When we discuss pricing, we often talk about clients getting “sticker shock”; that gut reaction they have when seeing our price for the first time. 

That gut reaction is based on how they’ve assigned value to the service we offer, and how our pricing marries up to that assumption they’ve made. 

So how does a client assign value to what you do for them? 

Let me give you some examples to make this concept a little clearer. 

→ If you’re a floral designer, photographer or artist, a client assigns value to your service based on how much they like the arrangements, photos or pieces of art they’ve seen you make.

→ If you’re an event planner, a client assigns value based on the images they’ve seen and the stories they’ve heard of the experiences you’ve created. 

→ If you’re a designer or copywriter, a client assigns value to the completed brands or websites they’ve seen that you’ve done. 

Can you see where I’m going? 

When we discuss pricing, we often talk about clients getting “sticker shock”; that gut reaction they have when seeing our price for the first time. 

That gut reaction is based on how they’ve assigned value to the service we offer, and how our pricing marries up to that assumption they’ve made. 

Is it rational? Not really! 😂 It’s an emotional attachment to a some-what-random sum of money. But will it determine whether they work with us or not? Yep! It often will! 

Despite how frustrating this can be, the good news is that we have the power to help determine how much that some-what-random sum of money is. 

How? By using our marketing to communicate our expertise and show the “messy middle” of our businesses. 

When all a client ever sees is the polished end result, we give them no opportunity to assign value to anything other than what they see at face value. And what they see at face value—they have no idea how it came to be!

Let’s go back to those initial examples…. 

If we’ve never let our audience know about our years of experience or shown them our process, this is what they’re left to think: 

Floral Design client: “But it’s just a few flowers in a vase!”

Photography client: “But you just pushed a button!” 

Event Planner / Designer client: “But it’s just coordinating / setting things up on the day!”  

Brand Designer: “But it’s just a logo!”

Copywriter: “But it’s just a few words on a page!” 

We can’t be frustrated with potential clients for not understanding something we’ve failed to communicate. 

Remember: The easiest way to justify price is through process. 

If we want to avoid that “sticker shock” with our pricing, we need to use our marketing to let our audience in on the “messy middle” and what it really takes to produce the polished end results they see on our websites and in our portfolios. 

It’s not unprofessional or “too messy” to show behind the scenes. It’s an investment in helping clients to truly understand your value.