The Real Reason Why You Are In Business

Do you know the real reason why you are in business?

The first response I hear most often to that question is to be of service.  That is a wonderful reason and very true for the majority of individuals in a service business, including myself.  However, there is a key component of to that answer that is missing.  That missing component is why so many of us experience difficulty manifesting abundance and prosperity in the form of money.  We have no trouble attracting clients, just attracting clients who can pay us.

That is why it is so important to be extremely clear with yourself about the real reason is why you are in business.  That reason is:

To be of service AND to provide those services in EXCHANGE for FINANCIAL COMPENSATION

That certainly sends a clear message to the Universe – doesn’t it?!

There is another form of payment that happens when we are being of service to our clients.  It is the gift of seeing how you have positively affected another human being and that gift fills you up. 

Consciously, we may believe that we deserve to be paid but somewhere in our unconscious mind, we don’t believe that we deserve any other form of payment.  Our conscious mind makes up 10% of our brain and our unconscious mind makes up over 90%.  The 90%  – unconsciously believing we don’t deserve any other form of payment – is the vibration that we are sending out in the Universe.

When you are struggling to make the mortgage payment each month, the worry and stress you are feeling comes through the service you are providing and is energetically felt by the client.  At first, it may not affect them and they will continue to work with you, but at some point the service they are receiving will no longer feel good and they will seek that service from another source.

Do you see how not knowing the real reason why you are in business compounds negatively upon itself?

When you are clear about your reason for being in business and you have that resonating in your body, mind and spirit that energy will emanate forth from you and you will attract clients who will willingly pay you for your services.  You in turn will receive abundance and prosperity in the form of the seeing how you have positively impacted another human being and monetarily.  Resulting in ever expanding abundance and prosperity for everyone involved.

Just remember:

□ You are in the business of providing a quality service.

□ Clients hire and pay you because they are in need of those services.

□ You provide these services for financial compensation.

Repeat these three lines, as often as needed.

Don’t Let Your Client’s Financial Woes Become Your Financial Woes

Being the owner of an accounting and bookkeeping services firm, my company has a front row seat to how “well” our client’s business are doing. One particular client, made the decision to wind down operations and close the magazine he was trying to get off the ground.  At the time this decision was made, there was a tremendous amount of debt on the books, investors who needed to be notified, a tax return that needed to be completed as well as some bookkeeping work to wrap up.

When the owner called me with his decision to wind down operations, he asked me if I would assist him with the accounting work that needed to be done and if I wouldn’t mind being paid after the work was completed. Red flag!  My gut instinct told me to get paid up front (as I do with all of my other clients and had in the past with this particular client) but I felt sorry for the financial situation this young man was in and I agreed to let him pay me once the work was complete.

My firm went about doing the work and coordinating with the attorney in charge of winding down operations. As soon as our part was complete I received a letter in the mail from that very same attorney stating that the company was bankrupt and we would not be paid for the services we provided. Needless to say I was a little angry!

We had spent at least a two weeks preparing the information that was needed on the word of this young man that we would be paid.  We also had first-hand knowledge that he received a severance package. I had made a classic mistake, I allowed my client’s financial woes to become my financial woes, and as a result my firm walked away without being paid while he did get paid. My decision placed his well-being, both financial and spiritual, above my own, and thought because I performed the services in good faith, that he would in return, act in good faith. It was a tough, expensive lesson to learn.

Since then, I make it a point to engage my prospective clients in a dialog that will provide me with clues to the financial condition of their business. For example, I’ll ask a prospective client “What impact will our service have on assisting you to grow your business?” or “What direct impact will our service have on your business and how will you measure that impact – through the acquisition of new customers, increased revenue, etc.”

I’m really curious as to what their response to those two questions will be.  I like to make the questions thought provoking and open-ended because my main objective is to start a dialog, to obtain more clues obtain more clues about the financial condition of that business. 

The other thing I do is ask those same questions a couple of different ways.  When you ask the same question a couple of different ways and you receive different answers or inconsistent answers you will be able to string together new questions that will help you to get a better picture of what is going on.

With existing clients I make sure I have clear, concise, boundaries surrounding how and when I will be paid because once you provide the service, as you saw from my story, you are left with little recourse other than hiring an attorney or going to small claims court to obtain payment – both of which will cost you more time and money!

