thanks to facebook friend monyea crawford of lovechild productions in atlanta ga for inspiring this post. every once in a while, he posts a simple reminder to visitors at his page — i am not paid for the hour but the value i bring to the hour. if you’re a service provider, then no doubt you’ve been asked to break down your pricing “a la carte” for consumers. or worse — after you’ve explained what you can do for a consumer and offered your price, you’re forced to justify why you charge x dollars per hour. for service providers like monyea and myself, it’s irrelevant what that math produces — because we’re not just assigning a rate to the amount of hours it takes to complete tasks. we’re accounting for our time PLUS factoring in some additional amount for the value that our excellence will deliver time and time again over the long haul. most consumers are aware innately that they’ll receive only what’s appropriate for their investment. they inconveniently suppress this at the most critical of moments — price time. where consumers cut corners, they can easily find themselves breaking even or losing ground. hopes for resolution or progress on the need in question will have been delayed or lost at the hands of a patchwork solution.
so, what does the consumer need in order to hire a top-notch service and avoid setback? 1) s/he must value her/his time (therefore seeing eye-to-eye with the same approach). 2) s/he must possess the financial means to afford service at its higher levels. 3) s/he must prefer longtail planning (as opposed to short term savings). 4) s/he must understand and appreciate the benefits that excellence ensures. this is but a short list. i’m sure you can list many others!
