The Value Pricing Podcast

Narrowing your expertise might seem risky, but it actually attracts the right clients and repels the challenging ones. Discover the six compelling reasons to develop a niche and unlock your potential to command higher fees. Learn about the three types of niches to focus on: sector, stage, and service. Get strategies to establish your authority, from building testimonials to creating impactful content. Specialization not only enhances client relationships but also boosts your profitability!

Do you ever find people tell you, “that’s expensive!” when you reveal your price?One of the biggest reasons for this is they simply don’t understand the value you offer. The words “that’s expensive” are an automatic response people often give when they are shown a price. It does not mean you are too expensive.It means you have not communicated your value effectively enough.In fact – most of the accountants and bookkeepers I know are FAR TOO CHEAP. The thing is, you get what you pay for. If you have a low price, people will see your service as low value – even though it is a highly valuable service.A lot of accounting professionals will keep their prices low to avoid hearing this phrase. We hate that rejection and that confrontation. We just want them to say ‘yes’ and buy from us straight away.But you deserve to charge a high price, and with the right communication, you can be sure that people will buy from you with that high price point. In today’s episode you will learn:✅ 5 strategies to effectively communicate the value of what you do ✅ How to get people to buy from you ✅ How to avoid price objections✅ How to have a confident price conversation Low prices attract the wrong sorts of clients – the kinds of clients that will complain about your price and not appreciate the value of your work. Lowering the price to win clients is only going to win you clients that will be a pain in the ass from the get go.

Increasing the prices of your existing customers is the quickest way to increase your profits.And it’s easier than spending money, time and effort bringing in completely new clients that you then have to onboard, spend time getting to know their business and doing all that initial work. Your current clients already know you, like you and trust you. It’s far easier to sell to them.So, how do I re-price existing clients?This is one of the most common questions I get asked. And the related question is “How do you move people on to value pricing?" We know from research that clients hate the old-fashioned, redundant way of pricing based on time because they don't know what the cost will be until the job's finished. Customers actually welcome the certainty of an upfront price. And value pricing means that our goals are aligned with the clients. We both want the same outcome. We both want to deliver as much value as possible to make as big a difference to the life of the client as possible. The more value, the higher the price. Both parties win. So, how do you go about re-pricing our clients with value pricing? Here’s what you will learn in today’s episode: ✅ Why you should be charging higher prices✅ How to reframe your price so clients can’t compare to last year✅ How often you should be changing the price✅ Success stories from 2 star students

So, you’ve moved away from hourly rates and you’ve given a fixed price up front – great! But then your workload unexpectedly increases because:📈 Your client’s business grows🤦‍♂️You were missing information🙏 The clients asks for a little extra job🤷‍♀️ Something unpredictable happensWhen these things happen, it’s called scope creep (the scope of the work is increasing). And as you already gave your price up front – you make a loss.Now don’t rush to change back to hourly rates – that’s not the solution to this problem.The solution is to build the scope into the price so that you are covered for every eventuality. I’m teaching you how to do exactly that in today’s podcast.The latest episode of the Value Pricing Podcast is now available: How to Build Scope into the Price So You Never Make a LossHere’s what you will learn in today’s episode:  ✅ The BIG MYTH – why fixed pricing is not value pricing✅ The system for building scope into your price✅ 3 working examples ✅ Why clients will appreciate you adding scope to the priceScope creep happens. It’s unavoidable. But once you can recognize the signs of scope creep, you can prepare for it and adjust your prices accordingly (in a way that the client will find totally reasonable).

Clean-up work is a bit of a pain in the ass to price.I once had someone bring all their receipts to me in a McDonald’s Big Mac box (and there was sauce and bits of lettuce over everything - yikes). I had no idea what problems were lurking in there.There are so many uncertainties and unexpected problems that you don’t figure out until you are halfway through the job. A client might say they are up to speed, but when you dig around in their books you find out it’s actually a hot mess. That’s why so many accountants and bookkeepers use hourly billing – it’s easy, and if unexpected problems arise, you are covered.But just because it’s easy, doesn’t mean it’s the best way to price. In fact, if you are using hourly rates, you are most certainly making a loss on your clean-up projects.It’s also kind of immoral. Sure, you price by the hour and you are covered, but it’s the client that has to cough up and pay the extra when those problems happen. And when you present them with that surprise bill – ‘that’s too expensive!’ So how can you possibly give a price up front without the risk of making a loss on the job?We use the Diagnostic Review process. Then we value price. Here's what you will learn in today's episode:✅ What is clean-up work and why is it so hard to price✅ How to communicate the value of clean-up work✅ How to calculate an upfront price that will guarantee you a profit✅ How to factor in scope creep and unexpected problems✅ The Diagnostic Review ProcessIf you want to learn more about How to Price Your Clean Up Services, you can watch the FREE 90 minute masterclass here: http://bit.ly/3XI9IZ7

Billing a client based on how long a job takes is easy – it’s the way we’ve traditionally priced in the profession… …that doesn’t make it right. Hourly billing is a terrible way to price for several reasons: -        Your clients hate the surprise bills-        It’s not an effective way of pricing (so you make less money)-        You and the client have conflicting interests (it’s actually kind of immoral)-        Because you are earning less, you can’t give the client a truly valuable service We must stop hourly billing and instead give the client a price up front.But what should the price be? How do we know it’s the right price? How do we make sure we don’t end up making a loss on the project?When you give a fixed price upfront, you are taking the risk away from the client (which they love) and taking on that risk yourself.So, you need to make sure you’ve calculated a price that covers your costs, deals with scope creep and unforeseen events, and most importantly: guarantees you a profit.  Here’s what you will learn in today’s episode:  ✅ Several wrong ways to price (and the ONE RIGHT WAY)✅ Cost plus pricing vs value pricing✅ A 3 step process for creating the optimum price✅ How to work with the client to increase the price✅ What to do if your price is too high Accounting and bookkeeping is valuable work and deserves a high price. When you price low you inevitably end up rushing work and cutting corners. When you charge the RIGHT price, you can deliver a more valuable service and spend more quality time with each client – and your clients will happily pay for that service.

