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  • - One of the most important

  • and one of the most critical questions

  • you have to ask yourself as an entrepreneur

  • is how much do you charge for your product or your service.

  • Now, when it comes to pricing

  • it's such an important decision

  • because it affects your marketing.

  • Done properly, pricing could also be a marketing strategy.

  • So today, I'm gonna give you not one, not two, not five.

  • Seven pricing strategies.

  • So then from now on,

  • you know exactly how you should price

  • your product or your service.

  • You see when you are not charging enough,

  • so let's say, you price too low,

  • you're not making a profit, you're not making money.

  • When you price too high,

  • then maybe you're not getting customers,

  • you're not getting enough volume so you won't grow.

  • So there's that fine balance

  • to just the right type of pricing strategy

  • could change everything.

  • Pricing strategy number one, price to your competition.

  • That means find out what your competitors are charging

  • and then maybe you charge kind of the same.

  • Let's say, they sell this product for $100,

  • then you'll say, "Okay, I'll sell mine for also $100."

  • Now, sometimes, I also see entrepreneurs

  • what they do is they would take the the average prices

  • of the, let's say, three top competitors,

  • and then they would just add it together and divide it up.

  • That also, I've seen that before.

  • Price to your competition.

  • Now, there is some industries, in some cases,

  • that might be okay.

  • You want to be competitive, right?

  • Especially if you are in a what I call,

  • a commodity kind of a business.

  • That means your customers,

  • they are shopping for the best price.

  • So by having a price

  • that's maybe 5%, 10% higher than everybody else

  • within your industry that might be hurting you

  • because your customer's like,

  • "Hey, you know what, you charge $100.

  • "I talked to your competitor,

  • "your competitor only charges 90 or 95."

  • Now, unless you've done your proper marketing

  • or you know how to position yourself,

  • that might be a difficult objection to overcome.

  • So price to your competition.

  • Now there's a downside to this.

  • That means you are always reacting, right.

  • You're always reacting to what your competitors are doing.

  • They bump up their price, you bump up your price.

  • They lower their price, you lower your price.

  • You're always reacting to what your competitors are doing.

  • If you want to be a leader,

  • ideally you want to play offense.

  • We want to be the one that's leading.

  • We want to be the one that's dictating the terms,

  • dictating the price in the marketplace

  • so others follow versus you follow others.

  • Does that make sense?

  • Pricing strategy number two, price to pay the bills.

  • I call this the break-even strategy.

  • What it means is you price it enough

  • so that you just break even.

  • It covers your overhead, it covers your cost.

  • Well, that might be good in the beginning in some cases

  • that you are maybe entering a new marketplace.

  • You're testing things.

  • You're saying, "Hey, you know what,

  • "all I want to do is just to break even.

  • "I just want to test the waters.

  • "See how the marketplace reacts to my offer."

  • It's possible.

  • Or sometimes, you gotta use it very carefully, right.

  • Otherwise, you'll go bankrupt doing this.

  • 'Cause you're not making a profit.

  • Is you are pricing, using the break-even strategy

  • to acquire a large volume of customers.

  • Sometimes I call that the self-liquidating offers.

  • Meaning this is for your low-ticket offer, on the front end.

  • You price it, just want to break even.

  • If I'm selling a book,

  • I don't make money from selling the book,

  • but it's just to break even.

  • That's fine, because that's what a book costs.

  • It's $20, right?

  • So you sell the book, similar price.

  • But you know all the profits, all the wealth

  • comes from the follow-up offers.

  • So you know all the profits,

  • all the wealth comes from afterwards.

  • The follow-up.

  • What you offer to the customers who have bought your book.

  • That's what we want to do.

  • Is this making sense?

  • Strategy number three, and that is price to time.

  • This is probably one of the most common pricing models.

  • A lot of people do this.

  • Lawyers, professionals, accountants use this a lot.

  • They charge per hour or they charge per day

  • or charge per week, or charge even per month.

  • That's kind of like a retainer model.

  • Price to time.

  • How much time am I spending on this particular task?

  • How much time am I spending on this project, right?

  • And that's how I would charge.

  • So they charge $20, $30, $50.

  • Lawyers, $100, $200, $500 per hour.

  • Price to time.

  • Now, this model is very, very common

  • but to me, personally,

  • I think this model is getting out of date.

  • As we are now transitioning from the job economy

  • to what I call skill economy,

  • now companies and people, they are paying for results.

  • They much prefer to pay for results.

  • And here's what I believe.

  • When you price to time,

  • the problem with that model is the relationship

  • that you have between you and your client,

  • that relationship is always, there's a conflict of interest.

  • What I mean by that.

  • Okay, let's say you charge $50 per hour for what you do.

  • Okay.

  • And you bill them $50 per hour.

