Transcripts
In this episode of Live With The pricing
Lady, we're talking about a pricing
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:strategy problem, defending prices that
were never set properly to begin with.
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:Sit back, relax, and enjoy the episode.
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:Welcome to The pricing Lady Podcast,
where smart business owners price
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:with purpose and profit with clarity.
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:I'm Janene your hostess.
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:I'm excited to be bringing you
the first episode of the New Year.
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:Let me start by wishing
you a very happy New Year.
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:Today we are going to be talking
about defending prices that were
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:never set properly in the first place.
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:And I chose this because it was actually
the last post I made on LinkedIn last
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:year, and I thought, what a great
episode to kick off the new year.
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:Often clients when they come to me, they
say, Janene alls I need are the right
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:argument, arguments to defend my prices.
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:And I have two big
issues with this request.
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:It's not that I don't wanna help you,
but you're looking for the wrong answers.
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:And here's my issues.
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:First of all, you're talking about
arguments, and second of all,
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:you're talking about defending.
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:We're gonna get into more why I
have issues with that in a moment.
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:But this type of going on the defensive
shows up in sales discussions,
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:in proposals, in your written
offers, and even landing pages.
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:Or can even be a simple conversation
where someone asked an innocent
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:question about what you charge
and you go into defensive mode.
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:Most clients are trying to defend
their prices that they themselves don't
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:actually believe in, and that's why they
go into defense and argumentation mode.
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:The prices were not set on a
foundation, so they don't have the
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:belief that those are, or the knowing
that those are the right prices.
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:So there's no solid foundation upon
which to have a good, value led
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:pricing conversation, and that is one
of the main reasons why they end up
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:in defense and argumentation mode.
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:So why do people get in this position?
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:There are many reasons and the main
one is being, they lack a clear way to
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:set prices they actually believe in.
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:They don't know how to set them and
they're skipping that entire decision
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:process around how they're finding
the right prices in their business.
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:And of course, if you don't believe in it,
then you don't feel confident in it, and
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:you feel more of that urge to defend or
to argue why those are the right price.
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:Some people simply copy what others
are doing, and again, just copying
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:what someone else is doing doesn't
mean that it's right for your business.
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:Maybe it's right for their business.
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:Maybe they're losing money, you don't
know, but just copying what someone else
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:does isn't gonna give you the confidence
to say, "Hey, I know this is the right
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:price and this is why I know that."
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:Oftentimes people will throw at a price
before they actually understand the
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:offer or the needs of the customer, and
that again, leads to feeling uncertain.
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:You're just trying to throw argumentation
at the wall and see what sticks with
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:the client rather than having done
the work upfront and knowing it.
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:Maybe they've haven't got a plan yet for
actually navigating such conversations.
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:It could also be a preparation.
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:So maybe they put some, logic behind
the prices that they have, but then
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:they didn't pull that into having a
plan for how to have the discussion.
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:So that's another what reason
why people end up in this
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:defense and argumentation mode.
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:It can also be that they don't understand,
aren't clear or don't believe in the
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:value that their offer, whether it
be a product service or a software
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:actually delivers, or that it's not
aligned with what the customer wants.
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:And that leads me to the last reason
that I'm gonna mention here, and that's
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:that they're unclear on the customer.
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:And what often happens is people try
to create offers that are great for
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:anyone because they think that if they
cast a wide net, it means they'll have
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:the opportunity to have more sales.
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:But often what they're.
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:They're doing what I call for selling.
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:So they're trying to, you know, put
a square peg in a round hole in a,
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:in, in this context, they're selling
something to a lot of people, a lot
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:of customers or clients who actually
it's not suitable or fit for.
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:And then when they get pushback, they
feel they need to defend, and they're
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:defending with arguments, if you will,
that aren't actually fit for purpose.
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:So it feels really uncomfortable.
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:So now we're moving a little bit from
why they are in there to what they're
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:doing, but I wanted to bring these
six reasons up because maybe you see
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:some of that in what you are doing,
and it's important to reflect on that.
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:So why does going on the
defensive feel necessary and
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:at the same time, so difficult?
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:It's a symptom, of what's going on.
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:If you're going into a conversation
and you don't feel confident because
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:you're not sure about your price or the
customer, or the value or the scope of
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:the project or whatever it is, you're
trying to fix it with argumentation.
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:Argumentation, or defending
what your price is isn't
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:necessarily the right thing to do.
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:'cause it's just a symptom of not having
done some aspect of the work upfront.
