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Episode 120: Francoise Weeks                                

Master Your Pricing: Stay In The Driver’s Seat

Today, we’re welcoming back our friend Alison Ellis, owner of Floral Artistry and Real Flower Business, for Part 3 of a 4-Part Series called Master Your Pricing. Please feel free to leave comments and questions for Alison at the end of the post!


Have you ever had a customer tell you how much you should charge? Maybe you’ve heard something like, “This is exactly what I want, but it’s a bit over my budget,— let’s take $10 off each centerpiece.”.

How about a client who e-mails you a revised copy of your quote with their own calculations on how to get the price “closer to what they had in mind”? Cross-outs with reduced prices that fall below your minimum (they just marked down the $50 flower girl basket to $25!) ….Oy vey, it can be a real “moment of truth” when you have to deal with presumptuous price pushback.

A floral design by Alison Ellis for part 3 of Master Your Pricing

In business we may be more than willing to adjust pricing to accommodate a client’s need, but as a design professional, part of our job is to sometimes say, “No. That’s simply not enough money to create what you’re asking for.”

If you can’t make a wow-factor happen for a lower price point, it’s your job to let the client know that. “I can fill this order at a lower price, but we’ll lose the “wow” when we remove the peonies, garden roses, and compote bowl because that’s what makes it feel this lush.”

It could still be very pretty….but it won’t be this.

That’s what it means to be in the driver’s seat. It’s up to you, the expert, to know what it costs to do this job. Not just “any job”; this job. What does it take to do this work?

Can you lower this price and still meet the client’s expectations?

 

Underpricing is the first step towards under-delivering.

If a client wants $5,000 of work, but they’re working with a $3,000 budget, it’s not your job to magically make $5k worth of flowers appear for $3k. Truly. Not your job.

But what is your job?—fulfilling promises. That’s your job.

Will the $3k budget really allow them to get the $5k look they expect, or will you end up with a dissatisfied client who can’t even appreciate your “discount” because the results let them down?

Don’t make promises you can’t keep. Stay in the driver’s seat when it comes to pricing your work.

Remember: If you’ve already offered your best, most accurate price, and the customer can’t afford it, you’re not “losing” a client. If a client doesn’t have the budget required to book you; you haven’t lost anything.

Next Wednesday is part 4 in our 4-part series and the topic is Raising the Minimum (aka giving yourself a raise!). I hope you’ll tune in here next week! 

Alison -xo


Check out Alison’s free training this month:  It’s called ‘What Does it *Really* Take to Run a Floral Design Business?’ and the entire month will be jam packed with tips, tricks, downloads and advice for floral designers of all experience levels.

Click here to grab the free training!

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  1. Gail says:

    Hi,
    This is exactly what I am experiencing at the moment. I am so glad I have linked into your site.
    Many thanks
    Gail C

  2. […] Part 3: Stay in the driver’s seat. botanicalbrouhaha.com/master-pricing-stay-drivers-seat […]

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