Last week in this article “Do you charge for what you do or do you charge for what you know?”, I told you about the 3 disadvantages of charging for what you do, instead of charging for what you know. I am sure you have been thinking about this and yes, you want to make a change, reinvent your profession and start charging for what you know… but how do you do it? Start here, I will tell you:
3 requirements to charge for what you know
Key 1 - Choose your clients better
This is very simple and yet so underrated: as you are not 100% responsible for the results of your clients but you are the one who will teach them what to do and how to do it (you can guide, motivate, teach and give them many tools) but not You will do for him, you have to be more selective and make sure that you have a person in front at least as committed as you are.
On the other hand, specializing in a certain type of clients (with certain needs and urgencies) will make you a better professional to offer you more valuable solutions. It is the example of the typical saying that says "he who embraces a lot, presses little."
Key 2 - Be clear about what your knowledge contributes and how valuable it is for your clients
This is essential because you run the risk of underestimating or overestimating your knowledge and what you can achieve with it. If your knowledge is associated with an important and urgent need that your client has and your help really makes a big difference in your client's life, then it is likely that you are in high demand and can charge high prices. But if your knowledge is obsolete, as much as it is important to you or it has taken you many years to acquire it, your clients will not value it.
Remember, it does not have to do with what you think, but with what the market (your ideal customers) are willing to do (and pay) for what you know.
Key 3 - Find a suitable niche
While this is tip number 1, I decided to put it in last place because I think you need to have reflected on the previous two to grasp its essence. Finding a suitable market niche means evaluating and choosing the best combination between what you know and can contribute, and the need of that ideal client to acquire that knowledge and put it into practice.
Remember the three fundamental keys to choose a correct market niche and define your ideal client:
- Key 1 - you must love working with those people Key 2 - those people must have an urgent and important need that you can solve Key 3 - these people must value that solution enough to want to invest in solving that need (it cannot be something superficial, postponable or low need).
Once you find that niche, specialize in it and try to develop all your knowledge and your transformational power to be better and better and offer greater added value in that niche.
Bonus Track - Knowledge per se is not as valuable as the knowledge and transformation that it implies.
I am going to explain this point to you with a simple and concrete example: my clients do not value the knowledge that I can provide them so much (what strategies to implement to have a successful independent profession, what business model to develop, what action plan should be followed to achieve the stabilization and growth of their professional practice) as the transformational power, or in other words, the help I give them so that they can implement those strategies, develop that business model and carry out that action plan.
That's what it's about, helping your client achieve it. That is the added value. Not to do it for them, but to accompany them and help them achieve it. Because you must remember that, in most cases, if they have reached you it is that they cannot do it alone.
So how has your perspective regarding knowledge and what you do in your business changed due to what I have shared with you today? What can you do to offer more added value in your professional practice today?
