“The best way to know what you are thinking is to look at your results” – Brooke Castillo
Pause for a moment on that.
If our thinking creates our results – then what are your results telling you about your thoughts?
If you think that you can’t find enough clients, then you won’t find enough clients.
If you think that no one will pay your higher rates, then you will struggle to get to a yes with your higher rates.
If you want to hire but secretly think that no one can do it as well as you, then you won’t find anyone who can do it as well as you.
I’ve coached hundreds of service providers in the past 10 years and I know this to be true.
It ALL starts with our thoughts.
I’ve had clients tell me all the reasons they can’t/won’t achieve their goals and they are often proven right. Until we tweak their thinking.
And I’ve had clients create goals that seemed almost impossible given their current situations, but because they believed it was possible they made it happen.
I’ve seen a person charge $20/hr and another person charge $120/hr for the exact same thing.
I’ve seen people tolerate clients who aren’t a fit for them for years, while others find amazing clients seemingly overnight.
It’s easy to think they have “something special” or just “got lucky”. Nope.
They just think differently than those who aren’t getting the same result.
Our thoughts lead our actions which create our results. If our thoughts are misaligned with what we desire our actions will be misaligned (or non-existent) and we won’t see results.
What are your results telling you about your thoughts?
And what needs to change in order to get different results?
Highly recommend listening to the episode of Brooke’s The Life Coach School podcast called Results Truth – it’s a doozy! In a good way.
You’ve been in business now for a while and you KNOW you have more to offer.
Wisdom. Knowledge. Experience. Strategy. <– All of these are in HIGH demand and you would love to officially bring them to the table.
So how do you charge more for your expertise?
Here are 3 tips to make the shift:
#1 – Pick ONE THING
Many of us – myself included – are great at doing many things. And we may create a lot of success in the early days at being able to do ‘everything’ for our clients. (And they will love you for it!)
But if you are known to do ‘everything’ then you are known for nothing in particular.
The first step in being able to charge more for your expertise is to pick THE ONE THING you want to be known for. The one thing that you want people to say “So you need help with X? You need to contact … She’s the best!”
It can be challenging to narrow it down at first – especially if you have many things you love to do! – but narrowing your focus will allow you to be seen as the EXPERT in that area and allow you to build off that specific platform.
#2 – Charge for the RESULT and not the time it takes to do the work
One of the biggest shifts I work on with my clients is making the shift from charging by-the-hour or by-the-session for what they do (retainers, etc) to charging for the deliverable or result they help to create.
Time is our most important asset, and yet it’s the thing we get paid the least for. Why? Because it forces people to value us based on how long it takes to do the work – and they will naturally always measure us on how quick or slow we appear to be. And if you work quickly and are efficient, you end up making less money than someone who is slower… doesn’t make sense!
When you charge based on the RESULT you bring certainty and commitment to the table – the client knows exactly what they are getting, what they will pay and you are committed to making it happen no matter how long it takes. <– That’s the key!
CERTAINTY is worth more than time – it opens up the door to charge more for your services (often double, triple or more of what you would make hourly for the same thing. Oooooo yea)
#3 – Be a DECISION MAKER for your clients
“Tell me what you need and I’ll get it done for you” is no longer enough. Being good at what you do is no longer enough.
“Let me help you determine what needs to be done and the best strategy to get there” is what we want these days. We don’t have time to learn it all and figure it out on our own anymore – there is too much to do! Too much to know!
Someone who is willing to engage at a deeper level and make decisions FOR US that lead towards the objective <– THIS is something you can be paid top dollar for.
Making a shift in one – or all – of these areas can increase your value in the marketplace immeasurably, which gives you the freedom to start charging more for what you already have between your ears.
How do you take your expertise, your services and the skills you provide and offer them in bigger and better ways? How can you continue to serve your clients and make more money without necessarily taking up more of YOUR time and energy?
To get the juices flowing in the right direction, I want to start with a simple exercise here. (Although, truth be told, sometimes the seemingly simplest exercises can prove to be the hardest ones for some of us.)
I want you to take a mental look at your business and I want you to kill off one of your revenue streams.
GASP?!!
Yes, you read that right, I want you to kill off, pull the plug and discontinue at least 1 of the things you’re currently offering right now.
Now before you hyperventilate, quit reading the remainder of the blog and go into panic mode at the thought of tampering with your revenue, let me explain why I want you to do this.
In order to grow and expand, sometimes we have to sever some things that aren’t thriving as well as others.
Consider a gardener – in order for a rose bush to bloom and flourish, the dead and weaker branches must be pruned and removed. If this doesn’t happen, the weak branches choke the life out of the healthy ones.
The same goes for your business. You need to prune off the services, programs, etc. that no longer serve you and no longer serve your clients.
You’re likely familiar with the 80/20 Rule that says that 80% of your results are determined by 20% of your efforts. Or maybe 80% of your income is determined by 20% of your clients…and the principle can appear over and over in various business scenarios. I want you to write out a very specific list of all the services you offer within your business right now and how much money they have brought in over the past 12 months. We’re working on creating your own 80/20 list
Now brace yourself for a surprise or two when you really look at what’s generating what. Sometimes the things you thought were your big money makers may not be and vice versa. I know I’ve personally had a good enlightenment or two when I’ve made this list in my own business. With everything all written out, I want you to focus in on the 1-3 things at the bottom of your money-making list.
Nitty gritty decision time. You need to take an earnest look at those bottom revenue items and decide if it’s really worth the time, effort and energy to continue offering them in the next year. Now you may have the scenario where one of your bottom items is a new launch and there hasn’t really been time to get it off the ground, but you know in the next year it will be operating at maximum potential and the numbers will be there the next time you make this list. So leave that one alone for now. But on the whole, those low revenue items are going to warrant an “Eh…not really cutting it” response.
It’s time to let go of the money-losing, and often headache-inducing revenue streams and make the space and energy you’re going to want for the new stuff on your business’ horizon.
(Image courtesy of Stuart Miles / FreeDigitalPhotos.net.)
How do you take your expertise, your services and the skills you provide and offer them in bigger and better ways? How can you continue to serve your clients and make more money without necessarily taking up more of YOUR time and energy?
