The psychology of pricing

The world-famous investor Warren Buffet said, “Price is what you pay. Value is what you get". So, to make more profit, you need to understand the relationship between price and the perception of value.

Price, in itself, is an indicator of value. You could have 3 wine bottles filled with identical wine. But price them differently and people will think the most expensive wine is the best. This is because price not only communicates value, but it’s also how we judge value.

So, as pricing and the perception of 'value' are subjective (what seems expensive to one person may be cheap to another), a significant part of the course is dedicated to exploring the concept of value and the psychology underlying various pricing strategies.

To help you understand how clients perceive value in monetary terms, each lesson comes with real-life examples of the various pricing methods so you can apply them to your own business.

How to look expensive

Although price in itself is an indicator of value, you could be the best Virtual Assistant on the planet with rates that match your level of skill and experience, but nobody will pay them if you don't look like you're worth the money.

Because the concept and appearance of "worth" is a matter of perception, In this lesson, I show you how to employ the subtle psychological tactics used by luxury brands to project the image of a £100 an hour VA.

This lesson is designed to help you not only set your price but also how to communicate your value to potential clients.

Hourly rates and retainers

While the primary focus of the course is on earning more money without working more hours, this lesson explains how to raise your hourly rate without losing clients, how to decide which client to move to a monthly retainer and then how to smoothly transition the client to this new arrangement.

The lesson also covers the nuances of tiered and priority retainers, as well as rapid turnaround fees. More importantly, it provides valuable advice on shifting your views about your worth and how to confidently ask for more money.

Project and package rates

There are only around five billable hours in a day so you will soon hit an income ceiling if you rely solely on hourly rate pricing. You'll need to offer packages and project rates if you want to earn the big bucks.

As you will already have services, skills and knowledge that can be packaged up, in this lesson I help you work out what these are, decide what to charge for them and how to communicate their value to your clients so they understand why these are the best option for their needs.

I also provide an extensive list of VA services that are ideally suited for packages and guide you through the process of creating project fees.

Tiered and comparison pricing

Tiered pricing, also known as comparison pricing, is a common strategy in mainstream marketing and involves presenting different levels of your service at various price points, centred around a mid-range 'anchor' option.

In this lesson, I show you how to apply the tiered pricing model to a range of VA services. I also demonstrate how to select and establish different pricing tiers and give you a ton of ideas for premium add-ons for your highest-priced tier.

Using the expertise of others (and what you already have)

In this section, we explore how using the skills of others can significantly boost your income. Don't forget, as a VA, your primary duty is to support your clients, not to shoulder every task yourself!

You're a Virtual Assistant, not a Virtual Doer!

I show you various strategies for boosting your earnings by tapping into the expertise of others and then move on to maximising the revenue from your existing client base and services.

Because it's far easier to earn more money from existing clients than it is to find new ones.