Solocast Episodes

Send us a text Do you know what pricing trends to expect in 2024? As we begin the new year, it’s a good time to take a look at what’s been happening and where things are headed. People often mistake pricing as a “one-and-done” activity. The reality is that if your prices aren’t changing, then you’re no longer aligned with the market. Meaning you’re under or over priced. The consequences of that are many, most remarkably lower sales and profits. Ouch! That’s no way to start a new year. To ...

Send us a text Ever wondered what key steps businesses often overlook when they're raising their prices? In this episode, we'll take you through three critical aspects of pricing that businesses frequently overlook when adjusting their prices. Whether you're considering raising or lowering your prices, it's easy to overlook these things. Often people are afraid to change prices especially raise them and postpone it as long as possible. When they finally do it they take big risks by applying ...

Send us a text A few years ago I got an email from a client asking me to review "the attached" document. I opened it up to find a list of discounts and special offers she planned to make throughout the year. As I looked at the list my heart sank - each and every one was carefully thought out in terms of what the client was getting. But no thought had been put into whether or not they were a good business idea. I called and spoke to her about it. Asking her what the business purpose and goal ...

Send us a text Do you find yourself wondering how flexible your pricing should be? In the world of business, pricing isn't merely a numbers game—it's an art of balance. And finding that delicate balance between flexibility and complexity can make or break your business. On the one hand it's great to try and meet the specific needs of each individual client, as each one is unique. But flexibility isn't always the best thing for you, your business or your customers. It's more complex a decis...

Send us a text Time based rates or packaged pricing, which is right for your business? People often start off with time-based rates, it seems relatively simple and straight forward - at first glance. But when you look closer time-based rates can be difficult to work with and they don't actually serve you or your clients well in the long run. Trading time for money does not focus on value or the quality of your expertise. Which is one reason why most people at some point in time will consider...

Send us a text Pricing objections will come, as a founder or business owner it's important to prepare yourself (and your team) for when a client prospect says, "No thank you." Whether it's because it's too expensive or they don't know if they need it or something else, knowing what to do next can feel confusing or even a bit scary. Certainly it can leave you wondering how to respond in the best way possible. It's not uncommon to feel super confident telling people about your offer, after all...

Send us a text Pricing is a much undervalued business topic. It has a bigger impact on your profit than anything else in your business – yet if you’re like most people you don’t often give it much attention. Studies show time and again that of the four profit levers (price, volume, fixed costs and variable costs), price has the most impact on profit. Yes a bigger impact than your costs. This surprises most people. And it’s counter to how they are working. Consider for a moment what most busi...

Send us a text As a business owner, you've probably heard the saying "You can be good, you can be fast, or you can be cheap. Pick two." Is it really that simple? 🤔 Recently someone wrote to me that they were struggling with this concept of good, fast or cheap as they aren't fast. And they feel pressured to be so when that's not them. Yes, I often get my show ideas from the questions people ask me. So keep asking! 😄 I believe it's important to know what your strengths are and to market to t...

Send us a text Have you ever asked yourself, should I adjust prices for different geographies Certainly if you’re doing business internationally you’ve most definitely asked yourself that questions. And you’re not alone in that. Over the years many people have asked me the question. Well, to be precise they’ve asked me “How should I adjust prices?” People almost always assume that just because they’re selling to another country then have to adjust their prices, but as you’ll learn in this e...

Send us a text What are you doing when setting prices? You should be asking yourself a series of questions. Questions are so powerful. In fact you can completely change people’s behavior simply by asking different questions. In this case we are looking at changing your behavior as you go about setting, getting and managing your prices. The previous episode we looked at 12 questions to ask yourself when price setting. Those were some of the more basic questions. If you haven’t listened to tha...

Send us a text “Price setting is a thought process not a formula.” One big misunderstanding around price setting is, people believe there’s a mathematical formula to find the right price. This belief or hope holds many people back from doing the work that’s needed to find the best prices – finding a price that’s right for them and their customers. So if it’s not a formula but a thought process it begs the question, what does that really mean? It means you need a something to help you think ...

Send us a text Happy New Year! I wish you great joy, happiness, good times, and business success in 2023. To help you get started on the right foot for this year I want to share with you some tips - 3 things you can do in January to make sure you're starting in the best way possible. Like anything else in life or business what we pay attention to is what will carry us through the year to come. If you ignore pricing, it will not be there supporting your business efforts. In fact, for many bus...

