Jul 22, 2019
Why you have to check out Today’s podcast:
- Learn the rules and tactics to charge more for new work and run a more profitable business
- Know the pricing training his company offers to creative companies and how it benefits them
- Discover and learn the four conversations in a sale and how to successfully apply it to boost your sales conversation and presentation
Blair Enns is the author of The Win Without Pitching Manifesto and Pricing Creativity: A Guide to Profit Beyond the Billable Hour. He co-hosts, along with David C. Baker, and the podcast 2Bobs: Conversations on the Art of Creative Entrepreneurship. Based on the remote mountain village of Kaslo, British Columbia, Canada, Blair lectures throughout the world on how creative professionals can win more business at higher prices and lower cost of sale.
In this episode, Blair shares the ups and downs of the business side of creativity. He takes us into the pages of his books sharing the principles behind pricing creativity, sales conversation and winning without pitching. He also deep dives into the rules and tactics to help creative professionals charge more for work and how to train their clients to a value-based pricing rather than hourly billable hours.
“I cannot think of a more valuable skill in all of business than the ability to conduct a value conversation which is to essentially find out what the client or the customer wants, and what they would be willing to pay if you could help create that value ”
– Blair Enns
Topics Covered:
02:31 – How Blair got into pricing
02:59 – What his company does and the type of professionals they serve
05:33 – Citing examples of creative companies
06:42 – Talking about the training on pricing his company also offers
07:38 – Blair explains putting a stake in the ground which is detailed in his book - The Win Without Pitching Manifesto
10:09 – Two most essential lessons for creative firms
12:52 – How they train their clients to a value-based pricing
15:00 – The four-step framework and four-step pricing guidance discussed in his book Pricing Creativity: A Guide to Profit Beyond the Billable Hour
19:05 – The four conversations in the sale
26:37 – Mark asks for feedback on the ways they apply value conversations in product companies
29:35 – Advice for product managers
32:05 – Blair explains why and how he priced his book that much
34:56 – A piece of pricing advice that would impact the business of the listeners
Key Takeaways:
“You need to put a stake in the ground. And the mistake that people make is that stake or that claim of expertise is too broad in terms of both the discipline on the market. It should be narrow enough in a way that allows you to be compelling and meaningfully different.” – Blair Enns
“A customized service means you have a small number of clients at any one time.” – Blair Enns
“If you can help this client create the value that you've uncovered, then your idea of fair compensation for yourself really needs to transcend the idea of your inputs or how long it's taken you to do to help create that value.” – Blair Enns
“The goal of value-based pricing is to create an organization filled with people like that who are laser-focused on the client and how they can help create value for the client.” – Blair Enns
“Options with a high anchor. If you just always put forward options, three options and lead with the most expensive one. Your average settled price will go up, I promise you.” – Blair Enns
Resources Mentioned:
Connect with Blair Enns:
Connect with Mark Stiving