It’s relatively easy to increase your revenue if you double your work output, but the real skill comes in while you’re trying to create a solid work-life balance that meets your income goals.
In order to do this you have to focus on leveraging your time and maximizing it to the fullest. Raising your prices is the simplest method to accomplish this.
By following these strategies you can guarantee to be paid more money from your clients and get paid what you deserve.
1. Prove Your Value With Results
Increasing your rates is basically one of the BEST ways to leverage your time because you can instantly make more money without working more hours — all you have to do is get your clients to agree to a price raise.
I’m sure you’ve heard the phrase “charge what you’re worth” which is based on the Value-Based Pricing model. If you haven’t read Breaking the Time Barrier I HIGHLY recommend it. The book is free and you can read it in about an hour.
Value-Based pricing is when you can prove the value you provide against the amount of revenue you generate for your client. It’s based on hard stats and results.
For instance, if you’re a web designer for ecommerce shops, there are certain things you can do to increase their sales just from changing the colors or layout of the website. If you can increase sales by $10,000 it’s fair to say you can charge up to $50,000 for your work (giving your client a 20% return on their investment — which is rare these days).
How? Document everything that can be considered an accomplishment for the client. List out in detail the small (or big) wins you’ve helped facilitate during the past weeks or months.
- X amount of increase of traffic to the website
- Special social media mentions or shares
- Encouraging comments from users
- Links/mentions on other websites
- Increase in followers or fans
- Media attention or interviews
- X increase in sales
The list goes on and on, but you get the idea! The hard-and-fast wins mixed with anecdotal achievements will show your client that their audience is responding to your work and what you’re doing is a success.
Additionally, you can prove your value is by listing out ALL the tasks you do on a daily/weekly basis. Sometimes clients don’t remember all the work that’s involved — or they just don’t know — so you need to remind them.
To see what I mean, check out this free web development proposal template. The pricing is laid out according to value, which makes a huge difference.
Lay it all out in plain English and add in any additional tasks you’ve taken on since the relationship began. This, along with any special wins, will be more than enough for the client to consider paying you more!
2. Don’t Forget About the Market
Once you’ve listed out the results your service provides, don’t forget to keep the current market in mind. Keep in mind that your client can likely find another contractor to do the work quicker and cheaper.
You are priceless, but your work is not.
It’s nearly impossible to quantify what “you’re worth” because you can’t measure the value of your life — you are priceless!
However, things like skills, products and services are much easier to measure since there’s a going rate. So you have to set yourself apart in other ways. Through your customer service, quick turnaround, unique ideas and anything else you can add. Without a doubt you bring certain things to the table that are irreplaceable, but you have to separate those from the skills that many other business owners posses too.
Make your rates what people will pay.
In the housing market, it’s easy to price a house you’re selling at whatever number you want. However, if you want to actually make a sale, you need to come to an agreement with the other person.
You’re only worth as much as your clients/customers are willing to pay. How much is a house worth if no one will buy it? What you offer has no value until someone is going to pay money for it. Make the price you want to charge match what your customers want to pay!
A good way to do this is by offering something no one else does. How? Step 3 explains how to make clients see the true value of what you offer.
3. Live By the Art of the Last 15%
That extra 15% can add value to what you’re worth and enable you to up your prices by thousands of dollars.
Most of us only do the work our clients hires us to do, so it’s rare to find someone who goes the extra mile. We only do about 85% of the work, but don’t spend too much time going above and beyond.
That last 15% takes extra effort, and a bit more knowledge about your client or customers. But in the end, you’ll be able to exceed their expectations and they’ll have no problems paying you more for your work.
The art of the last 15% is:
- Sending a gift to a client who referred you
- Sending a document to your client that includes a summary or chart, instead of just a link
- Finishing the sales proposal within 2 days, rather than letting it linger for a week
- It’s all about under-promising and over-delivering
Raise Your Prices the Right Way
Always strive to provide excellent service and go the extra mile for your client. What can you offer them that no else can? Why would they choose to work with you instead of the next guy?
Each of these strategies you will ensure a long-term business relationship and establish a positive reputation for being an entrepreneur that offers excellent value for an amazing service. You’ll have new clients breaking down your door every day wanting to work with you.
Bonus tip: As if you needed more ideas to raise your prices, one of the best times to increase your rates is when you hit a work anniversary, like the 6-month or 1-year mark. Another time is when you’ve just completed a really big win or hit a sales goal!
Any type of anniversary or goal that you hit, is the perfect conversation starter to increase your rate with that particular client.
Image 1 by skinniyah
Image 2 by ortonesque