Send us a text "Should I put my prices on my website?" Funny as it may sound, this is the second most asked question I get from people. Which is one reason why it's the topic of this episode. I can see how the question plagues people and I don't think it's a topic worth worrying about. What's important is that you understand how to make a strategic decision about what's right for your business. I recently ran a poll on LinkedIn around this and what happened as a result was fasc...

Send us a text Recognizing when to make changes in your pricing is an important part of managing prices in any business. I've had many people on the show who shared with us that it took them quite a long time to both realize and then accept that they would need to change prices in their business. You may struggle with that as well. And it often has quite a negative impact on business, especially growing a younger business. This is why it's so important for you to be able to identify and then...

Send us a text One of the people I had on the show earlier on observed that Coaches are terrible (in general) at valuing what they bring clients and it has a terrible impact on what they do with their pricing. This isn't really their fault. With good intentions the coaching programs sometimes provide business advice, like what to charge clients. But this isn't their expertise, often the advise is lacking and sometimes even detrimental to the process of building a coaching business that will ...

Send us a text What are the things that businesses do well to improve their pricing? That's a great question. I often speak about the mistakes people make but this time I wanted to focus on what you can and should be doing with pricing to help you. We are in unprecedented times, things are changing so fast around us we can example after example of how those who are most adaptable are the ones who come out on top. Looking at best practices in pricing can help you make sure you're focusing on ...

Send us a text Many businesses use cost plus pricing to determine their prices but what is the role costs in pricing? Cost-plus pricing is one of the most widely used methods for setting prices, but it also more often to not leads to over- and underpricing. While understanding costs is important to having a successful Pricing Strategy and understanding your profit story, relying on them too heavily puts your business at risk. It begs the questions what is cost-plus pricing. what are the disad...

Send us a text Avoiding everyone-itis is a better path for most small business owners. Certainly better than being a generalist. "Who's your target customer?" I asked. " Well, anyone." They responded with proud smiles. "Oh no...here we go." I thought to myself. When it comes to starting or running a business nearly every program, coach or consultant will ask you who are you targeting. There's a really good reason for that (hint: it's not to annoy you). It's because the answers to most of the ...

Send us a text There are three types of discounts effective, ineffective and unnecessary. Most small business could benefit from being more careful about the discounts they offer and when. In fact, when it comes to "leaking" profits, poor discounting habits are often the biggest drain on your profits. It makes sense to put more rigor and thought behind what you're doing. Preparing in advance for what you will do and when, and having a clear internal policy for your team (if you have one) will...

Send us a text Over the years I have heard the battle cries from businesses and sales people about how the competition has such low prices. "It's killing our business. What can we do?" They cry. Often they feel defeated and like they don't have a chance to be successful because these "cowboy" competitors are in the way, with their very low prices. "Shouldn't we lower our prices too?" They ask. Not necessarily, in fact more often than not, it isn't the best solution. Just becau...

Send us a text Pricing versus the competition may seem like the best and sometimes easiest thing to do in some businesses. In other businesses, where there's less price transparency, it may feel like you're missing out on a key piece of price setting information because you have no idea what the competition charges. Of course the competition is an important pricing consideration for many but what does it mean for your business? Can you only know what price to offer when you know the competit...

Send us a text Price setting is a thought process not a mathematical calculation. Often when people ask me how they should know what to charge they expect me to give them a mathematical formula to make the calculation. Determining the right price for your offer is different. It's a thought process where you look at different aspects to determine which prices are best. Businesses that treat pricing as a math problem are missing one of the most important rules of pricing: Pricing is rooted in a...

Send us a text Everybody loves a sale. But that doesn't mean it's right for your business. As we head into the seasons where retailers start dropping prices it's tempting to use similar tactics in your small business BUT is it the right thing to do for your business? Great question! As my mother used to say, "Just because everyone else does it doesn't mean you have to." We're exposed to this tactic all the time as consumers but it's a flawed strategy for most small businesses. In fa...

Send us a text Dirty, disgusting discounting habits. They are killing your business and it needs to stop…now. Have you ever granted a discount because: it was easy,you felt ashamed of your prices,guilty to charge that much,anxious or afraid to ask for it,too lazy to stand up for your value,to be “fair”, or to prevent objections?If so, you’re not alone. These nasty discounting habits seem harmless and many people fall victim to them.. But just because others do it, doesn’t mean you should...