Why most consultants still won't...
“Oliver,” I said on a recent call, “you can hit your financial goals simply by raising your fees.”
Oliver looked thoughtful and then said: “But if I want to raise my fees, I will need to spend most of my time building up my guru-status so people can justify the higher fees. But I’m not interested in being a guru-type. That’s not who I am.”
That there is what we'd call a limiting belief, right?
We all have them, and they keep us treading water instead of surfing the waves.
We continued to talk, and we uncovered additional beliefs, or assumptions, that were keeping Oliver from raising his fees.
The truth is that Oliver's fees were on the low side. He was already fully booked with entrepreneurs who could afford to pay more. AND he had a small waiting list.
Still, Oliver struggled to imagine that he could double or triple his fees.
But he could. And he could do it without worrying about guru-status.
I turned to Emily, another coach / consultant and I said:
“Emily, you charge triple what Oliver charges. And your clients are starting off with much less money than Oliver’s. Are you a guru in your industry?”
Emily laughed. “No, I’m definitely not a guru!” she said.
Oliver's eyes were now opened.
And to get out of your own way you need:
- Information.
- Skills to build systems.
- Conversations with others on the same path.
Once Oliver's hidden assumptions were out of the shadows and spread plainly before him, I directed him to trainings with the information he needed.
I helped him master the skills and build the systems.
And through conversations with other consultants on the same path, he saw that if they could do it, so could he.
What if you were earning 2x, 3x, 10x - for the very same work you are doing today?
You’ve long sensed that you can. If you didn’t believe it, you never would have read this far.
You just don’t see a clear path to HOW.
But now that you know the five “value sliders,” you’re a big step closer.
Your next challenge will be to make the sliders work for you.
When you've mastered your craft, but don't consider yourself a 'natural' marketer or sales person, it's easy to psych yourself out of taking the steps you need to get your ideal clients consistently.
(And especially when it comes to charging higher fees.)
You KNOW that you have it in you to earn much more.
So my advice to you is: examine the five sliders. And figure out what the very next step is you need to start inching them up.
One at a time, one notch at a time.
You'll get there.
Share this article with others and take them along on the journey with you.
References:
For a detailed treatment of everything discussed here, check out my 'Plenty of Clients Manual' here, free.
