In this economy, it’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking you need to reduce your prices in order to win more clients. Or even to keep your existing clients.

But some clients want to pay more than you are charging.

Yes, really.

Why? Because they want to be “VIPs.” In fact, there has been research that shows that for most businesses, up to 30% of your clients would pay more for a premium service.

When you charge more, clients perceive that they get more. So the more you charge, the more value the clients feel they get.And sometimes, if you aren’t charging enough, your clients won’t see the value of what you offer.

I had a great example of this the other day. I was talking to a client about a programme I recommended for them. When I explained the cost of the programme, they said “that’s not enough”. When I asked them why, they explained “because we need a lot more of your time than you are allowing for in that fee”.

So I offered them my “VIP” option, which meant they weren’t just getting the programme, but were getting extra time for me where I would be working on their marketing with them. The fee was twice as much as I’d originally quoted. Their answer? “OK, that’s probably alright, although we still think we might need more!”.

What does this mean for your business?

What’s the lesson from this? Well, if I hadn’t had a premium service to offer to this client, I wouldn’t have got the work. And probably I should have offered it first – rather than waiting to be asked – because they might not have told me they didn’t think it was high enough. They might just have said “we’ll get back to you” and then gone and worked with someone who charged more. But the key lesson here is to make sure you at least have a premium service to offer.
And if 30% of your clients would say “yes” if you offered this premium service to them, wouldn’t it make sense to at least OFFER this service to them? Some may say no, but what if some said yes….?

So if you don’t have a premium service to offer, now is a good time to create one.
And if you have one, but you aren’t offering it to your existing clients, now is a good time to offer it.