It’s finally summer and I know you’re busy with barbecues, but here are a few articles I think you should read.
The NY times business blog has a post on “The Price of Bad Pricing.” Whether it’s too high or too low, your pricing could be costing you. I know most of us tend towards the too low range, so I encourage you to read this article.
Much of my massage therapy work is trigger point therapy, so I’m always interested in anything related to trigger points that might make my job easier and get my clients out of pain quicker. This article does neither, but it offers up a differing view of trigger points: that they aren’t in the muscle at all. I don’t agree with the author*, but I do agree that the nervous system is playing a significant role in trigger points. I refuse to be so in love with a theory that new data cannot change my mind. So, keep opining and theorizing on trigger points and I’ll keep reading!
Steph Lasch opened up a big ole can of worms with her post on whether the intake process affects your relationship with your clients. She might be feeling a bit sheepish about how a client’s refusal to provide an email affects how she views them, but I would argue that we all have our hot buttons. It is a relationship and most of us don’t want that one time client. We want an ongoing client that we can see through an entire treatment plan (even if it’s only 6 visits). For me, the initial phone call is my hot button. If someone calls and asks how much I charge and then asks if I offer any first time discounts, I answer no and make no more real effort to book them. I’ve had too many of these kinds of clients who simply surf from MT to MT paying the first time discount and never seeing the same therapist twice. I don’t need more cheap one-time-only clients, thank you very much. How about you? What are your hot buttons? Go read Steph’s blog and leave a comment.
And the weekly Seth Godin: The arrogance of willful ignorance.
If you’re doing important work (and I’m hoping you are), then you owe it to your audience or your customers or your co-workers to learn everything you can.
That’s the wrap up this week. Happy summer, except to those of you down under. If you’re south of the equator – I hope the skiing is good this winter!
* changed “him” to “the author” because it was pointed out to me that the author, in fact, might be a woman. I like to keep my facts straight.
Really good pricing article. Another thing about pricing in our business — I don’t know if other sole proprietors are as slovenly and bleeding heart (oops! I mean flexible and needs-based!) as me, but my actual prices are all over the map. If someone really needs a massage, I usually do it. I’ve even done massage when I was pretty sure I was going to be stiffed and not paid at all. It all depends. But anyway, you want your *published* prices to be the prices that the well-heeled folks in the west hills mansions can afford. Then people are properly grateful when you cut them a deal
A lot of health care providers provide a sliding scale fee, so you’re not slovenly or bleeding heart.
It is important, as you say, to make sure your published prices are fair market value and not too low. I’m glad you’re able to help people of all economic situations, Dale.
Great client based post. Keep up the good work!