  • And this is gonna take you 10 hours.

  • And you bill them $500.

  • Okay, that's one thing.

  • But let's say you could get this done in eight hours.

  • Now, be honest.

  • Are you gonna bill them eight or 10 hours?

  • Even if you could get it done in eight hours,

  • or you're gonna get it done within eight hours.

  • Because the relationship is,

  • the longer it takes for you to finish something,

  • the more money you make.

  • Versus from the client's perspective,

  • I want to get this done as efficiently, as fast as possible.

  • But yet, I'm paying for time.

  • So how does this work?

  • This is always, this is a conflict of interest.

  • You want to make as much money as possible.

  • They want you to get it done for as little time as possible.

  • So price to time,

  • and there's a time and place for this,

  • but I don't believe in that so much anymore

  • because the whole model of back in the industrial age,

  • clock in and clock out.

  • No.

  • I don't believe in that.

  • Here's what I believe in.

  • No fee is too high for success

  • and almost any fee is too high for failure.

  • When your clients are paying you,

  • they're paying for results.

  • When can we get this done?

  • And shouldn't they be rewarded if they can get it done

  • in five hours instead of eight hours?

  • If you can get it done faster, better, more efficiently,

  • why shouldn't they be rewarded?

  • Why would I have to pay more

  • for you to drag the projects longer?

  • It makes no sense.

  • But it is a very common model

  • and still a lot of people use it.

  • If you want to use it that way, that's fine, too.

  • Price to time.

  • Pricing strategy number four, price to cost plus.

  • Now this is very common in,

  • let's say in the construction business.

  • So, on the surface, very logical.

  • So this is gonna cost how much to get this project done?

  • Let's say this project's gonna cost a million dollars?

  • That's the cost, right?

  • And then you'll just add a 10, 15% mark up on that.

  • Let's say I'm selling this item, it's $10,000.

  • I'm just gonna add my mark up, my 15%, right.

  • That's fine, that's one way to do it.

  • Now you see this, again, very common in interior design

  • and construction and a lot of different industries.

  • Now what's the problem with this model?

  • It's very a common model.

  • But same thing with the price to time model,

  • it's something that has been around a long time,

  • it's logical but, again,

  • they are getting paid based on spending more money.

  • So if I'm a contractor, let's say,

  • and I know this project with materials and everything

  • is gonna cost a million dollars.

  • And I'm gonna earn my mark up on them, my 15%.

  • 150K.

  • Now if there are ways that I could save money,

  • if I can use materials that are better

  • but actually cost less

  • and I get the whole thing done, maybe $800,000.

  • Now most contractors, not saying all,

  • but most contractors will think,

  • "Well, do I really want to get it done for $800K

  • "because now I make less money

  • "doing the same amount of work?

  • "Or is it in my kind of self interest, best interest

  • "to spend as much money as possible?"

  • From the client's perspective on the other hand,

  • the more money that you spend,

  • the more expensive the materials,

  • the more expensive the labor, the more money that you make.

  • From the client's perspective, it's the opposite.

  • How do you get the best product,

  • how do you get the best outcome

  • for the least amount of money?

  • Again, it's conflict of interest.

  • But very, very common, price to cost plus.

  • Now, let's say if I am building a building,

  • I'm building an office.

  • I can tell you that's not the model I would strive for.

  • I would do something that's very completely different.

  • Example, I would negotiate with the contractor,

  • this is what Dan Lok would do,

  • I would have a very clear budget and I would say,

  • "Here's the budget, right, let's say a million dollars, ok"

  • But here's what I would do.

  • Out of this million dollars,

  • chances are you're gonna maybe 150K.

  • I'm more than happy to pay 150K.

  • But if you could save me money,

  • the two things I look for,

  • if you can get it done for $800K,

  • you're smart, I'm gonna give you a bonus.

  • I'm not gonna pay you $150,

  • I'm gonna pay you another $20,000, $30,000.

  • Whatever it might be, depends on whatever the project is.

  • Second thing, KPI would have is,

  • if you can get it done on time or even early,

  • I'm gonna pay you another bonus

  • for the result that you produce.

  • So now then we're on the same page.

  • Right, you follow what I'm saying?

  • Now we're on the same page.

  • So you and I, we're thinking about the same thing.

  • We're focused on the same thing.

  • Have the same goal.

  • To get it done, get the project done on time or early.

  • You get compensated for that.

  • To get it done below the budget and save money,

  • you're getting compensated for that.

  • You see how that works?

  • So the contractor that takes on this deal

  • knows I am results focused.

  • We're on the same page.

  • He doesn't need to find ways to cut corners,

  • or try to mark up stuff, or materials and all that.

  • No.

  • It's in his best interest to work on my behalf

  • to lower the cost, to get a great product done

  • but at a lower cost, timely fashion.

