Hello, and welcome to the Midlife Business Show with Suzanne Mountain. This is the podcast that celebrates all those of us who are building a business during our middle years. I’m an ex corporate girl who started my business six years ago in my fifties. And I’m loving it. This podcast is here to inspire you with conversations with other entrepreneurs about the messy and magical ups and downs of this period of our lives. Plus, I’ll be sharing simple, actionable step by step strategies to help you build a business with impact and a life that you love

Suzanne (00:43):

Welcome to episode 19 of the Midlife Business Show. Today is all about nailing the name and setting the price for your products. In episode 18, I started this mini series about how to map out a multi-tiered product stroke package suite for your business, so that you can help more people and maximize your sales. If you haven’t listened already, pop back and listen to that episode, as it covers some key fundamentals for you to think about first.

In today’s episode, I want to help you think about how you name and price, your packages and offers. 

Now, I know what it’s like when you come up with a new idea, you wanna get it out there and start selling it as soon as possible and taking time over things like naming and branding can feel like a waste of your time. However, it’s important that you make sure you’re giving ample thought to how you name each of your products as a strong name can make the difference between gaining a long term customer and failing to land a potentially lucrative sale. 

 

The names of your services are often the first elements of your offer that your clients or potential clients will see, and they need to capture attention whilst relaying important information about what clients can expect. Furthermore, your names need to generate excitement to be truly effective. And a bit of style can go a long way towards hooking prospective clients right away, and building that interest that you need. So let’s start by focusing on the three most important elements of a strong name. 

• The first one is standing out. 
• The second one is showing off your brand style. 
• And the third one is clarifying what clients can expect from this product or service. So standing out entails creating a name that doesn’t rely on cliches or overused jargon.

Suzanne (02:48):

If you feel you’ve come up with a potential name, Google it to see what comes up. Does your name seem like it’s lost in the crowd? If so, you might want to consider other options. 

In some cases, making just a small tweak to your name can add just a bit of extra flare to capture attention in a sea of similarly named products. 

And this extra touch can be compelling. 

Think about what type of brand you are building. If you are quirky and have a fun and sassy brand. For example, try to come up with a name that reflects this.

If you have a more serious or intellectual voice, too much cheekiness or sass might throw potential customers off.  Your brand should present a cohesive image. 

Think through what you want to project with some of your branding. 

In some cases, a professional corporate type image can command attention and demonstrate to potential clients that you know how to deliver the information and results your client is after.

Suzanne (03:56):

However, if your ideal client is someone who prefers creativity or spirituality or thinking outside of the box, then a bit of extra flare and a quirky tone can make her feel more welcome. 

It’s all important that your name relays the essential information. You’ll expand on this information when you’re describing your offer, but nailing the first impression can set the stage for greater success. 

Focus on making your names ‘outcome oriented’ instead of providing a more mundane description. 

What will your clients gain as the result of engaging with your products or services and how will their lives change if they sign up? 

It’s key to think about the transformation you bring about with your service or product. How can your name best convey this information while keeping its brand style intact. 

A simple but effective technique to ensure your name is clear is to add a clarifying word to the end of the title. Ending your service package or product with the words, coaching or workshop or masterclass, for example gives you space to be more creative with the earlier words you use.

Suzanne (05:15):

In addition, trying to focus on brevity, a short and pithy name is generally more effective than a wordier name. Two popular ways of making your name stand out are using alliteration or puns. 

A bit of alliteration, as long as it doesn’t reduce your name’s clarity, can make your name stick out in the minds of those who read it, while landing a sound right away is of course ideal. 

Some potential clients will want to take some time to think about whether they want to sign up or not, especially for more expensive offers, by adding a touch of alliteration or a pun, you can make the name of your product or service more memorable. 

Now let’s talk about pricing your services and packages to make sure that you are gonna make a profit. This is an area that many of my clients really struggle with in our work together.

Suzanne (06:12):

I often help people work out how to price their services so that they can earn a decent income from their business. However, deciding what to charge can be surprisingly difficult as quantifying how much value your programme has and what potential clients are willing to spend isn’t an exact science. 

Finding the sweet spot for each of your offers is key to ensuring you maximise your profit, and you may need to tweak your prices over time to find out what works best. 

Start by thinking how many people you want to work with for each of your offers per year. 

More clients yield more revenue, but might also require more work from you. Charging a more premium price might let you gain a similar amount of income while giving you time to focus on other things that are important in your life. 

So think about what is your revenue goal for each offer and how many clients at a particular price point do you need to meet this goal?

Suzanne (07:19):

Then once you’ve done that, think about how much value you provide with a particular offer. What are the benefits you’ve outlined and how much is that worth to the client, both right away and over time. Try to place yourself in the shoes of your ideal client and consider her financial status and ability to invest the time your offer requires what price feels right? 