Deer in Headlight Syndrome

In the past, every time a prospective or existing client challenged or questioned me on my fee, I would become a deer in headlights!  In my head, I would be shouting “I cannot believe that this is happening again!” and a few choice other phrases I won’t mention here.

One of the hardest and biggest lessons for me to learn and assimilate into the very core of my being has been to sell the VALUE and RESULTS that my firm provides and NOT trade dollars for hours. Once I finally got this concept, I immediately increased my annual revenue by $100,000! No lie!

I had to learn to place a value around the skills and knowledge that I have. It is so easy for me to get to the bottom of a client’s accounting and operational issues within the first hour of meeting with them. What I had forgotten was that I didn’t suddenly wake up one morning and know accounting or how to help a business run more efficiently. I had acquired this knowledge through years of education and experience AND that has VALUE. That expertise is what I am sharing with my clients, and what they are paying for.

What comes easy to you? What is it that comes to you so easily you don’t give a second thought to it? The answers to those questions are the VALUE you are providing to your clients. Most likely, it is also the part of the work that you enjoy doing the most!

Once you have determined the value you are providing to your clients, create different ways for your client to select your services. You can establish a pay-as-you-go-rate or packages and retainer fees with different levels of service such as the no frills package, basic package and deluxe package.

Give your client a choice and they will always pick your biggest package. Load it up with value like unlimited e-mail and phone calls, a monthly in-person meeting – and base the price upon what you are worth – not what you think the client will pay or can afford. You will be pleasantly surprised how many say YES when you are clear and confident about the value and results you provide.

The Dentist in Sheep’s Clothing – Grandma what Big Eyes You Have? (Part I)

We are all familiar with the story of Red Riding Hood who goes to visit her Grandma only to find the wolf disguised and sitting in Grandma’s bed.  Little Red Riding Hood knew something was off, trusted her intuition and kept asking questions until she got the answers she was looking for!

A couple of years ago, I encountered a wolf in sheep’s clothing when I was looking for a new dentist.  I asked my friends who they used as a dentist and ended up going to see one of the recommendations I had received.  The office was state of the art.  The dentist was very impressive – wonderful business savvy and very knowledgeable about his profession. 

 

The dental office offered a special package for new patients that included a cleaning of my teeth, x-rays and an evaluation of what other dental work I may need all for $99.  The cleaning was performed by a dental hygienist and the dentist looked inside my mouth to perform the evaluation.  After this was done, he left the room and said he would be back in a few moments with my dental plan, a summary of all the dental work I would need.  About ten minutes later came back in and rattled off a laundry list of items that according to him required correcting in my mouth with a price tag of $16,000.  He then started to rattle off my payment options.

 

I put my hand up and stopped the dentist right there and said before we get to payment options, I need to fully understand what services are required, why and in order of importance.  The dentist stopped me and said – no I don’t give written estimates because most people would do what you are doing.  I responded that his approach was unethical – steamrolling a patient into services they did not understand and most likely could not afford. 

 

Then it dawned on my, this dentist was in total fear around money and used bullying tactics to bring in revenue!  His tactic reminded me of that old con artist game, the shell game.  This is where they place an object under one of three cups, move them around and you receive the prize only if you guess which cup the object is under, but it’s under none of the cups.

 

Had I not had the courage to put my hand up and stop the dentist I would have been saddled with repaying $16,000 plus interest for dental work, all of which was not necessary!  (I did go to another dentist and the work that I needed was not even a third of the price I was quoted.) 

 

It is not easy, when you are in a situation like this to stop the train in its tracks and believe me I felt like I was on a runaway train.  The point I want to leave you with it, if you don’t understand what you are being charged for, DON”T BE AFRAID TO ASK QUESTIONS and stop someone whenever you are unclear about what something is going to cost you!  A good way to know you are in confusion is when your mind is racing and you feel pressured to come up with a quick response.  Know it is okay to say, I need time to think this over.  The other party may not be happy with your decision but your pocketbook certainly will be!

Join me for my free call on Wednesday, March 10th at 7pm EST.

