Episode Details

Are you using value-based pricing within your digital agency? Did you know that through value-based pricing, it can support you in increasing the profit of your agency?

In this episode, we'll cover:

• Why value-based pricing will keep you from losing profit.
• How to setup a value-based pricing model.
• How to understand your client's perception of value.

This week on the Smart Agency Master Class, we'll hear from Dan Mall founder of SuperFriendly, a design collaborative. Dan has spent his entire 18-year career in design and in that time he's grown to understand a ton about pricing. He's going to share how to develop value-based pricing so you can stop losing profit.

You are providing a service based on your unique skill set, knowledge and experience. Value-based pricing takes all those elements into consideration and quantifies. Value-based pricing is the intersection between: what it's worth to the client and the amount of compensation you're willing to take.

And if that isn't enough to convince you -- consider this analogy.

A woman calls a plumber to come to her house and fix a leaky faucet. The plumber is there for 5 mins, tightens one screw and the leak is fixed. He hands her a bill for $1,000.

She asks "Why are you charging me $1,000 when you were only here for 5 minutes?"

He says, "It's $10 to tighten the screw and $990 for knowing which screw."

When a client has a problem and you know which screw to tighten your value is priceless :)

Dan's agency is 5 years old and has been using value pricing since the beginning. Here are 3 steps you can take to get started with building this type of price model.

1. Start with pricing that is easy to understand. You have to be able to explain your pricing structure to a client, so make sure you can easily rationalize it.
2. Determine client expectations and the perceived value of the project. You'll have to ask a lot of questions to get to the real meat of what they want and why. Experiment with pricing over time.
3. Learn from one project to the next and test out different pricing. Figure out what works and what doesn't. Then apply a combination of experience and gut instinct to get to the right pricing structure.

It's not easy! Dan says it takes time and those 3 steps above won't can't overnight. But what you can do is gather as much information as possible from your client so you can fully understand what they need or rather, what they think they need and how you can help.

In his experience as a designer, Dan said he'd often learn information a few days or weeks too late. Some issues are preventable and some problems aren't solvable unless you get to the core of the issue. To do that, you have to ask the right questions. Go beyond the logistical and go deeper to fully understand the expectations/goals.

Great client service starts with building a relationship. And to build a relationship you have to ask questions.

If you're building a new website - don't just be an order taker and build the website as instructed. Ask why the client wants a new website. Ask what the goals are for the new site. Is it for a better reputation? Is it for lead generation? What you're doing and why you're doing it go hand-in-hand.

The goal for asking questions is to identify what the client needs - which can be different from what they're asking for.

Here's a few questions to get you started:

• What worries keep you up at night?
• How can my agency ease these concerns for you?
• What is your business model?
• How do you make a profit?
• When was the