Pricing your offers properly is difficult, right? the fear of over-pricing, under-prising, raising prices or lowering them, in fact I think that pretty much any form of pricing causes a lot of people that feeling of existential dread. But have no fear! I’ve collated a list of all the common pricing mistakes I see in my clients and peers, and I’m going to talk you through it so pricing becomes a piece of cake.
1) I undercharge and never hit my income goal
So first of all, have an income goal in mind BEFORE designing any service. This will tell you what you need to be selling, to who and how many of them, so you can reverse engineer it. This can be thought of in terms of manifestation. Manifestation is not a cure all magical spell that just happens, its you being aware of everything goes on, tapping in to your cognitive bias and reverse engineering the thing you want in life so that it happens.
So let’s say you want to earn 10k this month, if you have a service that is £150, you will need to sell it to 66 people to reach your income goal. If this sounds like too many people for your current situation, then you will need to switch your offering and increase you pricing OR offer more value for the money, for example, including 1-2-1 sessions within your package. You are starting from your goal income, and working backwards to create the exact strategy to smash this goal.
2) I have raised my prices too much too fast and have impostor syndrome
This is another common pricing mistake that I see. I’m sure a lot of us have done this, and it’s a natural feeling that comes with growing a business. If you go from charging £40 for your service, and then suddenly up that price to £400, it will leave you wanting to shrink behind your screen, or not pitch yourself properly. Believe me girl, I’ve been there. Last year I multiplied my pricing by 50 times, and during this quantum leap I had a huge case of impostor syndrome in. But I learnt a lot from this experience about the importance of raising your prices in alignment with you, and in alignment with your ideal client. If you are now pitching to a new ideal client, who is at a different stage in their journey, you offerings and pricing must be in line with this.
Something that helps me with this is to break down the component parts of what you are offering and to see what the individual value of each component would be, which helps you make sense of the overall price. So let’s say the group coaching calls alone cost £2000, then all the work books are worth £500, and on top of that all the talk and webinars from guest experts are worth another £1000. Does it then make sense to charge £1000 for this package? No, of course not! Whilst it may feel like a good deal to you, it is actually undercutting the worth of your work. At the end of the day, it’s about you feeling confident. If this means making small steps to get up to those high ticket prices, or offering more than you usually would with increased prices, then go for it! The more comfortable you are with selling, the more you will sell.
3) I overcharge and no one buys my package/programme
So this isn’t about you not feeling it, it’s about THEM not feeling it. Remember, price is a reflection of relationship between you and your client, an agreement of what you can offer and what they are willing to pay for that service. If you don’t make it super clear what you are offering, what tangible results they will gain from investing in your service, and how you will be there to support them, the chances are people won’t want to put large amounts of money in to your packages or programmes. So let’s say you are pitching a programme about creating confidence and you put EVERYTHING you know about that subject in to this programme, it’s full of detail and helpful tips that can be life changing. Then why aren’t people buying it? Well, if your target demographic is stay at home mums with very little flexible income, then it’s not a case of not wanting the package, it is simply a case that they can’t afford it.
This is the a common pricing mistake not because you are charging more than your worth, but rather that you are charging more than your dream client can afford. So, you need to have a conversation with yourself: is this really your ideal client? Do you need to adapt your programmes, or target a different audience? Your dream client will ALWAYS find the money to work with you, so if your current client base aren’t investing, this could be a sign you need to shift your ideas of your dream client somewhere else.
4) I am scared to raise my prices and worried that people will judge me
Well there’s one way to test this hypothesis: do it. Just raise your prices! If people aren’t paying it, you can still offer your new price as your full price, and offer regular flash sales and special offers. This way people feel they are getting a bargain or a discount, even if you are just returning to your old pricing strategy.
Fears around raising prices is often based around fears of rejection, or not feeling good enough to charge that much. Pricing your offers can be an incredibly insightful way to check in with your mindset and to explore what comes up. Scroll to the end of the article to grab my free money mindset workbook and start working through your money blocks today.
5) I have one fixed price, no early bird offers, no upsells and downsells or my pricing is inconsistent
For your pricing to be consistent, it means you need to aware of the services you offer and value them in a consistent way so that they all makes sense in relation to one another. I break this down in my blog post on hierarchy of service.
6) I undercharge (or give everything for free) and people don’t value my service and get the results
If you are early in your business journey, chances are you will still be giving a lot of yourself away for free as you are still generating testimonials, but eventually we’ve all gotta make that money. So, if you are giving things away for free, ask yourself what sales funnel that freebie is part of? What do I want people to purchase off the back of this freebie? If you undercharge, just an extra reminder, price is perception! Again, check out the blog on the hierarchy or service to see how free stuff can be an amazing part of your marketing when used correctly.
How to Fix These Common Pricing Mistakes
If any of these struck a chord with you, don’t worry! You aren’t alone in feeling a little lost with your pricing, these are common pricing mistakes for a reason. I have a fantastic FREE workbook that can offer you that extra bit of support and guidance, click here to grab my free Money Mindset Workbook and start working through your blocks today.
I also have this masterclass which covers all of the above and more! If you want 10 easy steps to selling out your online offerings, even during a pandemic, then that’s your place to go!