Maybe you’ve done something like this. I’m hearing the same story lately from so many professionals.
A web designer creates a jump-start package. Basic sites at a bargain rate for business owners who are just starting out and sticking to a budget.
A marketing consultant sets up turn-key marketing communication packages for people who don’t want to spend much money to get their message to their market.
A speaker puts together a low-cost group program for entrepreneurs who won’t invest in one-on-one coaching to develop a talk and a way to talk that will pull in clients.
Results? Those business owners who are just starting out complain that the lower-cost websites are still too expensive.
People who don’t want to spend much money to get their message to their market actually won’t spend any money to get their message to their market.
And the entrepreneurs who won’t invest in one-on-one coaching to help them boost their business … turns out they won’t invest in less costly group programs either.
So what are we supposed to do to bring in the business?
A lot of fancy-pants online business gurus push the Premium line – they’re always saying you should concentrate on selling high-end products and services to people who will gladly pay for luxury items or concierge service or platinum programs. Those free-spenders supposedly can’t wait to pull out their credit cards and hand them over to you.
I tend toward skepticism. What about all those people who won’t gladly pay for the top-shelf goods and services? Who’s supposed to serve them? Don’t they have value, those people who aren’t making the big bucks (yet)? Shouldn’t there be something at a price point they (which is to say we) can manage? Especially when it comes to the kind of training and coaching that will help them get to that next level so they can pop for the platinum experience.
Well yes, but it turns out there’s a catch. And I’m dying to hear how this plays out in your business.
Because the stories at the top of this article are real. Good-hearted women have gone out of their way to accommodate the budget-conscious among their potential clients. Only to find that the budget-conscious still say: “I can’t afford it.” “I want to, but I’m paying for [fill in the blank].” Or the corker: “Maybe I can do that after I get more clients.” (Never mind that they’re refusing to invest in the very thing that will get them more clients!)
Now this could be a gender thing. One service professional told me she just doesn’t get that I-can’t-afford-it push-back from business-MEN. It’s only the women who tell her (over and over and over) that they’re too broke to get the help their business needs.
Or maybe it’s a question of fishing in the right pond. If you associate mainly with people who are already fairly successful, it’s probably easier to connect with customers who have money to spend. And it’s bound to be tougher if you’re networking with newbies. Or with people who really have a hobby that they’re calling a business.
Perhaps it’s all about your money mindset. How much you value yourself and your work. And the resulting message you’re sending out into the Universe.
Or it might be that those fancy-pants online business gurus are right; we should all just forget about even trying to serve anyone other than those platinum-level clients who are eager to pay for your highest-level and most expensive work.
I’m curious. How does “I can’t afford it” show up in your quest for clients and customers? And how have you handled it?
Have you found a way to serve people at a less-than-premium price? To put together something that works for them and for you? Or did you blow those people off and focus your marketing only on folks with more money to spend?
Shoot me an email and fill me in. I know a web designer, a marketing consultant and a whole bunch of coaches who are eager to hear your secret.
Everyone in business needs to be able to articulate, and quantify, the value of their services to their customer base. You have to create value propositions that clients want and make the business case for why investment (in you!) is the right choice. I start with asking questions. I ask my clients to share with me their greatest business challenges. I make a direct connection between their business challenges and my services. I even ask where their budget dollars are being allocated and I ask about what investments are providing a return on that investment. Sometimes they aren’t willing to share that information with me, but sometimes they are quite candid. Ask the right questions to get your clients thinking about where they are spending, what initiatives they believe are having a positive impact, and what initiatives they believe are not having a positive impact. If you are not directly involved with their business/data, marketing and financial analysis, then sometimes just asking the right questions can provide an opportunity to make the point about why your product or service can provide that positive return they are looking for. Another opportunity is to ask them to redeploy some funding from their current (unsuccessful) initiatives towards your firm, as a test, to get some evidence of your value.
Since my firm provides marketing consulting services that specializes in customer value (our clients work with us to ensure they are offering the most relevant product, service or solution to their customers), we have to find ways to reassure them that investing in us will result in satisfied customers, new customers, or new revenue streams that will drive sales growth for their firms. You need to articulate how investing in you will do the same. Everyone wants satisfied customers, new customers and revenue growth!
A suggested approach: ‘Set yourself apart’ from the other guy selling his/her services:
• Get grounded in your client’s business model and strategy
• Ask the right questions – what are their top business challenges, what are their top business priorities/objectives, how do they define success?
• Help them ‘connect the dots’ from those challenges directly to the solutions that you provide. This effort helps build a business partnership which will serve both you and your client well into the future
• If your client is still resisting, suggest a ‘test’. Suggest your client make a modest investment in you from the onset, then conduct a test, then measure the impact. If positive, then recommend further investment. If not positive, then re-plan, re-test and keep moving the relationship forward
• Embrace ‘joint accountability’. You and your client are in this together. They need to see that you understand, and share, the measures of success. If you approach your clients with this in mind, you may be able to eliminate some barriers from the onset, get in the door, build a solid working relationship, and prove your value
“Everything is worth what its purchaser will pay for it”. Your job is to create a value proposition that your clients want, and will pay for!
Deb, this is why your business is going to be a huge success. A shocking number of small business owners and solopreneurs are TERRIBLE at articulating and quantifying the value of their services.
The frustrating thing is that they’re often unwilling to invest in the kind of help that would put them in a position to do just that.
There’s a lot to learn about this running-a-business thing, isn’t there?