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1 Jun 2021

The “EASIER = CHEAPER” Price Trap – and how to avoid it.

Do you get caught in the “Easier = Cheaper” Price Trap?

I’ve changing my prices now I’m back working hands-on again and I have a set price for all treatments which is clearly displayed on my website.

Yesterday I had two people call asking for Bowen Therapy and Lymphatic Drainage (both of which are very gentle treatments and sometimes significantly shorter too)

As I was booking these people in, I found that I was having to bite my lip to stop myself from blurting out that those treatments have a cheaper rate than the price on my website.

Aarrggghhh! Thankfully I caught myself before any harm was done, but it was close!
I nearly fell into the “Easier = Cheaper” Price Trap!

The “Easier = Cheaper” price trap is the one where you have different prices for different treatments and you think that because a treatment doesn’t require as much physical effort, (or even time) it should be cheaper than the treatments which are more physically demanding or that take longer.
It makes sense If you are purely looking at the treatments you give from a time-for-money or energy-for-money basis. But as I say over and over to the therapists I work with (and then nearly forget when it comes to my work) is that we should NOT be working on that basis.🌟We should be working on a TRANSFORMATION basis🌟

Transformational means,you can get your client the result they are looking for. And if you get the result, it doesn’t matter what tools you used, how long it took or how easy it was for you to do it.

A transformation basis includes the results, but it also includes all your knowledge, know-how, expertise, years of study and qualifications.

Think of chiropractors – their treatments are sometimes only 10 minutes long and consist of a series of small adjustments. Does that mean their treatments are cheap? God no! And fair enough, they have studied for 5 years to learn how to create a result in 10 minutes!

There’s a story which is a great illustration of this. You might have heard it:

The fable of the Ship Engineer

The engine failed on a huge ship. The ship’s owners tried one ‘professional’ after another but none of them could figure out how to fix the broken engine. Every day that it wasn’t fixed was costing them thousands of pounds.
Then they brought in a man who years of experience in working with ship’s engines.
When he arrived, he inspected the engine very carefully. Then he got out his bag of tools, took a hammer and carefully tapped something. The engine spluttered back into life and the ship could move again!
A week later, the owners received a bill from the old man for £10,000
The ship owners were incensed! “Ridiculous! they cried, “He hardly did anything..!!!”.
So they wrote to the man; “Please send us an itemised invoice.”
The man sent an invoice that read:
Tapping with a hammer -£50
Knowing where to tap – £9,950
Yes, people do value effort and they value time – but more important to all of these is results.
Don’t think because a treatment is “simpler” that it is worth less. It still requires YOU to carry it out and no matter what treatment you are performing, you are bringing with you all your knowledge, expertise, experience and therapy genius.
Have you fallen into the “Easier= Cheaper” trap? Let us know in the comments.
If you’d like help with your pricing, or with communicating the true value of your treatments to your clients, so they are happy to pay premium prices, just click here to schedule a free strategy call with me.

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