I daresay we’ve all had this experience.

We have a great conversation with a potential client and we get to the part where we talk money and they say:

“That’s much higher than I expected”
OR
“I talked with someone else recently and their prices were way lower than that”

…. (insert uncomfortable silence here)

What do we say in this moment?

The first and most important piece is this – OWN and ACKNOWLEDGE it.

If you’ve done the work to set aligned prices that you KNOW match the value that you bring to your clients – then you need to first OWN it. And acknowledge that yes, your prices may certainly be higher than what other people charge.  (If you aren’t sure your prices are aligned with the value you provide then that is a different problem and one that needs to be addressed.)

What you DON’T want to do is slide into justification mode… where we start rambling about why our prices are higher and how we are better than others and we have a lower priced option instead and yadda yadda yadda. <– Perhaps you’ve been there? I know I have and feeling like we have to justify our rates is a very disempowering place to be.

Instead, start by simply saying:

“You are right – I’m not the cheapest option out there.”

… and wait for their response.

How they respond determines where you go next. It might be about how they don’t see the value in spending that much – in which case you want to dig further into what they need to see where the value lines up (or not.) Could be that it doesn’t make sense for them to spend that much money right now and that a less expensive option might be better for them at this time.

Or it might be a matter of them wanting to work with you but they don’t have the money. They might need to think about it or figure out their budget.

Or maybe they have more questions about what it looks like to work together before they say yes.

The bottom line is this:

When you aren’t the cheapest option around that means that not every client will want to (or be able to) work with you.

And that’s OK. It’s actually a good thing.

It’s a natural part of business growth to start charging more once you have experience and are clear on the value you provide. On the results you help create.

Higher rates will align with better clients who want – and value! – what you have to offer.

Own it baby!