  • That's what I would do.

  • But again, you know,

  • that's one pricing model that's out there.

  • That's pretty common.

  • Pricing strategy number five,

  • and that is price to the package.

  • Now I like this one.

  • I use this one a lot.

  • It means that you are creating an offer.

  • You're creating a package.

  • And simply, let's say the package,

  • the total value is worth $10,000.

  • And you're only charging your customers $1,000 or $2,000.

  • They're only paying a fraction of what the entire value,

  • the package is worth.

  • I like this a lot.

  • First of all, it makes the offer irresistible.

  • Number two, if you want to increase price,

  • all I need to do is

  • how could I increase the value that I deliver?

  • And I like to use a general rule of thumb

  • and I'm giving that to you.

  • I call that the one to 10.

  • Meaning for, let's say for an educational product,

  • for $1,000 I charge,

  • I want to deliver at least $10,000 worth of value.

  • If I want to charge $2,000,

  • I want to deliver at least $20,000 worth of value.

  • Now although some of those products,

  • some of the bonuses it could be digital products, right?

  • That is instant access.

  • It actually doesn't cost me a lot to deliver that value

  • which is great 'cause it's scalable.

  • But at the same time the value is there.

  • The value, it's real value, this is how much it would cost

  • if they buy it from different sources.

  • So that's very powerful.

  • So price to the package.

  • Just think about how you can apply this in your business.

  • Versus just selling the widget, the product,

  • the whatever that you're selling,

  • how can you package in a way that is attractive?

  • Let me give you another example.

  • Let's say you are selling website development.

  • Instead of saying, "Hey, you know what,

  • "I'm gonna charge you $100 an hour to design your website."

  • You see how that's like, "well, how long it's gonna take?

  • "Well, it's gonna take me, you know, 100 hours."

  • "Okay, great, I'm gonna pay you 100 hours."

  • Versus package.

  • So, this website development package we are going to design

  • let's say a 10 page website for you.

  • And we're gonna also set up a blog for you.

  • And we're gonna create also 20 landing pages for you.

  • We are gonna create 30 email follow-ups for you

  • so that you can convert those leads into sales, right.

  • I convert leads.

  • So you see how it's a package?

  • Now the whole thing if you buy this, and you buy this

  • and you buy this, you buy this and you buy this,

  • all separately, it's gonna be $50,000.

  • I'm just making this up, $50,000.

  • But if you buy the whole thing from us right now,

  • as a sign up, as a client today,

  • it's gonna be $20,000.

  • Now why you giving them that?

  • So you may be thinking,

  • "Well Dan aren't I giving them a discount?"

  • You're not giving a discount.

  • You price the package.

  • You know this is the package you put together

  • and you offer a more complete solution.

  • So it's more attractive.

  • 'Cause you're thinking on the client's behalf.

  • You're thinking ahead.

  • Say, "Hey, you know what?

  • "We could build a website,

  • "but won't you be needing some landing pages down the road?

  • "Won't you be needing some emails down the road?

  • "Won't you be needing all these things?"

  • "Oh, I never thought of that."

  • So, why don't we put together a package

  • with price according to that?

  • I like this model a lot.

  • Pricing strategy number six,

  • and that is price to positioning.

  • What kind of positions you have in the marketplace?

  • If you're the leading authority in your marketplace,

  • you can charge a lot more money.

  • Now most people do a lot of sales but they don't understand

  • how to do positioning.

  • How do you position yourself as the go-to person,

  • the go-to brand for whatever it is that you do?

  • Right?

  • So let me give you an example.

  • Let's say when you understand

  • the power of supply and demand.

  • So if you go to Clarity right now,

  • you see on the Clarity site,

  • my hourly rate is $10,000 US per hour.

  • 10K.

  • Now why would someone pay me 10K?

  • To consult with them on an hourly basis?

  • That's a lot of money.

  • Supply and demand.

  • Supply and demand.

  • When you understand basic economics,

  • if you have a lot of demand,

  • a lot of demand and you have very little supply,

  • and supply in this case is my time,

  • we only have 24 hours a day.

  • You can now charge a lot more money.

  • Because there's a finite amount of supply.

  • You know there's a lot of premium products

  • out there in the marketplace,

  • very often a lot of demand, limited supply.

  • So ask yourself how you could use this to your advantage.

  • How could you create a lot more demand for what you do,

  • what you offer, what you sell?

  • And then what you want to do

  • is you want to restrict the supply.

  • Just like the diamond industry.

  • Do you know there's actually

  • a ton of diamonds that's out there?

  • But the diamond industry is smart enough,

  • they know if they flood the market with so much supply,

  • then the value of diamond would go down dramatically.

  • So they restrict the supply and they drive up the demand.

  • In some cases, they manufacture the demand.

