Richard W. Smith on Moving from Price Taker to Price Setter (The Price and Value Journey, Episode 144)
In this episode of The Price and Value Journey with host John Ray, Richard W. Smith explains how professional service providers can stop undervaluing themselves and make the shift from being price takers to price setters. Drawing on decades of experience guiding law firms and other professionals, Richard shows how confusing professional value with commercial value often leads to underpricing, overwork, and the wrong client relationships.
He unpacks why professionals should avoid pricing their own work, how commercial imposter syndrome can quietly erode profitability, and why saying yes to the wrong opportunities is a silent killer of margin. Richard also offers practical advice for navigating RFPs and tenders, developing an ideal client persona, and asking budget questions early in the conversation.
You will hear how to build more balanced client relationships, strengthen your pricing confidence, and free yourself to focus on the clients and opportunities that matter most.
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
- A reminder that your professional expertise is not the same as the commercial value clients look for.
- Why getting an outside perspective on your pricing can help you avoid undervaluing your work.
- How saying “no” to the wrong clients or matters can protect your profitability.
- What to keep in mind when responding to RFPs and tenders, including the importance of identifying the true decision-maker.
- Why asking about client budgets early is a fair and useful way to qualify opportunities.
- How to think about AI as a tool to free up more time for building client trust and relationships
Topics Discussed in this Episode
00:00 Introduction to Richard W. Smith, GSJ Consulting
02:15 Understanding Business Drivers
03:27 Professional vs. Commercial Value
06:09 Pricing Strategies and Challenges
07:24 Commercial Imposter Syndrome
09:40 Navigating Client Relationships
11:40 The RFP Process
15:57 Ideal Client Persona
21:11 Long Sales Cycles and Immediate Wins
22:40 Balancing Short- and Long-Cycle Strategies
23:39 Educating Clients on Your Services
25:21 The Role of AI in Business Development
28:51 The ‘No’ Strategy: Avoiding Bad Fits
35:19 Tailoring Proposals and Maintaining Pricing Integrity
39:28 Advice for Small Firms on Business Development
44:29 Conclusion and Additional Resources
Richard W. Smith, GSJ Consulting
Richard W. Smith is a highly experienced business development strategist and pricing consultant, specializing in growth strategies and client acquisition for professional services firms.
Based in Sydney, Australia, Richard is the Director of GSJ Consulting, a boutique agency he founded in June 2023. At GSJ Consulting, he works closely with clients to design and implement practical, results-driven plans for sustainable revenue growth, focusing on areas such as pricing strategy, business development audits, client targeting, bid and tender management, onboarding, and account management coaching. His approach is defined by a philosophy of “Acquire–Retain–Grow,” and he is recognized for his ability to help firms transition from price-takers to price-setters and secure millions in additional profit through tailored solutions.
Richard’s professional journey includes significant roles in prominent law firms and consulting agencies. He has served as Associate Director of Business Development at Sparke Helmore Lawyers and held leadership roles in business development and marketing at Hicksons Lawyers, DLA Piper, Herbert Geer, DLA Phillips Fox, and Linklaters. With over 30 years of experience supporting tender and bid submissions across private and government sectors, Richard also leads BidWizard-AU, assisting clients in preparing compelling proposals to win high-value contracts.
Richard is a graduate of the University of Westminster (LLB, Law) and is known for his collaborative style, innovation in legal marketing, and commitment to delivering actionable, sustainable growth for his clients.
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 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.
Steve Zylstra serves as president and CEO of the Arizona Technology Council, a role he assumed in 2007. He is responsible for strategy, operations, finance and policy development. Zylstra is a vocal spokesman for the value technology can provide in raising social and economic standards in Arizona.
Karen Nowicki is a successful author, speaker and the creator of Deep Impact Leadership™ and SoulMarks Coaching™. She is a two-time recipient of the prestigious national Choice Award® for her book and personal development retreat. Karen was crowned the first-ever “Mompreneur of the Year” Award in 2010 for the southwestern states. She was recognized for her leadership, business acumen, and work-life balance.
Born in Phoenix, Arizona, Bianca Buliga is a trilingual first-generation American of Romanian ethnicity. A marketing professional with experience in both the nonprofit and for-profit sectors, Bianca currently works as Director, Marketing & Communications for the Arizona Technology Council.
