent personal training from the “father of coaching,” Thomas Leonard, through Coachville’s Certified Coach program. Dawn has spent over 1,500 hours coaching executives and teams to a higher standard of performance. Her training and successful track record have positioned her as an expert in the field of emotional intelligence and leadership development.

Dawn is a founding member of the International Association of Coaches and served as a volunteer coach for Cool Girls, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping young girls make the best choices for a happy, healthy life. Dawn also gives back to her community by facilitating free educational discussions to single adults who seek better self and social management skills through increased emotional intelligence.

Dawn is also an accomplished presenter, speaking for audiences of fifty to five hundred. Her favorite topic to present on is the neuroscience of emotions, which involves understanding how the brain manages emotions during interactions, tying emotions to top performance, and applying this knowledge in leadership.

Website | LinkedIn | Instagram | Facebook | X (Twitter)

Topics Discussed in this Episode

00:00 Introduction to The Price and Value Journey
00:26 Meet Dawn Cook Causey: EQ Expert
02:08 Dawn’s Journey into Emotional Intelligence
06:32 Defining Emotional Intelligence
12:00 The Importance of EQ in Professional Services
17:17 Using Empathy to Uncover Client Needs
22:27 Power Outage Panic on Super Bowl Sunday
23:12 Active Listening vs. Empathetic Listening
24:48 Understanding Client Motivations and Concerns
28:55 Self-Awareness and Self-Management in Client Conversations
31:50 Building Trust and Rapport with Clients
35:23 Handling Direct Clients and Budget Conversations
37:33 EQ in Action: A Real-Life Coaching Story
40:47 Conclusion and Contact Information

About The Price and Value Journey

The title of this show describes the journey all professional service 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 that 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 and the mindset you bring to your business.

The show is hosted and produced by John Ray and the North Fulton studio of Business RadioX®. The show can also 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.

In his other business, John is a podcast show host and producer and owns the North Fulton (Georgia) affiliate of Business RadioX®. John and his team work with B2B professionals to create and conduct their own podcast using The Generosity Mindset™ Method: building and deepening relationships in a non-salesy way that translates into revenue for their business.

John is also the host of North Fulton Business Radio. With over 800 shows and having featured over 1,200 guests, North Fulton Business Radio is the longest-running podcast in the North Fulton area, covering business in its region like no one else.

John’s book, The Generosity Mindset: A Journey to Business Success by Raising Your Confidence, Value, and Prices

John is the #1 national best-selling author of The Generosity Mindset: A Journey to Business Success by Raising Your Confidence, Value, and Prices.

If you are a professional services provider, your goal is to do transformative work for clients you love working with and get paid commensurate with the value you deliver to those clients. While negative mindsets can inhibit your growth, adopting a different mindset, The Generosity Mindset™, can replace those self-limiting beliefs. The Generosity Mindset enables you to diagnose and communicate the value you deliver to clients and, in turn, more effectively price to receive a portion of that value.

Whether you’re a consultant, coach, marketing or branding professional, business advisor, attorney, CPA, or work in virtually any other professional services discipline, your content and technical expertise are not proprietary. What’s unique, though, is your experience and how you synthesize and deliver your knowledge. What’s special is your demeanor or the way you deal with your best-fit clients. What’s invaluable is how you deliver great value by guiding people through massive changes in their personal lives and in their businesses that bring them to a place they never thought possible.

The combination of all these elements is quite different for you compared to any other service provider in your industry. Therein lies your value, but it’s not the value you see. It’s the value your best-fit customers see in you.

The book is available at all major physical and online book retailers worldwide. Follow this link for further details.

Connect with John Ray:

Website | LinkedIn | Twitter

Business RadioX®: LinkedIn | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram

Keeping the Focus on Your Clients, with Keith Costley, Keck & Wood

October 9, 2023 by John Ray

North Fulton Studio

Keeping the Focus on Your Clients, with Keith Costley, Keck & Wood

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Keeping the Focus on Your Clients, with Keith Costley, Keck & Wood

[00:00:00] Keith Costley: Being curious about what your client need is asking good questions is just, it’s just absolutely critical. But in order to build relationships I find that instead of coming into a interaction with a client and wanting to talk about us or me, if we turn that around and make sure that we’re learning about them or doing our research.