  • So then diamonds are way more valuable.

  • But keep in mind, that's priced to positioning.

  • That's all that is.

  • It's price to positioning.

  • Pricing strategy number seven, price to value.

  • This is my go-to.

  • This is my favorite

  • because that's how I like to buy things as well.

  • That's how I like to pay for things as well.

  • Price to value.

  • If I'm paying for results,

  • I would be more than happy to pay a premium for results.

  • I don't care about time, I don't care about effort,

  • I care about results.

  • So if it's a project and I pay certain amount of money,

  • the project gets done, I'm more than happy.

  • But price to value,

  • it means that there's no ceiling to your income.

  • So let me give an example.

  • Let's say you run a consulting firm.

  • You do business consulting.

  • Instead of charging the clients for,

  • "I'm gonna charge you X amount of dollars per hour."

  • Not very compelling, not very enticing

  • because the client's success

  • or failure's got nothing to do with you.

  • If they actually get more results,

  • they generate more revenue,

  • they pay the same amount of money.

  • If they get no results, you still get paid.

  • Well that's not good.

  • That means your client's taking on all the risk

  • and you are getting all the rewards.

  • Or, you can price it in such a way, price to value.

  • Let's say your client is doing a million dollars a year

  • in revenue right now, that's the base.

  • You'll come in and say, "You know what, I can help you.

  • "I am the world's best consultant on this particular topic.

  • "I can help you get more sales,

  • "get more customers, get more revenue.

  • "But whatever you're doing right now, the one million,

  • "we're not gonna touch that, that's the base.

  • "But let's say in the next three years,

  • "that through working with me.

  • "Now I'm gonna put some systems in place.

  • "I could help you go from one million

  • "to five million dollars in the next three years.

  • "We're gonna increase your revenue by 500%,

  • "that's our goal, and that's your goal.

  • "From here to here.

  • "The one million we don't count, but the four million

  • "that I've been able to help you gain in the marketplace,

  • "without me you wouldn't have had that kind of growth.

  • "Out of four million if I could help you do that,

  • "would you be comfortable of paying me

  • "a small percentage of that?"

  • It could be, I don't know, 5%, 10%, whatever the number is.

  • Only on the increase, the four million.

  • See, now that's price to value.

  • Now what if you could only help this client

  • to get to three million?

  • You get paid a little bit less,

  • you get compensated a little bit less.

  • Or you help them get to 10 million.

  • You hit it out of the park, right.

  • It's a home run.

  • Great, you get paid more.

  • See now, your interest and your client's interest,

  • it's aligned.

  • And also that means that there's no ceiling to income.

  • It also means your client knows

  • you're not gonna nickel and dime.

  • You're not gonna nickel and dime him.

  • Meaning, "Oh, yeah, we did this much

  • "and I'm gonna charge you,

  • "I'm gonna invoice you for another three hours of work."

  • That's bullshit.

  • We only care about results.

  • If you could go from one million to five million

  • doing this much work, the client doesn't care.

  • You want to go from here to here, you do this much work,

  • the client doesn't care, either.

  • So now you're working smart.

  • Now you're not getting paid based on time,

  • you're getting paid by what you bring,

  • what value you bring to their time.

  • And maybe, instead of spending this much time,

  • you only need to spend a couple hours a week on the project.

  • As long as you get the results.

  • Or you can simply make an introduction,

  • "Hey, you know what, your business doing a million,

  • "I have another client here,

  • "that I know would be a perfect fit.

  • "Why don't you guys form a strategic alliance

  • "and do some business in between?"

  • And you make the introduction.

  • And from there you bring in

  • a couple extra million of revenue to their business.

  • How much is that worth to this client?

  • A lot.

  • Has nothing to do with how much time you put into it.

  • Has to do with this.

  • That's priced to value.

  • You see how it changes the way you look at things?

  • It changes the way that you deliver value.

  • It also changes how fast you want to deliver value.

  • You want to deliver value as much and as fast as possible.

  • This is my favorite model.

  • Price to value.

  • Now depends on what you sell.

  • Comment below, let me know what pricing model

  • you are using right now.

  • What pricing strategy you are using right now.

  • Now, there's no black and white.

  • Sometimes within my business, my time,

  • Clarity, $10,000 per hour.

  • That's priced to time.

  • That's fine.

  • Price to positioning, price to value.

  • Maybe you do a hybrid model,

  • a combination of these models, these strategies.

  • Or maybe front end you do price to, to break even.

  • But then, or price to your competitors.

  • But then on the backend you have some other models,

  • maybe a price to value.

  • That's perfectly fine as well.

  • But what I'm saying is, you want to spend some time on this.

  • This shouldn't be done so, just like, half-ass.

  • This should be done very strategically.

- One of the most important

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