How to Think About Your Higher Price
I never speak to companies that have the lowest price in their category. Instead, I spend time with companies—and people—who have a
higher price than their competitor’s because they create greater value. Some of the people who work for these companies are totally confident with their price and the value they create. They lead with their higher price, and they have no fear. Others are afraid of their price, trying to keep from discussing it until they are deep into the process, hoping against hope that it doesn’t come up.
Here are four truths about your higher price and some notes on how to think about them.
You transfer your doubt or your belief to your prospect: Your dream client is not going to pay more for what you sell if you aren’t confident that you deserve to charge more. If you don’t believe you are worth paying more to obtain, neither will your prospective client. However, if you believe you are worth more, so will your dream client.
A fear of talking about your price looks sketchy: If you are afraid to discuss your higher price, you look like you are hiding something. What might you be hiding? The fact that you are not really going to create more value than an alternative. Or maybe you project that even you don’t believe you are worth paying more to obtain.
If you are better, you have to charge more: You might feel as if your higher price makes selling more difficult. The truth of the matter is, it makes selling easier. What make selling harder is not being better than the alternatives. A higher price is a shortcut for determining the value of something. If you are cheap, it’s because you aren’t good enough to charge more. If your price is higher, then you must be worth more.
It’s your responsibility to justify your higher price: You are always going to be asked about your price. Your prospective clients are doing their job by making sure that get the most value for their investment. They don’t know how to justify the delta between your price and the alternatives. You have to be prepared to justify your higher price, and you have to be prepared to teach your prospective clients to defend it.
If your price is higher, you must be better. What do you do that makes you worth paying more to obtain?
Do you have the courage of your convictions when it comes to discussing your price? What belief or doubt are you transferring to your prospective clients?
