The big revenue goal one of my clients set at the beginning of our work just months ago... now entirely within reach.
There was an immediate boost to profit and now she's stacking her bench with even better quality talent and more committed leads.
And there's no operational mess facing her at the end of the day.
It's one of the biggest uplevels I see in the clients we work with.
Being able to raise prices and break through that revenue ceiling - and feeling confident about the structure to support it - is a sign that we've been doing our job right.
Too many services businesses compete on price, even ones that look "scaled up", and I don't think it's an accident that they are stuck at a ceiling they just can't break through.
It's the low prices that keep them playing at the same level. Not the level that keeps prices low.
This client has been able to break the cycle.
Will you?
The Market: Deciding What You Can Charge
Let's start here: Who determines what prices you can charge?
It's not you.
It's your market.
Or is it?
It's such a nebulous term... "the market."
Is it a look at what the "big guys" are charging and then setting yourself relative to that?
Is it that feeling of what you would pay?
Or is it skewed by the people who told you your services were "too expensive" when they didn't really understand the value of what you could solve for them?
Too many businesses end up with a "default" price. Something they set because it didn't induce much discomfort saying it aloud, it got enough often-less-than-ideal clients to say yes, and it seemed "about right" compared to their competitors.
But pricing without thought for value leaves money on the table and keeps your business struggling to keep up or scale up.
The fact is... whoever your market is... if they don't see value in what you offer, your price will always be too high.
But if you can demonstrate value - from marketing all the way through to closing out the client work - you get far more pricing latitude.
And if you can do this pricing work on purpose (gasp!), you'll be able to stimulate an uplevel in growth that not only generates ROI but gets you doing more ideal work in more ideal circumstances.
That might mean reworking your offer or your sales process - sales training can help here! - because getting those ideal clients onboard is one critical step.
But the other is delivering on your brand promise with a client experience that meets or exceeds expectations.
This means setting up the operational infrastructure (people, process, technology all working together on a repeatable operating system) to keep things running smoothly and keep your focus on client work and business growth.
The real question isn’t “What will the market bear?” but “How can I communicate and deliver value so clearly that my ideal clients are happy to pay more?”
And then setting up the structure and systems to support that.
The Mindset: Charging Your Worth Isn't Mercenary
Of course, you've got to be onboard from the inside out. And this is where a lot of the changes fall apart and keep businesses operating much smaller than their potential.
Let's start with this revolutionary statement:
There's nothing mercenary about knowing (and charging) what you're worth.
(Do you need me to say it again? Because I will... just keep reading
For those of you questioning this whole increase thing or feeling like you'd be out of line with the average joe...
Are people paying your fees?
Are your ideal clients paying your fees?
So what's keeping you up at night about it?
Charging higher rates makes your business development process easier. You need less clients for the same outcome.
It makes building scalable operational infrastructure (that doesn't distract you from your core purpose) easier. This then reinforces the value of your firm's services making those higher prices look even more reasonable.
And when you have higher profit, and less distraction from financial and operational hassles, it also means that you can give more freely, to current clients and to your community.
You can do pro bono work or make charitable contributions or something else entirely, but bottom line is that you get to expand the good work you do in more ways than one.
The world doesn't need you to struggle. But you might be stuck on that struggle bus thanks to outdated or false beliefs.
This is your call to action.
There's nothing mercenary about knowing (and charging) what you're worth.
The Mechanics: Raising Prices Without Losing Clients
So you've come round to it, now what?
When we've coordinated pricing updates for our clients - or on behalf of our clients to their clients - a couple things make the whole process seamless. In fact, most clients don't bat an eye.
To put this in perspective, in the last two engagements where our clients have updated prices for their existing and in-progress relationships - roughly 50-60 clients total - only 2 ultimate clients had any pushback. Both were easily resolved.
This works... if you implement it correctly.
Understand who's affected, both internally like a relationship manager or lead provider and externally - the clients, and communicate accordingly and on the right timeline.
For updates to an existing client's rate, create communications that fit the situation. From the bare minimum that's legally required to a personalized phone call or meeting... we consider the angles like the initial communication plan, the current strength and status of the relationship, as well as the potential escalation points.
Less is more which means more is less. Your clients will get fatigued with frequent, micro-updates to their fees. That's wavering on your worth. It's irritating and it sends the wrong message.
Plus, while saying "may the (economic) odds be always in your favor" sounds nice, it probably won't be. Inflation is real and so is the increasing overhead potential as you scale.
So to prevent being stuck between change-fatigue and reverting right back to where you started, you need your pricing update to be worthwhile and stickable.
We vet the pricing and margin calculations before changing anything publicly including accounting for potential expenses that might be incurred inside our no-change-time-zone. Trust me when I say the margin increase you'll end up with is probably more than you think you need right now.
My Final Memo
I love seeing my clients increase prices.
None of them are mercenary. In fact, because I seek out working with people who care about their clients and their team, I tend to have some incredibly thoughtful and highly service oriented clients.
But I know we and they have to back it up. And that's what we ensure happens.
If low prices are keeping your firm playing low too, let's talk.
