What value do you place on your services?

This morning after singing practice, I was asked by a colleague if I could mend his backpack for him.

‘Could you mend it for me? I’m willing to pay at least a fiver’, he said.

‘No, no’, I replied, ‘don’t worry, it’ll only take me ten minutes or so’.

‘No, no’ he also replied, ‘it’s worth at least that much to me, it’s been irritating me for so long now’.

Fortunately at this point a glimmer of light went off in my brain, and I told him I’d think about it. And think about it I did, as I walked back through the woods before starting work.

What I said was a great example of what not to do when valuing your services! He did not have the tools, equipment, knowledge or experience to do something which to me, who had all the sewing kit needed, and the knowledge and experience, was very easy. But to him it was a big problem. Hence getting the problem solved was worth a lot to him, while to me it would take just five or ten minutes of my time.

And this is why valuing what you provide is so important. The prospective client coming for your service wants and needs what you can offer — because they don’t have the tools, equipment, knowledge or experience, and you do. That is going to be worth a lot to them, even though it might be just second nature to you (as I was treating this bit of sewing).

So I invite you today to contemplate what you are offering to people, and how valuable it is to them, and consider adjusting your prices (upwards!) if you even have a faint sniff of thinking you are undervaluing what you do.