New pricing tool added. A word about pricing – ours and YOURS. 3 things to always consider about p

We have added a new pricing tool, here. I am hoping that this helps you manage your monthly accounting spend.

While we would love to have you as a client, we don’t want you to over-extend your resources. We provide a great service at a great value. For those of you that would rather do your own books, we can set you up onsite with your own system and leave you to it. We can even train your in house folks if you would like.

Ours is meant to be competitive on the internet, but really, we want to attract and serve as many small business clients in California as we possibly can. These are businesses that will grow, and possibly leave for larger firms down the road. We will be glad to say we helped these folks start and flourish, and wish them the very best!

I have studied pricing extensively throughout my career. It is a fascinating and amazing concept with many schools of thought. Every business is different, but our philosophy follows three simple rules:

1. Know your price (costs) and stick with it.

2. Lose clients to price

3. Provide VALUE for your price.

Know your price (costs) and stick with it.

You have worked hard to get where you are. There is nothing wrong with having a promotion here or there to generate some interest, but don’t reduce your long-term rate to do it. Offer a free month of service or free initial consultation, but your costs are your costs. You should know how much your monthly expenses are and what you need to make in order to pay the bills and reach your goals (if you don’t, DO NOT spend another moment booking a client until you understand billing rates, expenses, and how much you really need to charge. We can help you with that, too ;-) ).

Don’t be ok with selling yourself short. In the end, it will create resentment. Trust me. There should be plenty of clients out there willing to pay the(your) price for your service. If not, maybe you chose the wrong service to sell. This is the hardest thing to do if you are in a situation where you have a payroll or big expense to meet and are short. I have been there too. I have made that mistake. Don’t do it. Prostituting yourself and your business for lower fees to make your monthly nut will just lead to bigger problems: smaller margins, tired work force, more clients asking for price relief, etc. If you have any other resources to get you through a cash crunch, use them. A line of credit, credit card, layoff or hourly cut, rich uncle – ANYTHING is better than negotiating on price no matter how defeating or demoralizing it may seem at the time.

Have confidence in your ability, service, and the fact that there are many out there that will pay your price. If you have one client that is currently paying your price, there are others, you just need to be patient and find them, they will come.

Lose clients to price

An easy one. If you win every single client, you are priced too low and leaving money on the table so to speak. If you lose clients to price, you are also letting clients know that you are not a price marketer.

Provide VALUE for your Price

You are a VALUE marketer. Giving clients VALUE for what they receive gives you the type of client you want, not some figurative entitled brat that is going to walk away for another provider for a 1% decrease in price. Let those clients go. They are most likely causing you and your staff too much pain anyway.

Upcoming Blog posts:

Its ok to make money.

How much should I charge for my service?

How much cash should I keep on hand?

How do I know when to increase my staff?