More Hang-Ups About This Than Sex
Over the last few rants I’ve been sharing with you what I call “Brass Balls Principles” that I live by.
By the way, women have these too. It’s not in a physical sense that I am referring to here so don’t get hung up on that one.
It’s this particular “Brass Balls Principle” above all other where I have witnessed more hidden money to be found and lost.
It’s the principle of…
“Set Your Own Price”
You should actually determine price based on how much money you want to make and the life of autonomy you want to live. That is, working when you want, with whom you want, how you want, and being paid what you want… as opposed to the option most business people use when determining price.
Here is how most people price their products and services. They find out what everybody else is charging and they pick a price in the middle or under the market. It is actually good advice to find out what competitors are doing with price but bad advice to allow that to determine your price based on what others are doing.
The service industry is particularly bad at this. Typically the carpet cleaner will either be very low, in the middle, or high. Most often low in the middle. The problem with being low of course is that you become a commodity bought on price alone and someone will always do it cheaper. Hence a very poor strategy but what most people do because they know no better.
The primary reason for setting price should be how much money you want to make, and the market will take you at your own appraisal.
The marketplace today is less and less concerned about your academic qualifications. Personally, I have never ever been asked for mine and that goes for Ma and Pa Fish and Chip shops and publicly listed companies and everything in between. None… have asked.
What the market place is interested in is results, in other words, if I hire you to clean my carpets will you actually clean them? Will you move the furniture? And put it back? Will I be able to walk on the carpets in an hour? And can I trust you not to steal from me when you are cleaning my carpets? It’s highly unlikely you’ll ask the carpet cleaner for his qualifications. Are you going to ask, has he been in some way ordained by the Carpet Cleaning Guild of Australia? It mostly, ain’t gonna happen.
The marketplace makes its decision on what you say about yourself, and what you ask for.
And your own appraisal should be high priced. They, the prospect or client, should be shocked about how high the price is, not how low it is.
If you are having trouble charging what you could or should be charging, it’s a marketing, sales, and/or positioning problem.
People say to me that they want to sell in a zero resistance environment. Well, no you don’t! If there is zero resistance, your price is too cheap, and the hidden money you’re not banking is probably far greater than the money you are banking. Your price is too low and you are leaving money on the table.
What you want is an almost zero resistance environment.
It’s been said by the Reverend Ike that “People have more hang-ups around Money than they do around Sex”.
So here is the mathematical fact, if you push your prices up 10% today, you could afford to lose 30% of your current paying clients and still break even and work less and have less hassles. The reality is I have never seen anybody lose as much as 5% of their clients when putting their prices up, so it’s hard to make a case for not putting your prices up, making more money and working less.
So don’t let your hang-ups about price “and sex” get in the way of a pile of money.
All the best,
Mal Emery
Committed to Elevating the Financial Wealth and Wellbeing of Society
Through Entrepreneurial Excellence and Guilty of Conspiracy to Create Capitalism
P.S. If you’ve missed any of my previous Rants, I have them all available
for you to see on my website.
Simply go to www.rebelliousrant.com and enjoy!
7 Comments
Mal Emery on March 5th, 2010
Thanks Rod it is a big one. OK next week watch out for how to position your self as king not the begger,how to be the hunted not the hunter and how to be obeyed like a heart surgeon in the sales and marketing process.
RODNEY,sunshinecoast,queensland ,australia,downunder.. on March 5th, 2010
MAL EMERY is “DANGEROUSLY OUT OF CONTROL” with finding “YOU” that “EXTRA COLD HARD CASH” from your customers, of which you “MAY OTHERWISE” leave hidden ON THE TABLE AWAY FROM SIGHT.
If your overlooking and “UNDER PITCHING” your prices $ $ ,with your lazy untrained “EYES” then focuss here on your target and watch your “COMPEDITORS DISPISE”.
Mal emery’s methods are “VERY WISE,” and if you follow his stratergies, your WEALTH KINDOM shall “ARISE” right infront of you, My Humble fellow “Mateeyes”.
All the best
Kind regards
“Committed to delivering the facts and wellbeing
of health & awarness of society through Entrepreneurial excellence and guilty of conspiracy to create better informed choices with
our bodies & our enviroment”
Sincerely
Rodney.
Merinda on March 5th, 2010
I get it. You make total sense Mal. I was just doing a planning session for a business and some forthcoming workshops and we needed to discuss the pricing. We made tentative plans, but now having read your article, we will increase the price, because the value will be enormous.
Sam on March 5th, 2010
Thought provoking comments, Mal.
One caveat that comes to mind will be getting quality, cost-effective sales people who don’t run scared when clients raise the objection of price.
Having said that, one could of course put a SYSTEM in place to deal with this objection.
Regards,
Sam
mal emery on March 8th, 2010
Spot on Sam, you can not trust sales people hence you must provide them with a system.
The system in this case is called the Positive Power of Negetive Response,it means you have an “in the can” practise response to the 5 or 6 objections you get to a sale.
The door to door guys are the best at this.
Best Mal
Guy In Charge on April 9th, 2010
Fantastic article Mal really helpful and practical. Thank you, keep them coming Eddie
Rod on March 5th, 2010
This is a great article, really makes sense. Hey Mal, how about the next rant being about the positioning you mentioned in the marketing etc
Very helpful.