The Price and Value Journey

Pricing and Self-Limiting Beliefs One of the biggest problems solo and small firm professional services providers have with their pricing is self-limiting beliefs. What's the solution? Value pricing. The Price and Value Journey is presented by John Ray and produced by the North Fulton studio of Business RadioX®. About The Price and Value Journey The title of this show describes the journey [...]

The Problem with Value Propositions Value propositions can be helpful in your business if you craft them correctly, and there's only one right way. It involves talking to clients . . . repeatedly. The Price and Value Journey is presented by John Ray and produced by the North Fulton studio of Business RadioX®. About The Price and Value Journey The title of [...]

Marketing with Meaning: An Interview with Pete Steege, B2B Clarity, and Author of On Purpose If you're the CEO of a B2B company and feel like your marketing efforts are broken, you're not alone. Many of your peers see marketing as an overwhelming and complex field with too many solutions to choose from. Pete Steege [...]

Corporate Buyers Can Be Driven By Emotion, Too You might assume, if you're a consultant or some other professional services provider looking to do business with a major corporation, that that corporate buyers make decisions based on "logic," not emotion. You might assume that the decision always comes down to price. If that's what you [...]

Navigating A Recession It's a mistake to do business planning based on the predictions of economists. A better approach to navigating a recession, or any other economic environment for that matter, is to stay close enough to your clients to understand the value they perceive in your service. More in this episode. The Price and [...]

Raising Prices is Not Just About Making More Money No, contrary to what some might think, raising prices is not just about making more money. For small and medium-sized business owners, better pricing allows for reinvestment in the business which benefits employees and clients. The Price and Value Journey is presented by John Ray and produced by the North [...]

A Short Comment on Proposals In this episode of "The Price and Value Journey," John Ray notes that well-crafted proposals are focused on what successful outcomes for the client look like, not the tasks necessary to achieve those results. The Price and Value Journey is presented by John Ray and produced by the North Fulton studio of Business RadioX®. About The Price [...]

Creating a Unique Weather System On a recent trip to Alaska, I was fortunate to enjoy spectacular views of Mt. Denali without the usual cloud cover which often shrouds views from below. That cloud cover is created because of Denali's unusual height relative to surrounding peaks. Mt. Denali creates its own unique weather system, and [...]

Clients Don't Buy Gasoline Clients don't buy gasoline at a service station. They buy the ability to keep driving and go where they need to go. It's the same with professional services: clients buy solutions to their problems, not how we do what we do. The Price and Value Journey is presented by John Ray and [...]

The Financial Side of a Professional Services Firm: An Interview with Profitability Coach Bill McDermott Profitability Coach Bill McDermott, who works with law firms, engineering firms, consulting firms, and other professional services practices, joined host John Ray to discuss the financial side of a professional services firm. Bill discussed why he started his practice and [...]

It's Not a Sales Call, It's a "Best Fit" Conversation As professional services providers, we'll serve more effectively if we view our time with prospects as a "best fit" conversation instead of a sales call. The Price and Value Journey is presented by John Ray and produced by the North Fulton studio of Business RadioX®. About The Price and Value [...]

The Only Three Ways to Increase Revenue There are only three ways to increase revenue. Most professional services providers focus on just two of those ways, even though the returns on those methods are smaller and less certain. The Price and Value Journey is presented by John Ray and produced by the North Fulton studio of Business RadioX®. About The [...]

"Know, Like, Trust" Starts with Service "People do business with people they know, like, and trust." It's a cliche for a reason, because it's true. "Know, like, trust," though, has a preamble: service. Serving with no agenda or precondition is fertilizer for trust to grow. The Price and Value Journey is presented by John Ray and [...]

Trading a Corporate Job for One in Your Own Business As you're building your professional services business, it can sometimes feel like all you've done is trade your corporate job for one in your own business. This episode addresses how and why this happens, and charts a way out of this terrible feeling. The Price [...]

Prospects Who Check References What indication can you draw from prospects who check references? What does checking references reveal about a client's price sensitivity or their orientation toward value? The episode explores those questions. The Price and Value Journey is presented by John Ray and produced by the North Fulton studio of Business RadioX®. About The Price and Value Journey [...]

The Most Essential Element of a Great Testimonial While we are grateful for any client affirmation of our work, what makes for a great testimonial, one which is most effective? One word: pain. Specifically, the client's pain and dysfunction before our intervention. The Price and Value Journey is presented by John Ray and produced by the North [...]

Learning from a Martial Arts Studio A flyer from a martial arts studio offers a lesson to professional services providers who want better results from their business development activities: focus on client outcomes, not inputs such as certifications or experience. The Price and Value Journey is presented by John Ray and produced by the North Fulton studio of Business [...]

Your Price is Not the Client's Cost Your price and what the client mentally weighs as their cost are two different figures, a vital concept for us as professional services providers to understand. (In this episode, I quote from Kevin Kelly's post, 103 Bits of Advice I Wish I Had Known. You can find that [...]

The Immensely Valuable CPA What are the characteristics of an immensely valuable CPA, one who clients cannot do without? The answer goes beyond degrees, designations, and even technical expertise. A story here not just for CPAs but all professional services providers. The Price and Value Journey is presented by John Ray and produced by the North Fulton [...]

Balancing Humility and Confidence Building a successful professional services practice requires several vital mindsets, including proficiency at balancing humility and confidence. The Price and Value Journey is presented by John Ray and produced by the North Fulton studio of Business RadioX®. About The Price and Value Journey The title of this show describes the journey all professional services p...

How to Respond to the "What are Your Rates?" Question It happens all the time: prospects who start a conversation with the "what are your rates?" question. In this episode we offer several suggestions for handling this question. The Price and Value Journey is presented by John Ray and produced by the North Fulton studio of Business RadioX®. About The [...]

We Can Learn from Poor Fit Clients As professional services providers, how should we engage with poor fit clients before we refer them on to someone else? Before we let them go, we can learn from them. The Price and Value Journey is presented by John Ray and produced by the North Fulton studio of Business RadioX®. About The Price [...]

The Elephant in the Room The elephant in the room is the preconception, often negative, a prospective client brings to the table when they think about your profession. In a lot of cases, the elephant offers an opportunity to build trust, depending on how you handle it. The Price and Value Journey is presented by [...]

Why Clients Value Us: A Live Example An answer to a question I asked a podcast guest is an example of why clients value us as professional services providers. The answers they give to that question might surprise us. (The complete podcast episode from which the audio clip we used is taken can be found [...]

Pricing for a Professional Speaker A story on value pricing for a professional speaker: once he ignored the advice he received about "pricing himself out of the market" and priced relative to the value he offered, it completely changed the trajectory of his business. The Price and Value Journey is presented by John Ray and produced [...]