0:00:01 - Betsy Jordyn
Discover seven smart, psychology-based pricing strategies that can transform your consulting or coaching sales. On this episode of the Enough Ready Podcast. And welcome to the Enough Ready Podcast. This is the show for consultants and coaches who want to forge their own path to success in their career and in their lives, and I'm your host, betsy jordyn, and today we are wrapping up my mini-series on Irresistible Offers with a conversation about pricing strategies that you can use to boost your sales, the psychology behind them and why they work, so that you can decide if using them works for you. So the thing about pricing is it's a very complex topic, right? You know it's super complex with many angles. So there's one angle, which is the pricing approach that you might choose to use. So you might choose to get paid for your time, you might choose to get paid for your value, you might have a flat fee or a retainer, and then there's the actual price or price range you choose. Then, of course, the big one, the mindset issues and charging what you're worth. I can tell you, I've worked with so many clients that when I talk about what their fees actually should be, they want to spend a lot of time like underneath their bed because it's like, oh my gosh, so overwhelming. So for this type of guidance, I think you're going to need a lot more than I could offer you in a podcast. So if you're struggling with pricing in that level, I would invite you to sign up for a free strategic clarity coaching. Call with me at www.betsyjordyn.com. Forward slash schedule and we could chat about that. And, of course, if you want to learn more about how to frame your offers, I do have my free guide. It's at www.betsyjordyn.com. Forward slash framing hyphen offers, hyphen blueprint. But today, what I want to talk to you about are a couple things that tweaks you can make to how you present your pricing and the psychology behind them, so that you can decide what works for you and what is in alignment with your values. So there are these psychological tricks that you'll see a lot of people use from marketing and sales standpoint and they work for a lot of really good reasons, but they may not work for you based on your values. So that's really the obstacle. So I was chatting with a potential client the other day who was telling me about this video video training that she was a part of. So she wanted to learn how to get better at videos, and so she watched this company pitch their whole offer, which she really loved, and she really got turned off by what they said at the end, because they used a lot of scarcity and they really drove her crazy. And so that's some of the obstacles with some of these pricing techniques. So I'm going to share with you the kind of like take you behind the scenes around why they work and why someone like this particular client, why she had a negative reaction because it just didn't suit her values, and so you get to make a decision. So I'm going to just give you seven. There's a bunch more, but I'm just going to give you the top seven that relate to consultants and coaches. So let's dive in.
Number one reciprocity. I love reciprocity. This is one of my favorite ways of helping boost my sales, which is all about giving something of value upfront to clients which makes them want to give back to you. So there's this theory it's called the equity theory by J Stacey Adams, I think it is, and in this theory it says that people have a psychological need for balance, you know. So that if you, if they, get more than they give, then they're going to want to create that balance, and it's going to come in the form of buying more from you or positive word or mouth or that kind of thing, and then if they feel like it's the other side, then it's like that they paid more than they got. Then it's going to come in the form of complaints and wanting refunds and that kind of thing. That's going to be what creates that balance. So the whole idea here is that when you have reciprocity, you really activate the limbic system. You activate the part of the brain that is in mammals that creates connections with people, and so when you give, it creates feelings in somebody else of gratitude and indebtedness, and so they get a reward and satisfaction because you did something for them. Now they're going to be motivated and then you know they're. They're logical brain, the neocortex kicks in where they're like I wonder how I can reciprocate. So the thing is, is this works really well? Because clients are more likely to take action and working with you when they feel like they are receiving value first. So this is why you know having a lead magnet on your website, you know something that you offer for free in exchange for their name and email is so powerful, or free intro call is really important because they feel like I got something. Or if you are doing webinars or things along those lines, that's really helpful to help people be more motivated to sign up for a paid program.
My podcast here is an example of reciprocity. I'm giving you something so that when you are ready to work on, let's say, the topic that we're talking about now is all about offers and pricing and how you frame them up, I'm going to be the one that you're going to talk to because I've already given you some value. So reciprocity feels really good for me as a consultant and as a coach and for my clients, because we're all about service, and so reciprocity is a great way to just use it strategically and use it with the intention of, like, I'm giving first. So the ethics that you need to consider is totally ethical, as long as whatever you're offering is genuine and not manipulative, you know, but you're really offering out of the best of you and just trusting that what's going to come back to you is going to be positive because of the positive energy that you're putting out. So the action item as it relates to this particular pricing strategies give first always the whole idea. When you are posting on social media. They would say do three posts for every three give posts for every one sales kind of post. Or three emails for every kind of sales email. So value, value, value. Then you could ask for a sale. Value, value, value, value. Then you could ask for a sale give first always. So that's the first one.