 

You also need to consider your position in the market. If you are well established, you can charge a bit of a premium due to your expertise. Do you have proven results? You can outline to ask for a higher price point, potential clients are drawn to results and being able to point to cases where your system has worked for others can mean clients are willing to pay a bit more for your offers. 

This doesn’t mean that you need to offer especially low prices.

Speaker 1 (08:17):

If you are new, getting the other elements of your offer right, can make it compelling. But it does mean you need to think very carefully, always keep in touch how much your potential client is able to pay. 

How much money does your ideal client have to spend, and how much is she willing to invest in your various offers? 

Your offers most likely exist in the competitive marketplace and your prices need to reflect. This has even the most compelling pitch might fall flat. If your ideal client thinks she can get similar results at a significantly lower price point. The way around this is to add enough of you into your service, that it becomes unique and your clients will pay because they want access to you. 

However, remember that if you price too low, it can put people off to if similar offers in the market charge a higher price.  Discounting your offer too much might send the message that they offer less value, which can actually reduce the number of sales you land.

Suzanne (09:26):

So don’t be afraid to charge a rate that’s in line with the market. 

Remember you’re offering real value. So your price should reflect that accordingly and above all. You need to ensure that you can generate a profit. Now, this can be fairly simple at the lower tiers of your product suite, as they require little or next to none of your time once they’ve been created. 

When we get into mid and high tier offers, however, you’ll need to crunch the numbers to ensure your prices make sense. 

And don’t forget to consider maintenance costs. Remember to include all the apps and tech you use to run your business. For example, zoom costs around 15 pounds per month, and a learning management system can cost upwards of 50 pounds per month. Email marketing software can be free, but as your list grows can also cost 50 pounds per month upwards.

Suzanne (10:28):

These fairly small costs can start to add up, especially if you rely on a number of services to interact and deliver your packages to your clients. 

Also note the cost of hosting your digital content, and don’t forget the price of running your website and any social media scheduling tools that you use. 

In many cases, you’ll want to rely on individuals for maintenance and other work. And a tech VA will often cost 35 pounds an hour sometimes even more if you use a specialist. So make sure you keep a solid budget as your pricing needs to reflect the overheads involved in your offers. 

 

It’s up to you to determine the right price for your products and finding the sweet spot involves thinking about the relationship between your offers and your ideal client. However, if you are stuck, here are some rough guidelines that can help you find the appropriate range of price points.

Suzanne (11:32):

Now, in coming up with these guidelines, I’ve done some research in the UK market, looking in particular at what coaches are charging. 

So most low end offers that coaches sell range from between 27 and 500 pounds. And this number varies based on the type of product you’re offering and how much value you are providing. 

Low tier offers are great as introductions, but you also want to maximize the amount of revenue you are generating. So don’t be afraid to charge a higher price if the content is worth it and your client would be comfortable with a higher price. 

Sometimes the best thing to do is to start with a beta price. A lower price for those people who are experiencing your new product first, and then once you’ve run that, that course or that masterclass or workshop once, and you’ve got the testimonials and you know it works, you then can increase the price.

Suzanne (12:40):

Mid tier offers often cost between 500 and 3,000 pounds. At this price point, your client is making a significant investment and deciding which price point is right can be especially tricky. 

Think about how much time you’ll be investing for these clients and consider how much these offers will aid your client as she transitions to her next level in her life or her business. 

High end offers typically command more than 3000 pounds. And there is no upper limit to how much they can cost. If you have a client base, that’s willing to make the investment. 

At this stage, your client is fully committed to the transformation and is willing to invest at a higher level. If she’s comfortable that the information and services you provide will pay off over time. 

There are certainly examples currently in the UK market where UK based business and life coaches are charging upwards of 10,000 to 20,000 pounds a time for a series of coaching meetings.

Suzanne (13:52):

So, you know, have a look at the prices and decide where you sit, does your client sit in that luxury end or is she somewhere else? 

Now, I want you to think about how your prices compare to each other, not to other people. 

So make sure you’re doing all you can to offer a product for everyone. 

And this is in particular, what I talked about in episode 18, if you have some gaps in the products and services you offer, especially when you are comparing low tier and mid tier offers, then go back and look at what it is you are offering. 

However, try to keep in mind that potential client’s budgets can vary widely. And the more price points you can provide, the more likely a client is to choose one of your offers when considering creating new offers. See if you can create ones that help you fill out the gaps between your existing offers. 

So thank you for listening this week. 

I think I’ve given you plenty to think about in this episode. If you’ve enjoyed listening, then please rate and leave a review for the midlife business show. As it will help me to spread the word and help more people. I will be back with the continuation of this series very shortly, right for now.

Suzanne (15:17):

Okay. That’s a wrap for today. Thanks for listening. Please subscribe, rate, and review The Midlife Business Show. And if you’ve enjoyed it, tell your business buddies all about it. 

 

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