Charge More, Sell More: The Backwards Psychology of High-Ticket Pricing (Part II)

You can check out Part I here.

What to charge?

It’s a critically important question that frankly, can make or break your business.

So it’s also important to get your head straight about the strategies for raising your prices.

And the first thing to realize is that price is VERY flexible — something I realized in my previous business.

On that personal note, when I was a chiropractor years ago and living in a town of 1200 in southern Minnesota, I’d sweat bullets every time I raised my prices.

But I charged more than anyone around me and would raise my prices about every 6 months or so — not a lot, but enough to keep me happy that I was getting what I deserved.

Not only that, I never saw a drop off in the number of patients… not established patients or new ones.

Sure, a few would quit and there’d be a few comments about how rich I probably was, but other than that, my patients just raised an eyebrow for a second or two, and we all went our merry way.

As an added bonus, of the few who stormed off in a huff, they were definitely an example of the 80/20 rule in my practice… meaning 80% of my problems were with 20% of my patients.

So by trimming the fat, my practice ran more smoothly without them.

It’s just one more benefit of raising your prices.

But whatever you do…

Build Your Foundation First!

Warren Buffet is famous for saying, “price is what you pay, value is what you get”. He was talking about stock prices and valuations, and how the two are intrinsically different.

The same applies to price. The price you charge has nothing to do with the value your clients get from their investment.

And which of the two is the foundation of a strong, vibrant and enduring business, value or price?

The former builds trust and cements your authority and expertise. The later signals commoditization, mediocrity and inferiority, at best. And you know what they say about a house built on sand?

I talked about this last time, but it’s SO important, we’ll touch on it again.

First of all, if you can’t sleep (take Ambien) the night before you raise your prices, it’s because you haven’t convinced yourself of your true value.

But if you ask for what you honestly believe in your heart of hearts you are worth, people will pay it.

Raise your opinion of yourself and your work, and your income will follow.

Which brings up the question:

Which comes first: the chicken or the egg?

When raising your self-worth, raising your prices can create a virtuous cycle.

If you maintain a consistent vision of extraordinary self-worth in your mind, you’ll be irresistibly compelled to do what’s necessary to make that opinion a reality.

And… if you also raise your prices, you’ll see yourself as someone who deserves it, which will also increase your self-worth and the process continues to reinforce itself.

It sounds crazy. It’s counterintuitive. But raising your prices is a powerful step for your mindset, too.

And something else to consider if you really put your mind to it and pull out all of the stops — how much value could you create for a client?

So ask yourself:

>>> How long into the future could your deliverable continue to be a productive and useful resource or asset?

>>> What kind of pain and suffering does it help save? 

>>> What kind of physical, emotional or spiritual growth can you help give to your clients?

Most service providers and product creators sell things.

And because they pay little heed to the outcomes those things can give to their clients, their services are worth less.

So be different.

Create a vision of pre-eminence in your chosen area of specialization. Create it in your own mind, first. And the reality will follow.

This is the psychology you must cultivate and work to maintain in your own mind, and do it religiously.

Of course, fear will try to stop you when you think about raising your prices.

Your mind will scream, “If I raise my prices, I’ll lose half my clients and scare new ones away.”

And I say, “Great! But have you lost any dollars?”

The reality is you’ve gained dollars, and now look at all of the time and money you’ll have for taking a much needed holiday!

But don’t worry, you won’t lose half of your clients.

Give them a little advance notice of your price hike and chances are you’ll get a flood of new business before your appropriate new rates go into effect.

Why Higher Prices are Actually BETTER for Your Clients …

I alway thought this argument was a little suspect, until I experienced it myself.

The more expensive courses I bought, the more “into it” I was.

You see, provided your program is genuinely useful, the higher the price, the more likely the client will reap the intended reward.

Because if your price is high, people take what you’re offering them seriously.

They’ll put in the necessary effort required to get the results. And they’ll listen to what you have to say.

Why? Because they’ve got more skin in the game. And the more skin in the game, the higher their chances of success.

You want your clients to be successful, don’t you?

So if you’re struggling with raising your fees, you need to sit quietly somewhere and meditate on your beliefs about money and your worthiness to receive it.

OK, now that we’ve got a solid foundation and your mindset is “right on the money,” next time we’ll get into some nitty-gritty specifics of structuring a variety of different kinds of offers.

And if you’d like individual help with your offer, or with reinventing your whole business for that matter, apply for our FREE business analysis and strategy session.

We’ll dig into your offer, client attraction strategies, your traffic sources, and the strategies that are working NOW that will put you miles ahead of your competition.

Until then, keep the faith and happy selling.