They Said I Was Too Expensive…Then They Hired Me Anyway

I’ve had several customers tell me that I’m too expensive.

But when one of my long-time customers was suddenly questioning my pricing, I was genuinely rattled.

Nothing had changed with me. I still charged the same rates.

Yet, there I sat, staring at my computer, reading an e-mail from a shocked customer who was upset about their bill.

“Was there a mistake with the invoice?” They asked. “What are these extra trip charges for?” and “Can you please call us to discuss this?”

Luckily, I’d been in business for a while so I didn’t buckle under the pressure. I knew it was a simple misunderstanding and as long as I handled it with a calm demeanor, it would be fine.

So, that’s what I did. I called them, explained the situation, and worked it out. No big deal.

Then that same customer needed another estimate, this time for a custom job.

Now I was in a tough spot.

First off, I’d never done what they were asking me to do before which always makes creating an estimate challenging.

Secondly, I felt pressured to keep the price low based on the previous conversation.

I didn’t want to bid too high and lose the customer forever. But I also didn’t want to underbid because I knew how much I was worth and had no interest in working for free.

So I put together my estimate, stayed strong with my pricing, wrote up an email, then shut my eyes and hit “send.”

And…crickets.

They didn’t respond.

After a few days, I figured I lost the customer. And it got me thinking…maybe I was too expensive? Do I need to lower my rates? Did they find somebody better? Is there some new, all-knowing handyman in town who is faster, better, cheaper, and more available?

Even though I had been running my handyman business for several years and had more business than I could handle at the time, this situation still caused me to doubt myself and my business.

Eventually, that customer did end up hiring me for the job, but that’s not the point.

I’m sharing this story to point out one fact – that pricing your services is hard.

The Challenges of Pricing Your Services

Pricing your services is challenging for two main reasons.

The first challenge is knowing how much to charge.

The second challenge is getting over the psychological barriers that often force people to underbid jobs.

Basically, you first need to know how much to charge and then have the balls to actually charge that much.

The first challenge is relatively easy to overcome.

The second is much more difficult, especially as a new business owner. The fear of losing customers, the self-doubt about your value, and the occasional customer complaint are just a few factors that can dent your confidence.

In the story above, despite having plenty of customers and a booked schedule, I was still affected psychologically. It still bothered me that I might be too expensive.

And this has happened to me many times in many different ways, and it’s the same story for nearly every service pro out there.

How To Overcome Pricing Challenges

Most people will give advice like “have confidence” or “stick to your guns.”

This is great. But unfortunately, you can’t just go to the store and pick up some confidence off the shelf. Confidence is a result of knowledge and preparation.

Confidence emerges when you have the right cocktail of ingredients in your environment.

You don’t work directly on your confidence because that’s a waste of time. Instead, you work on the things that help confidence to emerge.

Let’s talk about a few of those ingredients right now.

#1 – A Profitable Pricing Strategy

The first step is to have a profitable pricing strategy that allows you to generate a healthy profit and income. Understanding how much you MUST charge to make a profit is critical. Without this, nothing else matters.

Don’t make the mistake of asking other handymen how much they charge and just copying them. From my experience, most handymen have terrible pricing strategies. Plus, pricing is unique for every business. What works great for them may not work for you at all.

If you haven’t taken the time to figure this out, then do that first. If you’re serious about growing your business, then this is a no-brainer.

#2 – The Right Perspective

One of the most valuable things that come with experience is perspective because simply looking at things from the right angle can boost confidence instantly.

For example, understanding that your competition isn’t a bunch of all-knowing pros who show up on time every day and who never make a mistake is very helpful.

Understanding that your customers are just as clueless as you when it comes to how much things should cost is helpful (In most cases they are more clueless).

Understanding that the good customers (the ones you actually want as long term clients) want you to charge enough so that you can stick around and continue providing services is also helpful.

Understanding that business is a numbers game – and that if you aren’t being told you are too expensive by at least a few customers, then you are probably far too cheap and leaving piles of cash on the table – is another very useful perspective.

#3 – An Abundance of Customers

Want to know the number one most effective way to boost your pricing confidence?

Be willing to walk away from any job.

That’s right, be willing to lose jobs because of your price. Be OK with a customer thinking you are too expensive.

Because if you desperately need every customer that comes your way, you’ll be powerless with your pricing. All the positive self-talk and rationalization won’t do much for you. The need for business in the short term will override rationality and cause you to undercharge.

When customers are scarce, pricing is scary.

On the other hand, if you have plenty of customers coming in, there’s a switch that flips in your mind. It’s like the fear gets turned off, or at least turned down, and you suddenly feel more confident. Losing a job here and there isn’t a big deal because you already have plenty of other customers and jobs on your schedule.

An abundance of customers also allows you to test higher rates, become more profitable, and it has the additional benefit of allowing you to pick and choose which jobs you take on.

Conclusion

All self-employed service pros struggle with their pricing – especially when just starting their business.

In order to overcome that struggle you need three things:

• A solid pricing strategy
• The right perspective
• And enough new leads coming so you aren’t starving for business.

If you can master all three of these ingredients, confidence will emerge naturally, you’ll make more money, and your business will become far more enjoyable.

If you’d like to learn how to price your services for maximum profits in step-by-step detail, then I recommend investing in my course on handyman pricing. It will help you determine exactly how much to charge given your unique circumstances, help you develop an effective perspective around pricing, and even help you to fill your schedule by helping you to understand how to talk money with customers.