While looking for inspiration to write this blog, I came across a story that had totally gone off my radar. The story is legendary in maintenance and repair circles.
A man who owns a small manufacturing plant has one of his vital pieces of equipment go down. So he calls in the repairman who quickly finds the problem. He takes his hammer and hits the machine once and it starts working again. The repairman then hands his repair bill over to the plant owner who is mortified at the $400 bill. He says to the repairman, ‘Why is the bill so much? You just hit the machine once with a hammer.’ to which the repairman replies, ‘That’s $50 for hitting it with the hammer, and the $350 is for knowing where to hit it.’ ”
What a funny way of getting the point across that some repairs may look simple, but the knowledge to fix the problem comes with time, education and experience.
I spend lots of time and money getting educated on programs that help me run my business. And still I find myself afraid to charge my customers too much for fear that I am going to lose them. I tend to forget that my investment in myself and my experience has value and I should not be afraid to have my pricing reflect that. After all, when I invest in myself, I am more than willing to pay the price because I see the value in the service that I am getting.
Do you struggle with charging your customers too much? Let me know what you have done to overcome those struggles!
Leslie
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A great way indeed to put across an important message!
I’ve suffered for this – I’m setting up a membership programme, and intend to get round this problem by starting at a lower level for the first set of members, then increasing for the next set, then increasing again.
This will give me assurance about the value I think I provide, easing my worries about charging the higher amounts.
As a by product it also gives genuine scarcity value to potential members,
thanks for the story,
cheers,
Gordon
I love the idea Gordon. I like the scarcity aspect of your program.
Good point!! I do struggle with that. I’ll need to keep this in mind. Thanks!
Excellent post! And so true of many profressions, even including Preaching!
Never thought of that. You are absolutely right. Many of us take for granted you guys do for humankind on a daily basis. Thanks for what you do.
I still struggle. There is a gal in the UBC who has posted a series of articles on how to set your prices. She walks you through a very systematic procedure for determining how to set a price. I think that there is a lot of merit in doing that. It logically convinces your mind that your pricing is fair. You might want to sift through the comment threads and find her site.
Thanks so much for the info. I will definitely check it out.