[00:00:27] Keith Costley: We’re talking about them and even when we’re doing writing articles, are we writing articles about what we did or are we celebrating our clients and the cool projects that they’ve done? Are we, when we’re posting on social media, are we talking about our successes and our people – which is important.

[00:00:44] Keith Costley: But are we also celebrating our clients and their people and the good things that they’re doing? So you know, it just takes a moment and we try to instill in our culture to be a client centric have a client centric approach and get out of our own heads because when we submit proposals and statement of qualifications too much, it’s all about us instead of it being about the client and we’re trying to learn and improve that every day.

Listen to Keith’s full ProfitSense with Bill McDermott interview here.

The “One Minute Interview” series is produced by John Ray and the North Fulton studio of Business RadioX® in Alpharetta. You can find the full archive of shows by following this link.

Renasant Bank has humble roots, starting in 1904 as a $100,000 bank in a Lee County, Mississippi, bakery. Since then, Renasant has grown to become one of the Southeast’s strongest financial institutions with over $13 billion in assets and more than 190 banking, lending, wealth management and financial services offices in Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia and Florida. All of Renasant’s success stems from each of their banker’s commitment to investing in their communities as a way of better understanding the people they serve. At Renasant Bank, they understand you because they work and live alongside you every day.

The Problem with Value Propositions

October 25, 2022 by John Ray

North Fulton Studio

The Problem with Value Propositions

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The Problem with Value Propositions

Value propositions can be helpful in your business if you craft them correctly, and there’s only one right way. It involves talking to clients . . . repeatedly.

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. The term value proposition is generally credited to two McKinsey consultants, Michael J. Lanning and Edward G. Michaels. And they used the term in a 1988 paper entitled A Business is a Valued Delivery System. In the paper summary, Lanning and Michaels wrote, “A business is a system for superior value delivery. Choosing a superior value proposition and echoing it through the business system by providing it and communicating it. And managing this delivery is top management’s primary job.”

John Ray: [00:00:44] Well, how do you come up with a superior value proposition? Well, you talk to a customer, rinse, and repeat. And just keep doing that. If your value proposition is the product of sitting in a room with a whiteboard without any client interaction, all you have is your own opinion. Your value proposition is what you think, not what you know, from actual conversations that you could have had. Lots of money has been lost in business by not understanding the difference between think and know.

John Ray: [00:01:23] In their paper, Lanning and Michaels illustrate the point by pointing to IBM, who, at that time, dominated the business computer market. IBM did so with products generally deemed less advanced than the competition, yet IBM charged premium prices. Competitors explained this advantage as “superior marketing” coupled with a slick sales force who could talk customers into buying inferior products.

John Ray: [00:01:53] What Lanning and Michaels point out in their paper is that IBM was meeting the needs of customers at that time who valued reliability over the latest technology. IBM understood what clients valued and what they were willing to pay for that value. IBM understood that the value and a value proposition is the client perception of value. It wasn’t their perception of value.

John Ray: [00:02:22] If you simply internalize and run your practice based on the following two principles, you’ll not only have an effective value proposition, but you’ll be able to work through a lot of problems, including your pricing in your practice. Those two principles are (1) clients determine value, (2) a business is a value delivery system.

John Ray: [00:02:49] I’m John Ray on The Price and Value Journey. Past episodes of the series can be found at pricevaluejourney.com or on your favorite podcast app. And I’d be honored if you subscribe, if you haven’t already. And if you’d like to connect with me directly, you can send me an email, 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.

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 The Price and Value Journey — **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 1,600 podcast episodes.

Connect with John Ray:

Website | LinkedIn | Twitter

Business RadioX®: LinkedIn | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram

Clients Don’t Buy Gasoline

June 10, 2022 by John Ray

North Fulton Studio

Clients Don't Buy Gasoline

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Clients Don’t Buy Gasoline

Clients don’t buy gasoline at a service station. They buy the ability to keep driving and go where they need to go. It’s the same with professional services: clients buy solutions to their problems, not how we do what we do.

