What to Say When a Potential Client Says You’re Too Expensive|

Business and Marketing for Massage and Bodywork Therapists

Episode 56.

MINDY TOTTEN: Hey hey there. Welcome back everyone, to the Do It With Intention podcast!

Today we are going to continue our series of what to say during certain difficult or what I'm calling sticky situations. You know, inside The Bodywork Project, we do a lot of work around, giving clients a premium customer experience. And no matter how well you set things up, sometimes you will have a situation where you and a client or a potential client don't quite see eye to eye. And then what do you do? So I'm recording a series of podcasts to help you when you find yourself in some of those difficult situations.

And today we're going to talk about what to say when a potential client tells you that you're too expensive. Now this can happen in a call. It can happen in an email. Sometimes it even happens when a client comes in the very first time. And then after the session they're paying you.

And we'll talk about that in a second, but what should you say when a potential client says, Oh, what do you charge? And you tell them, and then they say, Oh, that's way too much money. What G what what'd you say then? It's so, so awesome. So, first of all, I want you to remember that no matter what, this is the most important thing alone, no matter what, this is not about you, and it's probably not about your prices either when someone tells you that.

Your prices are too expensive. That's something that they're dealing with. That's coming from them. Whether it's a place of scarcity or maybe they have never spent money on themselves or on their wellness, whatever it is, we don't have to be a psychologist and try to figure out everybody who potentially comes to us for a body work session.

What we have to remember though, is that. When somebody responds in this way, it's not about us. And how do we know it's not about us? Well, because you've taken the time and you've carefully set up this very safe container on the business side of your practice. So you've got really strong boundaries, you know, that your pricing is heart-centered and where it needs to be.

And so, you know, that. A person's response when they say, Oh, wait, that's too expensive. That's not about you. That's about them. So that's a very first thing that I want you to remember. Now, the second thing is, please, please, please. Don't change your rates. So let's have an example. Sally calls you for an appointment and your you're doing setting up the call.

Exactly. As I've explained. To you before how to set it up. So somebody calls and they said, I'd like to talk to you, find out more about. Let's say zero balancing. And instead of just going into zero balancing you flip things for a moment. You say, I would love to talk to you about zero balancing, but first let's talk about you.

I'd like to ask you a couple of questions and then you ask your question, question, question, why are you coming for zero balancing? Now, what kinds of symptoms do you have? How long have you had them so that you can really get a good idea of whether or not you would be a good fit for the person? So that's the first thing you set up the call with very, very clear boundaries.

So then after you've spoken a little bit and you think, yeah, this could be a good fit. Zero balancing. You say you start to explain zero balancing and you say why you think it would be a good fit for the person. And they say, great. I would love to come in. You say, terrific. I have an opening at  X time on X day.

Will that work for you? Yes, it will. Terrific. And then you follow up with your email or however you've got your practice set up. Sometimes during that conversation, a person will say, great, that sounds wonderful. How much do you charge? And then you say, well, the first session is $175. And each session after that is 150, most people will say, great, go ahead and put me down for X, X time at X date.

Every once in awhile, you will get a person who says, Whoa, that is way too expensive. I can't afford that. So what do you say. I want you to consider saying nothing, nothing at all. That's a perfectly valid option for you. Person says, Whoa, that's way too expensive. And you just hold the space for them. Do not get defensive.

You don't have to justify your rates. You don't have to explain your rates. Well, I've done a whole lot of schooling and you don't have to do that. You don't have to say, well, this is really powerful modality, you don't have to say any of that, your rates are your rates. So that's really, really important for you to remember.

There is no perfect rate. So think about that even if you're you charge nothing for your services, let's say you had an alternative source of income you're set and you, you don't want to charge anything for your services. You just want to give them away for free. Even then there would be people who would not want to come to see you because your prices.

Are free because your services are free, they would say, Oh, you know, again, it would be about them. They would think, Oh, she must not be very good at that, or it must not be very effective if she's giving it away for free. So it does not matter what price you charge, as long as it resonates with you, your heart.

And you've done the work around it to know that that's the right price for you. There is no perfect rate. So please, please do not discount your rates. Don't say, Oh, well for a first time, I could make it in. What can you, none of that, I invite you to just hold the space. And if the person says, Whoa, that's way too expensive, you don't say anything.

And they say, okay though, I would still like to come in on Thursday or they could say that's way too expensive, but I've got to go someplace else. In which case you say wonderful. Marvelous. I wish you all the best. Please let me know if I can help in the future. Boom done. And then you've created a space for somebody who will value your services and will value you as a practitioner.