The second one is all about offering bonuses. So I've gotten really interested in the whole idea of bonuses, especially as I've moved from a B2B consulting business to a B2C coaching business, and this is all about offering additional content, resources or services to whatever your offer is. The benefit of this is the bonuses create this perception of like this added value, and it helps people want to really act and act quickly. The thing about bonuses is it appeals again to that limbic system, so the part of our brain that really creates connection with other people, and it creates that feeling of excitement and reward. So clients may perceive like this is a game, and then their their logical brain will kick in and say, hmm, this offer seems a whole lot more valuable, and so it makes people feel like they are getting more for their money. It makes that purchasing much more attractive. Even if they never use the things that are in the bonus, they just will feel that way.
So if you're a coach, one of the things that you can offer, if you're a B2C coach, if you're working with individuals, you for sure can offer free e-courses, access to a community or an exclusive playlist, or discounts of future programs or that kind of thing. If you're a consultant trying to work with organizations, you also might have a library of free courses or you might offer other bonuses might be like you know, I'll give you a month of available on call access could be one, or perhaps you might say I will. You know, if you do this many people in my trusted advisor program, I'll give you a bonus and give you like a couple extras or something along those lines. So the whole idea is being creative and sweetening the deal and making your offer to seem even better. So the thing about the ethics here is the ethical issues will arise is if the bonuses are not genuinely valuable, like so if you might have been on webinars or seen sales pages where they say you know, you get bonuses worth $10,000 and you look at the valuation that they put to the bonuses and you're like, hmm, that's really worth $10,000. You definitely don't want to do that. That's an ethical challenge and you don't want to, you know so you don't want to overflate it and you don't want to create some sort of sense of obligation, like you don't want to put the bonuses in the bonuses as a core element of what actually is involved in that offer, because then if they don't say yes or they don't want the bonus, then you're going to risk. You know what the results are that you can create for your clients. So those are the ethical considerations, but the action item is sweeten the deal and, when possible, make the bonuses almost equal in value to the offer. But the bonuses, again, should not be something that would be essential for creating the results that you are promising in your offer. It just enhances it.
So now let's talk about smart strategy number three, which is all about offering options and options with pricing. So offering multiple pricing options for the same product or service is very helpful. So options are. So great is that when you give clients options, you really change the conversation from if we're going to work together to how. The other thing, though, from a psychology standpoint, is options and option pricing appeals to our logical brain because it really activates that rational decision making, because now I have a bunch of different options and now I could evaluate the pros and cons and so the clients are in a position where they could say I can choose what best suits my needs and budgets. So it gives someone a sense of control and it gives them a more likelihood to create a purchase. Because now it's like oh, I have a lot of different options.
So it's not just about offering like payment plans that's another one to which I'm going to get to in a second it's really all around different levels of access to you. So you could think about your packages in terms of like Silver, gold and Platinum, or the good, better and best is to say all right, here's the base model, this will get you here. So you could picture, like cars, this is a you know little. You know little, you know Toyota Sienna that's going to get you from here to there, but this is the one with all the bells and whistles, you know, and this that's the Gold program, and then this is the one with all the extra luxury and all of that kind of stuff. So you're offering different levels and that creates psychologically, it's like I'm of choice and I could have control over this decision.
The ethical issues will arise, as if the options are very confusing and it doesn't make sense and there's not clear differentiation. It just looks like you're just offering a very little for the second level or very little for the third, which makes somebody might feel like, well, I don't really have an option here. Or if you put an option in front of them that's not remotely in the ballpark of something that they would want, it's like it's not really an option if you're giving up something that you know they'll say no to. So the action is change the conversation with your clients from if to how you'll work together by offering options. Number four price anchoring. So price anchoring evolves presenting higher priced options first. So in the last strategy I talked about options. This one is about how you present these options, where you would present the higher priced option first, which is the anchor to make the subsequent less expensive options seem more reasonable.
So the issue here, or why this works, is it influences the perception of value, so it leverages what's called the contrast principle. So this is when clients will encounter the higher price items, so that they're, like you know, survival brain may is initially perceived as like a threat, like, oh my gosh, this is too much. It's auto control might create like a fight or flight. But then when they see the lower price, like also now the neocortex, you know, the logical brain is like, ah, this is a much better deal, you know. And now the limbic system, you know, the emotional brain is all connected like, oh, this feels really good. So it's like you almost kind of like freak people out in the beginning and there's like, ah, this feels better. You could see that there might be some some ethical issues here, you know.
