Women are expected to be more helpful
Pricing is an issue that many of us struggle with as we start a business or create a side income. As women, we are conditioned by society to be more communal than men are. Now before you get mad at me, I am basing this not on my own opinions, but on studies of how women are perceived in the workplace. Generally, co-workers are more likely to ask help from women. They are also more likely to be offended if that assistance is not forthcoming.
This can create problems in our own brains. Because our culture often expects us to just “pitch in” without a thought for ourselves, or the inconvenience it may cause us, women often have trouble valuing ourselves at our true worth. While men tend to be confident that their services are worth a premium price, women often second-guess themselves. It can make us uncomfortable charging for our services, especially if we are pricing them at the upper end of the spectrum.
I tell you this for several reasons. First, because being aware of the problem is an important step in overcoming it. Second, because we need to address how we are actually serving people when we charge money for what we do. And third, because if you are going to provide a high-quality, premium service (which I assume you are), you deserve to charge a premium price. To do less is to short-change yourself and your family. Since this is a pretty important point, and since I tend to be wordy, I’m going to break this down into three separate posts. Today, we’ll cover how we serve people better when we charge a premium price.
Price Influences Value
Two years ago, I invested in a class on how to make an income by creating and selling online courses. And when I say invested, I mean it was a big decision – over 2 weeks’ take home pay for me. I went through the course. I followed the course. It didn’t work. I adjusted and started over again. Still, no luck. Meanwhile, in the Facebook group, people are talking about their successes. How they created a course, tested it, and are earning money teaching people about something they love. I cringe and start over – again!
So why am I still trying instead of throwing in the towel? First, because I know for sure it can be done and I know for sure I can do it, even if it takes multiple attempts. Second, (and this is probably the real reason) because I just flat refuse to lose that kind of money. If I stop trying, it becomes a “waste of money” not an “investment,” and I am too stubborn to let that happen. Paying a high price made this course matter to me, and in the long run, it is more likely to make me successful.
Another example is a treatment we chose for my son’s ADHD when we wanted to get him off his medication. Its effectiveness was backed by multiple studies. Unfortunately, it wasn’t covered by insurance, and each session cost $100 AND it worked best when appointments were at least once a week.
Well, you’d better believe I didn’t miss any sessions, nor was I late unless something major happened. Also, we changed our lives to make it a priority, even taking our son out of school early a couple of days a week, which doesn’t happen lightly in our family. (In case you’re wondering, yes, it did help and we’re thankful we did it.) Would I have taken it as seriously if sessions cost only $25? I hate to admit it, but I don’t think so. Consequently, it probably would have been a lot less effective and my son would have missed out on its benefits.
In both of these cases, pricing the service at a premium may have actually improved its benefits.
It won’t happen overnight
Learning to value yourself and your skills probably isn’t going to happen overnight, because this is truly a paradigm shift. If you, like me, have spent a large portion of your life looking for bargains, it’s hard to change that and start thinking that setting a low price isn’t necessarily doing your customers a favor. But I want you to start trying.
Examine your beliefs about what is “fair pricing,” and what truly constitutes value. When we are talking about services, the customer’s perception of its value, and thus its importance, sometimes has even more impact on their success than the service itself. Is it a better value for a person to spend $100 and get an outstanding service that they prioritize, or to spend $10 and get the same product, but not the benefit from it because they don’t value it?
What do you think? Do you have an example of a time when a pricing a product or service higher actually benefitted the customer more or when a low price prevented you from appreciating a product or service? You’ve read my take. What’s yours?