The key in this approach of course, is that you have got to be providing a premium service. So again, we talk about this a lot inside the body work project, but if you're just working on that right now, I've got a masterclass that is available right now. We talked about at the beginning of the show, but there's a link in the show notes on MindyTotten.com/podcast/episode56. So you can check that out there.

And if you're interested as a free master class, you can take that and find out more, but your services have got to be outstanding. You can't be. I'm just going to put it out there. You can't be a schlub therapist who doesn't have strong boundaries who doesn't have a strong container on the business side of your practice and charge really premium rates.

Because then people are going to be like, this is not worth it at all, but if you've done the work, if you've created that solid business foundation and your work is exemplary, you do the work around your prices. You charge what resonates with your heart and with your brain and boom, that surprise you.

Don't have to explain that to anyone. You don't have to be defensive. Another thing that I recommend you doing is when you. Follow up with a first time person who's coming in and you send your intake form and you send directions to your place. And I'll be sure to put on the intake form what your prices are.

I had an experience once where someone came in. You know, she had called me and I didn't really think we were going to be a good one fit, but like so many of you, I was just, I was like, well, okay, let's give it a try. She came in and immediately I was like, this is not, you know, the energy was off. I wasn't feeling, you know, really good about the.

The interaction. And then I was like, okay, let's just do the treatment. Go to neutral. I felt like we had a wonderful session. And then afterwards, when she was paying me, she was like, Oh my gosh, that is so expensive. And just didn't say anything. I smiled at her. She wrote me the check. Then later she followed up and she said that session was way too expensive.

I could, I looked it up and I can get it in Ohio for, you know, half the price or something. You know, I live in North Carolina, so it was like, okay, I didn't say this, but I was thinking, we'll go to Ohio. I mean, it was just, it had nothing to do with me or my services. It all had to do with her. So she said, I really don't think it's fair that you didn't tell me how much.

It was going to be before the session. Well, luckily I had that on my intake form. She had signed that she understood, you know, all of my policies, including pricing, and it was able to scan that and send her a copy. So just to say, you know, remember that you signed this intake and all of the prices are right there.

So. I suggest doing that just to make it real, really clear crystal clear. And so that, you know, you don't want somebody coming in and being overwhelmed and you don't want to be put on the spot either, even in all my years of experience, that that situation was a sticky one. And it kind of got me off balance for a little bit, but luckily I could fall back onto the strong, solid business foundation that I had created and send her a copy of that intake form.

Finally, there's a big question that people ask sometimes and, and they will say, you know, how much do you charge? I charge one 75 and then it's 150 after that. And they'll say, do you offer any discounts? Yeah, we've all heard that one. Right. I used to just tell him and how about this? Oh, well I, blah, blah.

And. If you do offer discounts, sometimes people offer discounts for teachers or folks in the military, something like that. That's terrific. You can tell people that I suggest in general, not offering discounts. What I do is I have a series package. So if you buy a series of six upfront, You can save a little bit of money.

And so if somebody says you offer discounts, I can say I don't offer discounts, but if you find craniosacral therapy to be effective for you and you want to continue, I do offer some packages that will help you to save some money. Oh, that's all you have to say. And that way you don't have to go into this whole, well, should I just count?

Shouldn't I just count because we've all had the story just like I did years ago, some, a woman called and she said, Oh, I'd really like to try this. My daughter thinks it will be wonderful for me, but I just can't afford it. Do you offer any discounts for seniors? And I was like, Oh geez. And so I was like, okay.

Yeah, I can offer it to you for, I can't remember what I said, half price or something. And then when she came, she arrived in like this late model Mercedes and I felt really taken advantage of, and I felt like I hadn't been really strong in my boundaries. You know, I was sort of wishy washy. And so when she came in, I, it was difficult for me to.

Come from a place of neutral. Cause I was irritated. I felt like she and advantage of me. So, you know, I don't know her story. I don't need to know her story. I just need to be really, really solid, clear and confident about my pricing. So I help hope that is helpful for you. You, as you are figuring out some of these sticky situations, I hope that helps you figure out what to say.

And one last thing again, with that masterclass, if you're interested, you can go to Mindy totten.com/podcast/episode 56, and you can sign up there and I hope that will be really helpful for you as well. So that's all for today. I'll see you next week. When we jump into what to say in another sticky situation.