So if you're going to let's say you did have three packages like the basic of 500, standard at 1000, premium at 2500, you put the premium one first, the 2500, then maybe the 1000, then maybe the 500. That's what the anchoring is. The issue here is if the anchor price is actually the real price or if it's inflated. And if you're just doing it to freak out the customers or the clients, I get concerned anytime we really try to activate the fight or flight brain. That's just Betsy's ethics. It may not be yours. I don't know if I like the idea of bringing that kind of anxiety into the fold, but that's just me. But for you it may not be an issue for you. So then, if you are presenting your options, then do the highest price one first. So if you have like three different levels on your sales page, you'll do the most expensive one first, so that anchors it. So the other one seemed like a better deal. But no matter what you do, the action, the action here is make sure the anchor price actually reflects the true value and make sure you're not confusing your audience. So if they are like I don't understand, like these are options of increasing value, but now this is an option of decreasing value, if you're making your clients think too hard and it's not going to be logical, I wouldn't try this strategy.
Number five payment plans at discounts for upfront payment. I love this one. I use this one all the time. The thing about payment plans and discounts is number one is it does offer clients choice. So anytime you can give people choices, as I mentioned, you change the conversation from if we're going to work together to how. But being flexible in terms of how they pay, you helps people feel like okay, you're reasonable, we can work together, and it also really helps like the part of the brain that does like to do rational financial planning where they can make decisions where they could think about it as saying okay, would I rather pay more over time but be able to have my cash flow, or do I want to get a discount and just pay up front? And so what's nice about that is you're giving people choice. So you're making either your payment more flexible and but it's going to cost more, or you're going to make it the best value and they're going to get paid up front. So it's really nice, because then you are accommodating different people at different price points or different cash flow.
So you might have a coaching program that you could say all right, my coaching program is $1,200 upfront or a three monthly payments of 450. Whatever you're going to do, you're going to make sure that you are going to charge more for the monthly payment For consulting. This is what I've always done is it's 50% down, 50% at 45 days, 10% discount for upfront payment. What I love about this, too, is it gets the money issue off the table as fast as possible, especially when you're doing a corporate, because getting lost in their whole AP system is very difficult and you don't want to spend a lot of time chasing money and it definitely interferes with your relationship with your clients, but also when you're working as a coach, working with individuals. You have to recognize that a lot of times people are making decisions literally between do I pay you or do I feed the babies, and so you are offering support by being flexible. Real issues will arise if there's hidden fees or interest rates or something like that.
So you just need to be really transparent in the payment plans. So here's your action for your payment plan formula Take the price, whatever it might be, and then add in whatever you imagine the discount would be for upfront cash payments. So let's say you have a program and it's a certain price. You add in. You want them to say $500. So you take the program, add the 500, then you divide that number by payment plans and those are your two prices. So, and again, remember, when you're dealing with corporate though I would not do like monthly kind of payment plans is either 50% down, 50% so that you can minimize how much you have to deal with the accounts payable department. So that's that pricing strategy.
Now let's talk about the whole pricing psychology of ending with like a seven or nine. I know you've seen this all the time. You've seen this probably your whole life as a consumer. So this is when you price products or services just below a whole number. So instead of charging something for $10, it's $9.99 or if it's, or it's $97 or something like that. So instead of rounding up, you just end it with a seven or nine. So the benefit here is that the customers or the clients will perceive these prices as significantly lower, even though the differences are actually minimal. So the thing about this one is it helps people feel like, okay, I need to conserve resources. So it does kind of hit a little bit more of like you know, our survival self of like I need to conserve resources. And it does help somebody feel better about a purchase. It makes them feel like, okay, I'm getting a deal of some kind. But let's talk about the difference between a seven and a nine. So you could have a program that it ends with $4997 or it could be $4999. So you might be wondering, well, which way should I go?
Prices that end with a seven often convey convey something that is being discounted or on sale. So this appeals to clients who are looking for like a perceived bargain. So the number seven is associated with luck and is considered a friendly and appealing number, in contrast to number nine, prices that end with nine suggest value for money, so clients perceive these prices as slightly lower than round numbers and associate them with affordability. The number nine is often used to create a sense of precision and exactness. So you could choose to end with a seven, choose to end with a nine. It's definitely considered ethical as long as these prices aren't deceptive or misleading. So what I would just recommend your action for this particular pricing strategy is just experiment with your prices and see if ending them with a seven or nine makes a difference. In how I've tried out both of both different ways. I haven't noticed it being dramatic one way or another, but it feels like I feel stronger and I feel like the offer seems stronger when I put the nine versus the seven. So I would just say try it out, see what happens.