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. In 1960 when Theodore Levitt dissected the navel gazing oil industry in his classic Harvard Business Review essay Marketing Myopia, he wrote, “People actually do not buy gasoline. They cannot see it, taste it, feel it, appreciate it, or really test it. What they buy is the right to continue driving their cars.”

John Ray: [00:00:30] Those words don’t just apply to gasoline and the oil industry. They apply to our professional services that we offer. You see, clients buy solutions to their problems, wants, needs and hopes. They’re not concerned about the details which lie between their current day concerns and the solution that they crave. They don’t care, for example, how the gasoline gets made and delivered. Your service is simply a means to an end they crave, a solution. That will be true as long as there are clients to serve.

John Ray: [00:01:10] If you’re a CPA, for example, clients aren’t buying your ability to get a tax return prepared properly. That’s assumed. What they yearn for are better results for their businesses. They are purchasing a less stressful retirement. They are buying the peace of mind, knowing that if they are audited, they’ll have an experienced professional holding their hand.

John Ray: [00:01:34] Yes, there are a minority of clients who are perfectly happy with a tax return being prepared at the lowest cost. But most clients are oriented toward the value they’ll receive from the solutions you provide.

John Ray: [00:01:50] Sure, different customers have varying notions of what they will pay for that value, but they are value focused nonetheless. If your focus is on client solutions, a lot of questions you might be struggling with get answered. How do you market your services? How and whether you pivot? What service options do you offer? How do you price?

John Ray: [00:02:15] The best answer to all these questions starts with perspective. Understanding what clients are buying when they come to you. And they aren’t buying gasoline.

John Ray: [00:02:29] I’m John Ray on The Price and Value Journey. Past episodes of this series can be found at pricevaluejourney.com or on your favorite podcast app. And I’d be honored if you’d subscribe to the series and send me your feedback, john@johnray.co is my email address, and I’d love to hear from you. Thank you for listening.

About The Price and Value Journey

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.

Connect with John Ray:

Website | LinkedIn | Twitter

Business RadioX®: LinkedIn | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram

How to Respond to the “What are Your Rates?” Question

May 4, 2022 by John Ray

North Fulton Studio

How to Respond to the "What are Your Rates?" Question

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How to Respond to the “What are Your Rates?” Question

It happens all the time: prospects who start a conversation with the “what are your rates?” question. In this episode we offer several suggestions for handling this question.

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. So, how do you respond to the what-are-your-rates question? I received a form of this question from a B2B services professional in an email. And in her email she said, “I was thinking over some of the things you said to me at lunch. And you said that if someone asked you about your price right away on the phone that maybe they’ve contacted you because they’ve seen you on the internet somewhere, you mentioned you may not be a good fit.” Well, she continued, “Someone came up to me at a networking event, and introduced themselves, and asked right away what I charge. I know she isn’t a good fit for a few reasons, but I just said similar to what you told me, something to the effect of it really depends on what you need or want and we need to have a conversation.” “What would you have said?” she asked, “in that situation.”

So, first of all, I told her, “You did the right thing. Your gut on this stuff is usually right.” For folks I meet face to face, I just say, “I don’t know what I would charge. We need to have a conversation about your situation and needs, and see if we are a good fit because I’m not a good fit for everyone.” If the client is willing to take me up on a conversation, then I’ll take the meeting, even if I really don’t think that they are a fit. Not everyone would do that, but I will.

First, you never know until you have the conversation, right? They may surprise you. And second, if they are taking me up on my terms, which is having a conversation about their needs, then I need to fulfill my part. I’ll schedule them at some time and place that’s easy for both of us, so that if it’s not a fit, as I anticipate, then I’ve not lost a lot of time.

