Matthew Burgess is a lawyer who lost a customer when he sent an email at 4:30am on a Sunday. The customer said he wanted Matthew's best work not what remained after exhaustion. This incident started Matthew's quest to find a better way. For the last ten years, he has practicing value pricing at his own firm, View Legal. He shares why the switch is a journey instead of a destination. Value Pricing as a Journey What is the most important thing you can share about pricing? Value … [Read more...]
The Magic and Logic of Pricing with Tim Williams – 034
Tim Williams is a marketing professional with over 20 years experience in large agencies. He is the founder of Ignition Consulting Group and author of Positioning for Professionals. Tim is also a Senior Fellow at the VeraSage Institute. Pricing Integrity What is the most important thing you can share about pricing? Stand your ground. When you protect your pricing integrity, it makes the client want you more. What is pricing integrity? We only have our … [Read more...]
Price Communicates Your Value with Jay Shepherd – 029
Price is more than a number. It is part of how a lawyer communicates value to the customer. To unpack this principle, Jay Shepherd, an employment litigation attorney, compares how a customer perceives an hourly rate vs. a fixed price. He says knowledge instead of activity is more valuable to the customer. Value pricing enables the customer to purchase what he wants in a manner he truly enjoys. Hourly Billing in the Legal Profession What is the most important thing you can share about … [Read more...]
How to Have a Value Conversation with Dan Morris – 023
Dan Morris runs an accounting company and loves to ask, "What if?" He thinks of himself as the rudder to help his customers think strategically. What is the most important thing you can share about pricing? Always remember that whatever the price, the price to the customer has to be less than the value they receive. The price received by the producer has to be more than the psychological and physical cost to the producer. The basics for a good value conversation include … [Read more...]
The Internal Perspective of Value Pricing with Kirk Bowman – 018
In this episode, Wes McClure continues the interview with Kirk, discussing how he uses value pricing from the perspective of a business owner and with his team. How do you ensure your team understands value? Talk about it all the time. Learn from experience. Team members can shadow on a call to learn. Your team will challenge you. Have a pricing council. We ask subcontractors for a fixed price, but they are usually providing an effort-based price. The more people … [Read more...]
The External Perspective of Value Pricing with Kirk Bowman – 017
In this episode, Wes McClure interviews Kirk on his path to value pricing, the challenges with hourly billing, and the process he uses now with his customers. What was your path to value pricing? Life-long entrepreneur. Custom software developer "by the hour" for the 15 years. Switched to value pricing for 5 years ago. Kirk shares his "conversion" story. Getting to the point you are willing to say no if you can't help the customer becomes an integrity issue. Billing by … [Read more...]
Value Is Subjective, Pricing Is Contextual with Ron Baker – 013
Ron Baker is the author of six books, including Implementing Value Pricing. He's the founder of the VeraSage Institute and a Graduate of Disney Institute. He's on the faculty of the Professional Pricing Society and a host on a talk radio show, The Soul of Enterprise. He's a LinkedIn Influencer blogger and a recovering CPA. All Value Is Subjective What is the most important thing you can share about pricing? Prices are ultimately set by value, not by the competition or … [Read more...]
Four Steps to Determine Value and Start Pricing from WordCamp DFW
In October 2014, I had the opportunity to present a session at WordCamp DFW 2014 called Four Steps to Determine Value and Start Pricing. Even though the overhead projector was not working, we had a great session on the four steps to implement value pricing including Q&A. … [Read more...]
The Value of Project Management with Ed Kless – 002
What is the essential ingredient for a successful project? You may be surprised to learn it is having a value conversation. Ed Kless says you can be so good at having a value conversation that project management becomes irrelevant. Before a project begins, you need to ask the customer why the project is important and what success looks like. … [Read more...]
Why I Switched to Value Pricing with Kirk Bowman – 001
In the fall of 2009, I participated in a panel discussion on estimating and billing practices for software developers. I took the position that hourly billing is the only way to charge the customer for custom development. At the same time, another panelist said that billing by the hour places an arbitrary limit on your income. That planted the seed to change my business model forever. … [Read more...]