I love to see people doing work they love, using their passion and purpose, and getting paid their worth. However, unfortunately what I see is people in service-based industries charging an hourly rate for whatever it is that they do. This is such a trap to get caught in and I want to explain why.
For most people when starting out in business an hourly rate seems like the right thing to do. They may not have many clients, they may be entry level in regards to experience that they can offer or they may not have a strong hold on the service they will offer, and as such an hourly rate seems like the best option for charging.
As a result of charging an hourly rate, over time, their clients or customers are trained to think in a time for money transaction INSTEAD of focusing on results or outcomes. When they work this way, they inevitably hit a ceiling of work because they have “used” all the hours allocated to them to do the work.
I suspect some people continue to charge this way because 1) they don’t know any other way; 2) they can’t figure a way to package up their service; or 3) they are fearful that if they step out of the hourly space, they will need to put their money where their mouth is from a results perspective.
However, if they don’t change how they serve their clients or customers, they will hit maximum hours and not have the ability to grow in business. So, it seems that to be successful and grow in business, change is inevitable.
The easiest way to package your services is to follow these three steps;
1. Look at your current services and determine what it is that your client’s value, and package your services accordingly.
Look at your current services (or potential new services) and outline
what your client’s value. This will be dependent on the industry you
work in, but it could be the ability to have more free time, the need to
be seen as more professional than their competitors, more customers
etc. Then package your services from lowest amount of value delivered to
highest amount of value delivered.
2. Focus on the outcomes that each of your packages offer the client.
Be specific in what your packages offer in regard to your services but also the outcomes and results for the clients.
3. Price your packages.
When pricing your packages, base it on knowledge you have of previously
completing similar work. Ensure that you consider any resources or
extra’s you “give” the client and add a dollar value to it. Once you
have priced it, package it up to be attractive to the client and show
them how they can save money by accessing your services via a package as
opposed to a one-off rate or an hourly rate.
For instance, one of my programs is Thriving Women. This includes: 1:1 coaching, private networking dinners, personal development workshops, co working space, a private Facebook page, accountability groups. It’s a lot of different things packaged together to provide value for my clients.
The value you provide to your clients shouldn’t be based on the individual hours that you put in, it should be about the results and outcomes that you provide for them. Offer packages that will allow you to grow your business while not hitting that ceiling of hours you have available to you. And finally, remember that when packaging up your services to try and add as much value to your client without over committing yourself.
Do you need help with packaging up your services? My Chaos to Clarity session is a 3-hour session where we take a deep dive into your business. Together, we’ll go over all the services you offer, their pricing and packaging. We’ll do a full cull of what no longer works for you. We’ll remove the offerings that don’t provide a sufficient income and the clients or the types of work you simply don’t enjoy, that drain you rather than uplift you. Wouldn’t it be nice to be working the way you want with clients you love?