I told her that her gut is usually right about her judgment, but that’s not always the case. We all make mistakes. Further, even if our initial judgments are confirmed, there’s nothing lost in being kind and meeting with someone who is just starting out in their business, for example, but can’t yet afford your services. This meeting may be an investment in a future client. It could be an investment in someone who will refer you to another client, which just happened for me. It could be that you are just taking a few minutes to be kind, to listen, and to offer a few helpful suggestions to a new business owner. For me, that’s part of giving back.

Now, I also say that no one client of mine has the same price because every client is completely unique with their own needs. And this reinforces the need for a conversation. If it’s someone who’s calling me on the phone, I thank them for calling. And I say, “First, how did you get my name? If you’ve been referred by someone, I want to thank that person.” If they’re a referral, then I need to engage with them and stay on that. We need to have a conversation track with them. Now, if they got my name off the Internet somewhere and their first question is about my rates, my experience is been that it’s largely a waste of time for me to spend much time on someone who finds me that way and calls with a first question of, “What are your rates?” If that’s what that client leads with, then my response is something like, “I don’t know what I would charge until we have a conversation about your needs. First, we need to determine whether I’m even a good fit. And if I’m not, I’ll try to help you by referring you to someone else. If we are a fit, then we can discuss different options. I can offer to meet your needs.”

Now, if the client insists on getting my “rates,” I’ll let them know that they seem to be more interested in a transaction than a relationship. And I invest my time and energy in relationships with clients, clients that are interested in relationships. It’s important for us as B2B professionals to focus on prospects who are willing to discuss their needs upfront and in some detail. You’ll end up with clients whose needs you’re meeting and who are a good fit for you. You’ll also end up working for a price which is appropriate for the value you are providing.

I’m John Ray on the Price and Value Journey. Past episodes of this series can be found on your favorite podcast app. We’d be grateful if you would subscribe to the show on your favorite podcast app. And if you’d like to give me feedback or to connect with me with a note, you can send that to John@JohnRay.co. Thank you for joining me.

About The Price and Value Journey

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 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 1,300 podcast episodes.

Connect with John Ray:

Website | LinkedIn | Twitter

Business RadioX®: LinkedIn | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram

How to Get Great Referrals

March 21, 2022 by John Ray

North Fulton Studio

How to Get Great Referrals

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How to Get Great Referrals

For us as professional services providers, the answer to the question of how to get great referrals lies in the clients we already have. 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. How do you get great referrals? I don’t mean referrals which are average or marginal. I mean referrals to clients who are the best fit for your practice.

John Ray: [00:00:17] For professional services providers, there’s a simple answer. The answer starts with the clients you take on, to begin with. You only accept clients who are the best fit for you and your practice. Best fit clients are those clients whom you deliver stellar results for, who see the value in what you deliver, the transformation that you give them. They’re happy to pay for that value and they’re clients you enjoy working with.

John Ray: [00:00:47] Great clients know other great clients for you. And your best clients want you to succeed. And they’ll go out of their way to refer that kind of business to you. They do this in part because they feel invested in you. That’s the way great clients react to their services providers whose work they value. That’s part of what makes them great.

John Ray: [00:01:13] Your best fit clients are invariably grateful. They appreciate you and the substantial and positive changes you’ve brought about for them. It might even be years after the engagement, but your best fit clients still refer other superb clients to you because they’re still basking in the glow of the work you did, and they remember.

John Ray: [00:01:37] Now, conversely, how do you get poor quality referrals? Well, you guessed it, if you compromise or stretch and you accept clients who aren’t the best fit, then guess what profile of client they’ll send your way. A client that looks just like them. A client who is not an ideal fit for your practice.

John Ray: [00:02:02] Roses prefer roses and thorns refer thorns. That’s another reason why it’s vital that you take good care in the clients you take on. Focus on clients who are the best fit. Who you can do a great job for, who willingly write checks which are commensurate with the value that you deliver, and who you enjoy working with.

John Ray: [00:02:27] I’m John Ray on The Price and Value Journey. I’m honored that you’d spend time listening to this episode. If you’d like to hear more of the series, you can find it at pricevaluejourney.com. If you’d like to connect with me directly, you can email me, john@johnray.co. Thank you for joining me.

About The Price and Value Journey

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.