What are you REALLY worth?

Posted by Jeremy L. Knauff

Regardless of the industry, the true professionals add tremendous value and as a result, demand a higher fee than the average. This works out well when a prospect is looking for value rather than simply the lowest price. Unfortunately, the true professional must contend with others in their industry who are willing to work for much less; of course lower prices come with less value because they are based on skills and knowledge.

• New entries in your field often undervalue their work or are desperate to scratch out a living, so they work for less than their skills and knowledge would justify.
• Those who have failed to stay up to date and evolve with changes in your industry will work for less because they don’t have the skills or knowledge to do otherwise.

Are you charging what you’re really worth? Do you know what you’re really worth? Don’t simply base that on what your current customers are willing to pay or what your competitors are charging. Base it on the value that you bring to the table.

Your time is obviously the first factor, but there are many more. You have a special set of skills that you’ve developed over the years. Skills that your prospects and clients don’t have; that’s why they’re coming to you. Along with those skills is your knowledge and experience. That has a tremendous value, but it’s still not the end of the equation. For every hour of work you do, you often spend hours or even days behind the scenes reading, researching, testing and planning. All of that work, even if your client never sees it, brings additional value to their project in the form of better results.

It’s been said that you train people how to treat you. The same can be said for setting expectations of the value of your services. If you base your rates on the value of your skills, knowledge and experience, you’ll earn what your really worth. If you don’t, you’ll simply become another commodity.

Comments Off