BNI Elevate is a networking community organized to help our members make more money through structured collaboration and referrals.
This week John Cipollone asked me ‘how to not be hesitant or “afraid” of how high your fees are when proposing to a new client.’
And this question reminded me of our former member, Amy Joelle.
If you remember, she is one of the few people in the world that manufactured nuclear reactors.
And when I asked her how much her reactors cost, she told me 1 billion dollars.
And I said that seems like a lot, but she told me most nuclear reactors cost around $900 million, but her reactor was better with a longer service life, so customers were willing to pay more for her reactor.
So the first thing we need to remember with regard to our fees is that we do not sell in a vacuum.
We have to be mindful of what our competitors are charging for similar services, so if our rates are higher than our competitors, then we need to make sure that we are conveying the extra value of our services versus our competitors.
And then I remembered a story that John told me on a 121 about how he reviewed 3 years of past tax returns for a new client and found tons of deductions that resulted in $40,000 in refunds that the prior accountant missed.
So there are two takeaways here:
First you should never be hesitant about your fees, but you should be ready to pitch that because your services and skills are so much better that a client would never risk leaving $40,000 on the table by hiring a lesser accountant.
Second, tell these great stories on your 121s because that will make for a great testimonial when your fellow members introduce you to potential clients.
So be ready to demonstrate your extreme value despite your cost when speaking with clients, and tell these great stories on 121s, and I guarantee you will get more referrals and you’ll definitely make more money.
