Involve The Client In The Pricing Process

If you want to get the best prices, you must involve your client in the pricing process.

Every client is different.

We all value things differently. You need to price the customer, not the service.

You can watch the video here.

There is a big mistake that I see people making in the profession, it’s a mistake that I myself made when I first started my own accounting practice in the 90s.

I didn’t understand value pricing...

I would meet with clients every single week, and I would talk about all the amazing things we could do for them. At the end of the meeting, they would ask me the price question and I would say:

‘That’s a great question. Let me go away and think about it. I will write you a proposal.’

Please don’t EVER do this.

Think about the last time you received a proposal or quote...

Perhaps you were having your house decorated, or your garden landscaped. When you get a quote or proposal sent to you what is the first thing you look for?

The price.

We all do it. We all look for the price. Your clients are no different.

They will flick through your proposal, ignoring all of the value you talk about, and they will look at the price without context and make a snap judgement.

You’ve lost control of their perception of that price because you have left the meeting. If it’s a new client and they find your price too high, you will likely never hear from them again.

They will take your proposal over to their existing accountant or bookkeeper and ask if they can beat it.

You must never send proposals through the mail.

You need to agree on a price during the meeting. You have to involve the client in the pricing process.

There is a great tool you can use for this. It’s called Effective Pricing. A software approach is very powerful because you can gradually adapt the price.

You should start with a price that is too high. If you start low, the client will say yes and you can’t change the price then. If you start high and they say it’s too expensive, you can go through the package with them and make changes to lower the price.

The firms that get the best results are those using Iterative Digital Pricing.

That means using a software approach to gradually lower the price. There are 3 big benefits to this approach:

• Transparency - You aren’t just making this number up. You are going through the software together with the client. They can see how the price is building up based on the questions they answer. They will have greater trust in you and they will be more likely to accept your price.

• Control - If you use software to go through the price with the client, you are still in charge of the process. If the client thinks it’s too expensive you can explain to them:
  
  ‘It’s this price because you wanted monthly meetings instead of quarterly? How important is it to you that you have monthly meetings?’
  
  They can then decide what is more valuable to them, you can re-calculate and give them a new price. You remain in charge.

• Conversion - The third reason this is so effective is because you will make more conversions using this software-based approach. They will spend more money if they have more choice. You end up with a higher price, you will make more money and will be able to serve the client better. It’s a win-win situation.

Always have the pricing conversation face-to-face with the client.

If you found this valuable and would like to learn more about value pricing, I run a free live online training session every month with a topic chosen by you. Attend live and you can ask me any questions you have. Click here to register and I will send you an invitation to the next session.

Wishing you every success on your pricing journey

Mark Wickersham

Chartered Accountant, Public Speaker and Author of Amazon No.1 Best Seller “Effective Pricing for Accountants”