You hear it all the time: “Charge what you’re worth” or articles and programs selling “Charge what you’re worth and get it”.
However sometimes it does more harm than good to charge what you’re worth. {Tweet this}
Let me explain:
- You’ve got the skill set
- You’ve increased/set your rates to reflect your skills and natural abilities
Then Susie comes to your website and is, to put it mildly, underwhelmed. She takes a risk (in her mind) and purchases one of your lower end products and becomes well, outright disappointed.
Your rates aren’t in alignment with the overall experience of your business. Your rates no longer fly; they’re no longer believable in the overall context of your business.
“Charging what you’re worth” is turning away clients and customers who expect an experience in alignment with the rates they’re paying. {Tweet this}
Note that this also works the other way – if your rates are super low compared to the overall experience you provide, potential clients and customers will be turned away wondering “what’s wrong”. What aren’t they seeing.
Does your business pass the “rates vs alignment” test?
If not, and intuitively you know the answer(!), what’s the first thing you need to do in order to bring them into alignment?
Depending on where things are out of alignment, it could mean improving your internal systems and your client’s experience. Or, it could mean increasing your rates (if they’re too low compared to the overall experience).
The key is to objectively look at your business and listen to client feedback, then act appropriately to ensure you provide the best experience possible.