Pricing your service for value and getting your price

Financial advisers have been wrestling with their pricing for many years. Not just how to charge clients but how much?

And, it’s not just about how to set them and what amounts to charge (although this can be a real challenge for many), it’s about the actual selling of the fees to the clients.

What happens when prospects ask you about your pricing, or it’s time to tell them about your fees? The reality is that if the services you offer are truly valuable, and truly valuable to the prospects you are presenting to, then with the right approach you will rarely have a problem with prospects accepting your fees.

In fact, with a well crafted client engagement process and systematic approach, developed with strong client value and outcomes, your clients will be very happy to accept it.

Unfortunately, while there may be rare cases of clients being severely overcharged, the reality is that a great many financial advisers are charging way less than they can or should – and that’s costing them a lot of profit!

Why is this the case? Our experience is that the overwhelming issue that holds us back is self belief.

It’s very hard for most of us to ‘fake sincerity’ and when it comes to the crunch, without real belief in yourself and the value you bring to your clients, you will often charge way less than you should.

There are a lot of tips and strategies to discover about setting, asking and getting your price but here are just three tips that will go a long way to setting you on the right track.

1. Understand your Value

Invest whatever time it takes to understand the value of the services you provide. More to the point, the tangible and intangible benefits your clients receive from the services you provide. Look at all of the knowledge around what it is that you do.

Firstly, look at the value of your services from a financial perspective. What difference does your advice make in pure dollar terms to your clients:

• How much money will/do they save?
• How much will they make?
• How much time will they save – hence money saved/made?
• If something goes wrong, how much will you have saved/made them?
• If it goes right, how much have you saved/made them?

Then, look at it from the ‘intangible’ angle. What difference does your advice make to their emotional wellbeing:

• Can they sleep better at night?
• Are they more relaxed and comfortable with their circumstances?
• Do they feel better about their ‘place in life’?
• Do they feel better understood and do they understand more?
• Are they feeling ‘more in control’?
• Do they feel that ‘all of the possibilities and probabilities are covered’?
• Do they have someone they trust looking after them?

When you quantify, articulate and truly understand these attributes, you are much more likely to believe in your own value, and these understandings will form the basis of your value proposition that you present and provide to your clients.

Using the tools available within our “Client Engagement Model” will assist you to set your fees.

2. Learn how to deliver these ‘Value Proposition’ stories and messages, and ask your price

Your ability to articulate, annunciate and describe your value to prospective and existing clients will be the significant difference in getting paid what you’re worth. You need to do this, not only in the beginning, but ongoing, because many clients can lose track of the value of your relationship. They need constant encouragement, education and support and they need to know the value you bring to them.

Learn how to be both direct and indirect at delivering your value messages. In particular, become very comfortable at ‘story telling’ to portray all of your value – to show by example and to cement the bonds of your advice relationship.

While it’s great to have the ability to adlib benefits, having your story pretty well choreographed, selecting just the right words and phrases, knowing just when and how to say what needs to be said, can often be critical to your success.

So, put some time aside to practice, rehearse and roleplay until it becomes quite easy and comfortable in telling your value and asking for your price.

3. Only talk to the Right Audience

Not selecting, meeting and dealing with your most appropriate market is a major reason professionals fail to obtain and retain the prices they deserve.

Unfortunately, a lot of people pay lip service to the idea of choosing your ‘Ideal Clients’. Apart from a number of connective, matching and relationship issues, you will normally select your ideal clients based upon their ability to pay what you charge. If they can’t afford what you are seeking… (well you get the picture).

But with all of the knowledge about client demographics and psychographics, we’re surprised by the number of professionals who continue to seek out and acquire mismatched clients.

Unsurprisingly, they struggle to get their clients to pay the price they really want either because the clients simply cannot afford the fee or they don’t buy you, your systems and processes. In fact in very many cases, they simply don’t want everything you want to do or give them. So select your target market (your niche) very carefully.

Someone once said “you need to find people who believe what you believe” – and that’s great advice!

The team at Capstone can help you to articulate your value proposition and position your pricing.

To find out how contact:

Kym Turner
Head of Coaching & Development
P: 03 8622 0719
E: k.turner@capstonefp.com.au