Do you ever wonder how great business people develop different profit streams in their business?

I'll let you in on a little secret; if you listen closely to your potential and current clients they will tell you what they need and what they think you can provide them.

I recently contacted a designer to find out if she might be able to do some work for me as I loved what I saw on her website.  When she responded she let me know that unfortunately my job was too small for her. What this did make me think is that she missed an opportunity to potentially up sell a bigger offering or service to me as I was a fan and had taken the time to approach her.

When looking at starting a business or growing your business there are three key tips that can help you grow your client list and retain the clients that you have whilst evolving your profit streams:

1// Connect with your potential clients

When you have the opportunity to connect with clients or potential customers grab it with both hand!  It means that you can find out what they are looking for and whether there is something that you can do to support them.  By taking the time to find out more about potential clients it means that you have more chance of engaging them in your products and services, if it's right for them.  If you just leave things to email then the impact just won't be as great as actually having a conversation with them.  I personally have a free discovery session for any of my coaching packaging so that I can find out what a potential client might be looking for and if we're the right fit.  Even if we don't end up working together I've made another connection.

2// Listen to what your existing client need and want from you

If you find that you're doing work that you're not getting paid for when working with existing clients then it's time to see if it's worth reviewing your services and packages (and if you're working for free it IS worth reviewing! – just saying). Sometimes it seems like the nice thing to do to give away your services free but it's important to set some boundaries and ensure that a one-off doesn't become the norm.  When clients are asking you to do more than what you currently do for them, then take a look at your package and see how you can incorporate that additional service.  They can then choose if they take you up on the additional service package or if they stick with the one original one.  Either way you've outlined what they will get for what they pay.

 3// Price Accordingly

When you are packaging your prices you need to think about the intellectual property of what you've created, the time that you're spending delivering the product or service and the value that your client is getting in the process of that interaction or engagement.  When we just charge a basic hourly rate for something that offers more than just 60 minutes of our time then we're short-changing ourselves.  I've working with a few amazing people who I think are under charging for the value they offer.   I've thought at times that they would be cheap at twice the price.  Continuing to see if your prices are where they should be can be an annual or 6 monthly check.  What are your competitors charging? look at what you think might be a reasonable increase and then let your clients know that you'll be increasing your prices as of X date and see what they say.  A lot of the time you may just get an ‘OK'.

How do you go when it comes to charging for what you do?  Do you ever work extensively free of charge?  I'd love you to share your experiences in the comments below or any great tips on evolving your pricing.

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