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:It feels necessary because you've set a
price and by setting it, you've made a
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:statement that this is the right price,
but you don't feel so certain about it.
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:And so you try to argue to then defend it.
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:You're tossing out arguments.
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:Or let's say, let's put it this
way, why does it feel so hard?
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:So you're tossing out arguments that
don't really fix what you're feeling.
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:So that's one of the reasons that
it feels so difficult because
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:deep down you know that it's not
actually gonna solve the problem.
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:You're just kind of hoping that somebody
will take your word for it in a sense.
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:And things like scripts and hacks can be
useful when you have the confidence, but
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:they will not replace the clarity on the
price and the value that you deliver.
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:So these are two reasons, these last two
are reasons why it feels so hard is, you
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:know, those arguments might feel hard
putting out there because you not really
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:in a solid position to be able to defend.
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:And then of course it
feels that much harder.
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:Here's my point.
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:Clarity earlier in the process makes
everything easier going forward.
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:And that is a really big point.
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:I want you to write down or type into
your, your calendar or note somewhere
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:for yourself because especially when it
comes to having sales conversations and
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:leading those conversations with the
value, which is where I want you to get
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:to, you need to have that clarity upfront
otherwise it gets difficult very quickly.
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:Just like knowing the customer makes
finding the right price easier.
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:Having a clear pricing process means that
you've done the work upfront to help you
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:build that foundation upon which you can
feel confident about what you charge.
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:And then the beauty is you don't
need to argue and you don't
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:need to go on the defensive.
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:I saw this last year with plenty
of clients looking for arguments.
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:Once we rooted the discussion and
their prices in value, it shifted
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:and made things much easier.
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:Now, it's not gonna
solve all your problems.
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:There will always be customers and
clients and situations that come up that
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:take you outside that comfort zone, but.
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:Over the long run, you're going
to build that repertoire of skills
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:to be able to handle those situ
situations with much more ease.
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:So what do I mean by earlier?
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:Definitely before getting to selling
and before communicating prices,
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:you need that base level of clarity
before you're going to market.
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:Now, I'm not saying you have to have
all the answers and we are definitely
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:not looking for perfection, but if you
understand the value of what you deliver
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:in relation to the customer you're
targeting, and you've looked at all the
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:right aspects that build up and make
a good price, then you're in a better
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:position to be able to handle those
conversations when they do come up.
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:The clarity here that matters the most
is you understanding why that price is
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:fair to both you and to your clients.
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:Now, if you follow me, you know I
talk a lot about finding a fair price.
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:'cause I hear that from a
lot of my clients, "janene, I
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:just wanna find a fair price."
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:There are three components of a
fair price, a fair price reflects
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:the value that is delivered, enough
people are willing to pay for it,
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:and it brings a reasonable profit.
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:So if the price is fair, it
meets those requirements.
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:So we're talking about
anchoring things in value.
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:That's where willingness to pay, and
of course, the value piece come from.
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:And understanding what is profitable
and gonna help you be there to build
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:and grow your business and be there
for your clients defense and arguments,
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:then transform into anchors of pricing.
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:Yeah, so if you are anchors
of value, let me be more clear
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:about actually anchors of value.
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:So when you understand the
value, those become the anchors.
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:You don't need arguments anymore.
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:You don't need to defend your
prices because you're leading all
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:of your conversations, whether
they are in written or spoken form.
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:You're leading those conversations
from a position of value.
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:So there's no defensing defensiveness,
there's no argumentation needed per
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:se, because you are talking about
things from a perspective of value.
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:So you end up leading the conversation
from a much more stable place,
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:and you don't feel that same level
of pressure that you do when you
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:don't have that foundation there.
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:That's what makes it ultimately
possible to communicate calmly
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:because you know deep in your heart,
because you've done the work, that
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:you set prices that are fair to all.
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:As we kick off this new year 2026, I'd
encourage you to reflect on the following.
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:If you find yourself defending price
as often, it's worth asking yourself,
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:where is that effort coming from?
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:Is it about the conversation in front
of you or is it about the decisions
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:that were never anchored earlier on?
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:That's all I have for
you for today's episode.
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:I hope that you enjoyed
this conversation arguing.
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:We're talking about leading,
understanding, and leading with value.
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:That is your path to path
to pricing success in:
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:And for those of you who are interested,
you know that I offer a group program
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:called the Fair Price Formula and the
next cohort starts at the end of February.
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:If you'd like to know more about
it, head on over to The pricing Lady
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:dot com back slash set my prices.
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:I wish you all the best.
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:Have a great day, and as
always, enjoy pricing.