Show Them The Value

The fees you charge have NOTHING to do with supply and demand,
and
EVERYTHING to do with VALUE.

That’s right – the fees that you charge directly correlate to the value you provide to your clients. The key is to show them and keep showing them that value. This keeps current clients happy and makes the buying decision for new clients that much easier. 

Client focus on value, we focus on price. Clients want a price they can justify and it is our job (besides providing the bookkeeping services) to EDUCATE them on the VALUE of the results your service delivers. 

In order to educate your clients on that value, you must first understand what that value is and then, how it is perceived by your client. There are a couple of ways to do this but let’s start with pretending you are a customer who is buying a service. What are the questions you ask as you evaluate whether or not you are going to purchase the service? What answers are you looking for? What problem are you looking for this service to solve for you? How will you know they are meeting your expectations? 

It is essential for you to understand the value you provide first, so that you can then help your client to understand it. Remember, your client isn’t purchasing the number of checks that you write on their behalf. They are purchasing the end result – accurate and complete financial records! Of course, this is not the only result that you provide to clients. 

Now let’s turn around those questions that we would ask when we are purchasing a service and ask them of ourselves as they apply to your service.

• What problems do I and my company help my clients solve?
• What am I an expert at helping people accomplish?
• What am I an expert at helping people achieve? What is the end result?
• What am I an expert at helping people feel? 

You will want to write down as many answers that come to mind as possible. If you find yourself getting stuck, just pretend you are a customer looking to hire you. Looking at it from a different prospective will help you to think and ask different questions.

The next step is to quantify and qualify those answers by asking your clients what matters most to them. Asking your client will either give you confirmation of what you believe is the value you provide and/or you uncover something that is important to your clients that you had not thought of.

The important thing is to not accept vague, fluffy answers to these questions. Your objective is to find out how using your service will make a difference in their business. The answers give you the information you need to meet and exceed your clients expectations every time and the confidence in the services you provide.

Linda Hunt delivers simple, practical strategies for creating systems and structure that create stability helping business owners to grow their business and earn more money. For more FREE tips like these, visit her at http://www.sumsolutions.com

Price and Perception

Attaching a fair and accurate price to your products and services can be a tricky balancing act. It should come as no surprise that many business owners have an ongoing struggle with their pricing strategies.

Customers want the best value for their money. They will always do a quality comparison where possible, and make purchases based on the best price for the best value.

When setting prices, remember this golden rule: perception is everything. How customers view your product or service and what they are willing to pay for it is based upon those perceptions.

Your products will be perceived as high-, moderate-, or low-priced, usually compared to your competition or to your customer’s own notion about what "something like that should cost." There is no danger in having the price of your products perceived in any of these ways. It all depends on how you are perceived by your target market. For example, being known as "moderate-priced medical-care insurance provider" might make some customers nervous and think they are getting cut-rate service. The point is to match the perception of your price to the perceptions of your customers.

To further illustrate:

-    If your customers are motivated by value consciousness and your product is generally available, price and value are important to your customer. Keep this in mind when setting your prices.

-    If you sell luxury products that are exclusive to customers who value innovation, a perception of underpricing may actually work against you.

Pricing is all about knowing your customers – what they want, what motivates their purchases, and how they feel about the products, services and features they are purchasing.  Ask yourself and even your customers the following questions to help determine how your products and services are being perceived.  The answers may surprise you.

1.    How do my customers perceive my product or service, in terms of price? In terms of value?
2.    How does my price compare with my competitors’ pricing?
3.    What values and benefits do my customers get from my product or service?
4.    Are my prices consistent with those benefits and values?
5.    What is the current supply-and-demand of my product or service?
6.    Am I in an industry where the demand for my product or service has a short life cycle. Do I need to cash in quickly?
7.    Do I have a product with a recognizable name that allows me the luxury of overpricing?

© 2009 Linda A. Hunt.  Reprint rights granted to all online venues so long as it remains complete and unaltered (including the "about the author" info at the end).  Send a courtesy copy of the reprint to info@lahenterprises.com.

Linda Hunt delivers simple, practical strategies for creating systems and structure that create stability helping business owners to grow their business and earn more money.  For more FREE tips like these, visit her at http://www.sumsolutions.com