Employed or Self-employed

Your education prepared you to be employed, rather than self-employed. As a result, you spend countless hours thinking about raising your rates. But, you keep them where they are because you don’t want to lose clients. Most training courses for accounting firm owners overlook pricing and how to package your services.

Since you never learned an effective process, the decision to finally raise your rates is gut-wrenching.

That’s exactly what Julie, who’s a bookkeeper, experiences. She offers ala carte services, following the traditional hourly billing model. The Work with Me page on her website lists about 30 different services. Viewers quickly bounce off of her website because it fails to grab their attention. Nothing remarkable stands out.

Marketing doesn’t interest her.  And, that’s okay. On the other hand, Julie wants to raise her rates. She’s been thinking about it for two years. Although she’s aware of value based pricing and offering packages, nothing’s happened.

I’m now turning away new clients. I’m maxed out; regularly working sixty hours a week. And, I’m tired.

Her current way of doing business limits her income. When I asked about her social life and exercise, she laughed. Work has replaced time with friends, or going for a run.  Unfortunately, it’s a common problem I frequently hear during conversations with accounting professionals.

The Upper Limit

Like many of my clients, Julie’s facing an upper-limit challenge. The technical aspects of her work weigh her down. Wearing all the hats in her firm got her to this point of success.  But, she’s now maxed out. The cost of continuing to operate like this is extremely high.

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I firmly believe your accounting firm needs to support your lifestyle. The value based pricing solution untangles her time from her income. Her body physically relaxed when I shared the plan to reclaim her personal life and increase her income.

Thinking, thinking, thinking consumes time and drains your energy. As a result you tolerate the status quo for way too long, because change feels risky. The transition from thinking to action actually offers relief. Something internal shifts when you finally decide to get it done.

Julie admits she undercharged for her advisory services because she didn’t know how to price it.

Her most valuable offering, her knowledge, was buried among her general service offerings. Basically, her clients took her business development recommendations for granted. Once Julie learned how to communicate her value, her clients recognized her expertise.

Mental Blocks to Packaging Your Services

Not knowing how to transition from an hourly rate to value based pricing is the biggest hurdle. First, packaging her services is counter-intuitive.

Like most dedicated, hard-working bookkeepers, Julie maintains a high standard for herself. But, listing every single service overwhelms clients. They’re coming to her for solutions, not a laundry list of services.

The fear of losing clients stops her from doing things differently.

Fortunately, ideal clients realize the value of her expertise.  Those clients actually prefer packages to hourly billing. They choose the package which best serves their needs. Plus, the price is agreed upon before she starts the work.

How to Package Your Services

Don’t solely list the services you provide in each package. Julie’s homework is to consider her client’s point of view.

Questions to ask include:

• What problems do you solve for your clients?
• How will this impact their business?
• Why choose you? What do you offer that your competitors don’t?
• How do the multiple services you provide work together for optimal results?

The question of how your #accounting services change your client’s business for the better is more important than the tasks you do or the tools you use. Read the full post. #getpaidwhatyoureworth Click To Tweet

Packages emphasize the results her clients enjoy rather than the tasks involved. The question of how her service changes her client’s business for the better is more important than the tasks she does and the tools she uses.

 

Become Their Trusted Advisor

Like most bookkeepers, Julie doesn’t enjoy the sales part. We discussed how to enroll clients without ever pitching them. Discovering their needs, rather than talking about her service, establishes trust and authority. Advisors understand their clients deepest concerns, offer the right solutions and utilize the necessary tools to get the job done.

Eliminate the Fluff

Julie doesn’t need to list all 30 services in her packages.

The first step to package your services:

• List all the services you offer – even the ones you don’t know how to charge for.
• Remove the services which seem redundant or frivolous.
• Eliminate the services you don’t enjoy doing.
• Some services are primary whereas others are secondary.
• Highlight the primary services.
• Place the tasks, or secondary services, under the appropriate primary service.

Clarify Your Boundaries

Rather than adapt to a traditional model, create the accounting practice which best fits your lifestyle. You don’t have to be all things to all people. Offer the services you enjoy most. Then, eliminate the ones which bore you.

Packages help you avoid scope creep headaches. Develop a service agreement to clearly defines what’s included and what’s excluded before you begin working together. This educates potential clients about your system for dealing with change requests. When you clarify your boundaries in the beginning, you avoid misunderstanding later.

Are you tired of competitively pricing your services? Value based pricing is a proven strategy which attracts high-value clients. Right NOW claim your FREE RESOURCE to grow your bank account and lighten your workload.