Are there services that you do completely free of charge for your clients?Do you charge for Mortgage Reference Letters? Do you charge for Dormant Company Accounts? Do you charge for setting a client up on a Cloud Accounting System or other apps?Then, my questions is - why are you doing them for free?If the service is valuable to the client, you should charge for it.Now, I understand that these tasks are often very quick and simple for you to do, and you may feel a little bit guilty getting the client to pay for every tiny little job. But there’s a reason it’s easy for you - you’ve spent years of your life studying how to do these tasks.And whilst it might only take you an hour to set a client up on a cloud accounting system, how many clients do you do that for? How many hours a year are you spending working for free? If you have an hourly rate, you can work out exactly how much money you could be making for that time.One of my students never used to charge for QBO Setup because she felt it was only a small task.We worked together to change her pricing strategy and she ended up making an extra $10,000 over 2 months from just 5 clients.That’s the kind of money you’re missing out on.In today’s episode, you will learn…✅ How to recognise scope creep✅ How to price small or one-off projects✅ How to take your pricing to the next level with Menu Pricing✅ A script for having the scope creep conversation with clients✅ The right way to do work for freeCharging your clients for these services won’t upset them, or ruin your relationship if you phrase it in the right way. You are throwing money away by allowing this scope creep to take over. Don’t miss out on profit anymore.

Value Pricing is based on providing the client with the highest possible value, and then charging based on that value.The problem is, everyone values things differently. Value is subjective. It’s to do with individual perception. So how do you find out exactly what people value?It’s simple - ask them.When you first meet with a client, you should have the ‘value conversation’ with them. In this meeting you spend your time really uncovering exactly what the client values.A critical part of the value conversation is knowing the right questions to ask - questions that will help you to uncover the client’s real issues.When you know their real issues, you can prescribe them the perfect solution and really deliver on value.Here’s what you will learn in today’s episode:✅ The 5-Step Pricing Process✅ The Fact Find: What is it and why it's important✅ The 4 Stages of the Questioning Process: What you need to find out and how to find it✅ BONUS: 5 Top Tips for your Fact FindWhen you can uncover what it is a client values, you can make sure to include those things in their package. Then you can charge a high price, because you know they are getting a lot of value. This is value pricing.

Here’s Why Your Customers Aren’t Buying More From YouFirst of all, you have to actually offer the client more things to buy.This sounds obvious, but you’d be amazed at how many firms don’t actually do this.If you have additional services, extras or bonuses that you can add-on to enhance the client’s solution, you should make the client aware of them, and make them readily available at every possible opportunity. When a client buys your solution, they enter ‘The Buying Mode’. Whilst in ‘The Buying Mode’ they are much more likely to spend money - this is the perfect time to introduce your up-sells.A lot of accounting professionals may feel a little uncomfortable being so ‘salesy’. But, it’s actually in the client’s best interest to offer up-sells.And there is no downside!The client has already decided to buy from you. The worst that could happen is they say no to your up-sell and continue to buy your main solution.But if you don’t offer these things, they can’t choose to buy them.Here’s what you will learn in today’s episode:✅ The difference between the up-sell and the cross-sell✅ Why up-selling is low risk, and high profit✅ How to do the up-sell efficiently✅ What up-sells you should be offering ✅ Why you shouldn’t be uncomfortable with the up-sell process Having up-sells is a really simple and easy way of increasing your price. Learn how to master the up-sell process and you will really start to maximise your profits. 

If You Only Ever Give One Price, That Price Is Wrong - GuaranteedEveryone is different.We want different things, we value things differently, and we will spend different amounts of money to get those things.If you only ever offer one single price, or one single hourly rate, to all of your clients, it is impossible for that price to be right for every single one.If the price is too high for them, you’ll lose that customer because they won’t want to pay.If the price is too low, they will accept, but you will have left money on the table. This client may have paid you more money, but you didn’t give them a chance to!But…If you give your client options to choose from, they can choose the package that they consider to have the most value. They are also very likely to willingly choose to spend more money, and be happy about it.I’ve taught Menu Pricing for over 20 years and my students have managed to use it to increase their prices by an average of 20% across their entire client base.This is the power of Menu Pricing.If you don’t believe me, ask Apple, Starbucks, Costa Coffee - these hugely profitable businesses all use Menu Pricing and it sure works for them.It’s also the perfect first step to value pricing, which (in case you didn’t know) is THE best pricing method to increase your profits whilst keeping clients happy. Today’s episode is an introduction to Menu Pricing. Here’s what you’ll learn:✅ What Is Menu Pricing?✅ Why Does It Work?✅ The Best Menu Pricing Practises✅ The First 5-Steps of the 7-Step Implementation Process Menu Pricing is always the first step I recommend to any of my students who want to increase their prices fast. Learn it now and start raising your prices straight away!