Why You’re Not Paid What You’re Worth – #GYSF Robert Craven

Ever wondered why you’re not paid what you’re worth? – Robert Craven

I’m thrilled to announce this guest blog from the author Robert Craven.  Do you remember the advert of the guy who loved the  company so much he bought it?  Remington Fuzz Away or something?  Well Robert Craven guest blogging here reminds me a little of that advert – “I loved your blog so much I wrote on it!”

Robert is a best-selling author on marketing (Bright Marketing and Customer Is King) and strategy (Kick-Start Your Business). He has been described as ‘one of the UK’s leading marketing specialists’ and ‘the entrepreneurship guru’.

Sir Richard Branson says:
“Craven… covers an essential part of running a business… 
… which will turn your business into a powerhouse by recovering some of the passion and nimbleness…. 
… to make your business more effective and more profitable… 
… the business in question often needs a boost – a kick-start to greater success in the future

Having written my review of Robert Craven‘s book Grow Your Service Firm, here’s a little more insight from the author himself.

If you are not getting paid what YOU think you are worth then I suspect that there are a number of possible reasons.

The most obvious reasons are

1 Customers don’t think you are worth it

2 You are not asking for the right fee/price

If the answer is 1) customers don’t think you are worth it then this because of one of the following reasons:

a) they don’t know you’re worth it (the obvious answer)

b) you’ve not proved that you are worth it

In either case, the answer is because of your lousy marketing.

Remember, marketing is not a battle of the products but a battle for the mind of the customers. If there’s a choice between being better or being then being different wins every time… ideally, you should be better and different etc etc … This is a communication problem.

More often than not (especially for professional service firms) the issue is not one of competitive price (despite what the failing PSFs tell you). Normally the customer is not comparing your service with another competitor on price. Often he is not comparing your service with another competitor at all. He is comparing your service with not having your service at all. You biggest competitor is called either ‘No Sale’ or ‘DIY’.

Eg the customer chooses between having a massage from you or having no massage…  having the haircut now or in a few week’s time… having a strategy awayday with you or trying to do it themselves.

A third possibility to answer why 1) customers don’t think you are worth it would be

c) you are not worth as much as you believe you should be

Here’s the real problem. We are back to Marketing 101 as far as I am concerned where the key, fundamental questions are,

‘Why should people bother to buy from you?’ and

‘What makes you different from the rest?’.

The more you are seen as a commodity then the more people will try to buy your product/service on price.

You (well 98% of you people!) cannot compete on price. There are always bigger/better/faster/richer competitors out there who have better buying power and better networks and better sales teams and they will always beat you in a price war. So, you have to compete on everything but price. Friendlier, higher tech, lower tech… but not on price.

As Michael Porter says, “Cutting prices is usually insanity if the competition can go as low as you can”

As Seth Godin says, “The goal, no matter what you sell, is to be seen as irreplaceable, essential and priceless” .

If the answer is 2) you are not asking for the right fee then sort out the basic problem which was 1) customers don’t think you are worth it and then ask for the right fee.

Robert Craven

And if you want to buy the book, here’s the link Grow Your Own Service Firm (and no I’m not getting paid to do this, I just believe it to be a crackingly useful book).

As always I invite you to leave your comments and thoughts just below, and if you love this post share it with your friends and followers.