The last posts on pricing were quite telling. Some of you have a clear idea of the most lucrative way to price (e.g. based on value), and some of you seem to be stuck in a quagmire of low hourly rates.
For those of you in the latter category, would you like to get out of that quagmire?
The next time you are talking to a prospect about work, try this approach:
1. Ask lots of good questions about the business benefits your solution will provide (e.g. “What are your business goals with this project?” “Assuming your web presence is a success, how much more do you expect to generate in revenue?” “How will it feel to have a more professional web presence?” “What types of clients might you be missing now with the web presence you have?”).
2. Tell stories about the value of your solution, based on what other clients (or clients of other web designers) have experienced.
3. Then give a quote. Sometimes I even ask the prospect what they are willing to pay to get that value, and then tell him/her what I can do for them (and can’t) given their budget.
Or, if the above is too scary for you, and especially if you are charging less than $35 per hour, do this:
Next time you quote a project, TRY to ask for 50-100% more than your usual rates. See what happens. Worst case, you “anchor” the prospect at higher rates and get them wondering what you provide that is so great. You can always come down, and suddenly 25-50% of your usual rates won’t sound outrageous to them.
Try one of these approaches. They are piecemeal to a degree, and don’t cover everything you need to do to get high rates.
But try anyway. If you don’t, then you have no right to complain about “low pricing self esteem” or about being unable to price your services to get the rates you want.
Andrew Neitlich
