I don’t compete on price.
I had this talk with two different clients this week, and you need it, too.
Getting price-shopped by your clients?
Offering a sliding scale every time someone bristles at your rate?
Feeling a tiny pang of guilt every time you say your fee?
Yup, been there.
Stayed there waaaaay too long, in fact, telling myself I was helping more people and being a good person by repeatedly devaluing my services so I could help everyone.
The truth is, there was way more under the surface.
My scarcity mindset.
My lack of belief in myself.
And all the “not-enoughs” that circled around in the background.
I’m…
…not thin enough
…not cute enough
…not rich enough
…not expert enough
…not young and perky and brilliant and millenial and hipster and shiny and fabulous enough.
And listen…it’s not that those thoughts are forever vanquished from my current experience.
Dear god, I’m no stranger to Fat Days and Not Cool Days and Too Old Days.
But I’ve put in a sh*t-ton of work on mindset now, and gotten the right coaching, and I’ve learned with experience that even when I’m feeling fat and not cool and too old, if I show up any-freaking-way, it works.
Things change.
People are interested.
And how does this relate back to your fee?
In every way.
Because when you claim your power, when you hear your fears and limiting beliefs and show up anyway, when you state your worth over the din of that little voice yelling YOU’RE NOT WORTH THAT!, then you become worth that.
So here’s your new speech for the price-shoppers, and I want you to feel it and practice it and OWN IT before your next potential client calls:
“I don’t compete on price. If you’re interested in discount therapy, there’s plenty out there to choose from, and in the therapy world you often get what you pay for. If a therapist hasn’t done the internal work to know their own worth, I might wonder how they can help you do that work? I don’t compete on price because I know the experience, skill, and total dedication to your transformation I bring to the table.”
Then…stop talking.
Let your client respond.
They will either begin to realize that their life and happiness is worth investing in, or you don’t want them as a client yet because the work will be slow and arduous anyway.
Yup, it’s blunt.
But I’ve been around this field for a while, and I’ve worked with clients from all walks of life, and if you want a successful PP you love…it’s reality.
Now listen: when I say this a person occasionally bristles, and I get a speech about how they’ve chosen to work with low fee clients, and I totally get it and applaud it. I chose to work as a social worker in deep inner-city Oakland for years.
You’re not dumb. You’re not giving this speech to someone who can only pay $10 when your fee is $200. I mean obviously.
But you are giving this speech when your fee is $200 and a person who could pay it is telling you that Betty-Lou-Who down the hall is $100, so what makes you so special?
This is the time to get in touch with allllllll the things that make you so special.
If this feels totally impossible for you to say, then you’re ripe for the self-work you need to realize your own worth, and it’s time for some coaching.