Okay, here's my least favorite one number seven, using scarcity, the thing about scarcity. So this is where you create a sense of urgency by saying there's a limited quantity or limited time offer or some sort of exclusivity. This particular strategy works very, very well. It works completely well because it taps into our survival brain's, fear of missing out, and it compels people to act quickly. So the thing about this one is it creates anxiety, it creates urgency, it can prompt quicker decision making and action. It works because it taps into very basic parts of our brain, and so there's reasons for why. When people see like doors close in a few hours or sign up by the end of the webinar, or else this amazing deal is going to disappear, or you see an email with those content I mean not content, those countdown clocks or these limited bonuses will disappear, or there's only five spots available it definitely gets you to move, but it also makes you feel very anxious. So this was the example I was using at the beginning of the podcast is it creates anxiety.
And so the thing about this one, from an ethical consideration, is Do you really want to be tapping into someone's survival brain? Let's say you're a coach and you have a coaching program and there literally is a start time and an end time and there literally is limited spots. You are that's natural actual scarcity. You don't really have an option. Or if you're like one of my clients, she's already booked up until the end of the year and into half a next year. That's just facts. That's reality.
It's different when you just put that on there where it's not really true, when you're just doing it to drive people into a quick decision, and consultants and coaches we are in the transformation business and their decision to work with us is so much more about them and what they want to do in their lives and if they're ready to take action, versus, like us, trying to get the sale. So I would rather. I would rather unless like when you do have those times of actual scarcity, you know communicate that. But instead of really aggravating that kind of thing, like you're going to go away and this coaching is never going to be available again, which is not actually true you could really put more into what's the cost if they don't take action Like when I talk to my clients and they aren't working on their brand positioning or they're not working on their website and they're not taking action. I would rather focus more on what's the cost, you know.
So if you don't have clear messaging, what's, how's that affecting your ability to attract clients, land clients, make your dreams come true. How much money are you wasting on expensive trial and error? That's more accurate because that's their decision and they need to weigh that. So you have to decide when you have authentic scarcity. You know, say it because that's accurate. But when you don't have authentic scarcity, do you really want to use that and does that fit your values? And is there other ways that you can tap into really what's on, what's on the table for the client, what's the money and opportunities that are being left there if they don't take action? And that's a way that you can ethically use scarcity without freaking out the survival brain and making somebody say, okay, fine, I'll sign up, and then they're going to regret it and they're not going to get results and you're going to have a very difficult time with getting somebody to work with you who's really not ready to get results.
So we've talked about a lot of different things in this short podcast. We discussed the seven pricing strategies and why they work from a psychological standpoint. We explored the ethical considerations so you could decide which ones align with your values, and we went over some tweaks you can make to boost your sales with your pricing adjustments. So here's your next steps Take a look at your pricing and identify where you can make some tweaks and then just experiment and test and see what works best for you, what makes you feel really good and what really gets your clients motivated to take action on what's in their best interest. And, for sure, if you need help on your pricing strategy and if you see room for improvement, definitely head on over to www.betsyjordyn.com. forward slash schedule and let's talk about it. Let's look at your offers holistically.
This is my last episode in my little mini series on irresistible offers. I'm very excited about my new irresistible offer clarity VIP experience. You can learn more about that on my website or on our phone call, and the whole idea here is you deserve to make money to make a difference and do what you love and get paid what you're worth, and all of these things come together in your offers. And so if you are not really monetizing the best of who you are and you are not converting clients with the ease that you know you could be, that's when you know you need some help. So hopefully, you can get some traction from these podcast episodes, or if you need additional help, let's chat about that as well. So again, this is a wrap on this mini series.
Next week I'm going to be back with my inspiring interviews, so you know, as I mentioned earlier, I love those interviews, so definitely be sure to hit subscribe wherever you're listening, and if you're interested in being on my podcast, you know definitely. Send me an email at www.betsyjordyn.com. If you've got something that you would love to share with my listeners and you think that would create value, I'd love to have you on the show. I absolutely adore my interviews. I feel like I'm the best learner. I'm the first learner that I get to witness so much brilliant. So if you want to be on the show, let me know. And until next time, thanks for listening. Thank you for tuning in. If today's episode lit a fire in you, please rate and review enough already on Apple Podcasts or subscribe wherever you listen. And if you're looking for your next step, visit me on my website at www.betsyjordyn.com. and it's Betsy Jordyn with the why, and you'll learn all about our end to end services that are custom designed to accelerate your success. Don't wait. Have a great day.
