Award-winning salon owner Caroline Sanderson heads up the Salon Jedi Coaching Academy, and is author of a new book, ‘The Ultimate Business Bible for Ambitious Salon Owners’ available on Amazon this month. Here she talks about the fear of pricing and why salon owners shouldn’t be scared to charge what they’re worth…
Many stylists, salon owners and beauty therapists struggle with a fear of pricing; particularly in this current climate, where many know that they have got to charge more to cover extra costs. Some of these costs typically include PPE, extra cleaning and taking more time over services. These costs mean that prices have got to increase.
What happens next is something called ‘cognitive dissonance.’ To put it simply, cognitive dissonance is when you hold two or more conflicting beliefs.
Take these two situations.
In the first situation, you’re aware as a stylist or therapist that you are worth more than what you currently charge. You also know that you should be charging more, and you definitely know that you’re worth it- and so you should! You’re great at what you do. You know that you’re under charging. That is one belief that you hold, and you believe that you are good enough to increase the price for your services.
In contrasting situation number two, you have a fear of charging more because you have a limiting belief that your customers won’t agree. You’re scared that they’ll complain, and that they won’t be happy to pay.
These beliefs are contrary with what you believed in situation one. These are based around a limiting belief that you’re not good enough, and that the customers will not pay more. What this means is that deep down you don’t believe that you’re worthy, and that because of this they just won’t pay it.
On the one hand, you believe you’re worth paying more for, but on the other, you don’t believe that customers will pay more for you. It’s a clash of the inner belief of ‘yes, I’m worth it,’ and ‘no, I’m not worthy.’
When your values and your inner beliefs clash, it causes cognitive dissonance. This is why you often find yourself tangled in an inner struggle; you’re not following your own values! When you value yourself, and know in your heart, ‘I’m worth more and I have to pay more out, so I need to charge more and price for profits’- it feels good! This is because when you think of that prospect you are living by your values, whilst knowing that you’re giving a fabulous service and making profit too!
Don’t ever forget that there are customers out there who pay more, who don’t complain about it, and there are more than plenty out there who will be more than willing to pay the extra cost for your services. Once you truly believe this, you’re living by your highest values and your self-worth.
But when you choose to focus on the limiting beliefs that you’re going to lose all of your customers or that all of your customers are going to complain, you’re going to hold yourself back. These limiting beliefs are really saying ‘I’m not worthy.’
No matter where your limiting beliefs stem from, when you say things like ‘nobody will pay this,’ or ‘my current customers will go elsewhere,’ you’re making an affirmation. Your brain will then perceive these concerns as factual.
Focus on the positive
The true reality is that there are already customers out there that are paying more than your current prices, and there are customers that pay even double that price! Why focus on the people that moan? The majority of people don’t, and they pay the cost happily.
Sometimes, we tend to focus on the few little complaints, saying to ourselves, ‘Yeah, I told you, I told you this would happen. I knew this would happen!’ Yes, because you created that belief system. You focused on the limiting beliefs, and what you give your energy to, you get more of; that’s how the brain works!
What your beliefs tell your brain to focus on, you’re attracting into your reality. The best way forward is to always live by your highest values; if you know that you are worth more, then you know you have to charge more to make profits.
There is no better feeling than when you finally come to the realisation of, ‘Yes. I’m living by my highest values. I am serving people fantastically, and I believe I deserve to be paid well in the process of doing that.’ If you live by that value and that belief and pay less attention to the negative and limiting belief that people won’t pay it, you will discover a strong sense of self-worth within you.
Know that if clients complain or refuse to pay, these people really don’t value you. I’m happy to let them go and replace them with new people who are on the vibration of my higher self-worth, and who are happy to pay my new prices.
When you live by your highest values, amazing things start to happen. The reasons that you felt so stressed were all down to the fact that you weren’t doing this before! You weren’t living your true purpose; you were trying to live by other people’s values.
You were really saying, ‘I’m going to live in the minority of other people’s values; refrain from putting my prices up, charge less and make no profit to keep these few people happy, and as a result be totally miserable myself stuck in fear.’ When you look at it like that, it’s insane! Live by your own highest values, charge what you know you are worth, and feel proud of it!
The only reason this wouldn’t work, is if you were trying to charge more than the worth of the service, and not giving matching value to your customers. For example, charging a really high price, but the customer doesn’t see or feel any more value compared to the cheaper service you had before.
If you’re increasing your prices, make sure you know you are giving an amazing service and extreme value to your customers. Even when you first put up your prices, if you aren’t offering extra value, you are more likely to get grumbles.
For example, give a free treatment or a free shampoo with a service you offer, whilst still making profit because of the new increased price of the service! Another good example could be giving a nice head massage whilst a treatment is developing. This costs nothing but enriches the clients experience, making the service worth more. Write a list of all the little extras you can give. These small bonuses add value and in turn, your clients are more than happy to pay the new prices!
Hopefully having read this, you’ll better understand my take on increasing your prices. Have fun with it, be creative! With your client’s best interests at heart you can do amazing things for them, whilst living by your highest values and making profit for yourself all at the same time.
Get rid of this cognitive dissonance and your limiting beliefs; they keep you trapped in a place of low vibration and low self-worth. This is NOT where you want to be. You DO want to be living your life to your highest purpose and by your highest values, because that is when you’ll be at your happiest.
You feel free! Amazing things happen, and you attract more opportunities, more clients, more happiness, more freedom and all the things you want in life, because you are living by your highest values.
If you want to find out what limiting beliefs you have that are holding you back, and how to eliminate them and achieve the goals you have for both you and your business, email salonjedimarketing.com to book a free breakthrough call with of our coaches.
Caroline Sanderson, Author of The Salon Jedi book ‘The Ultimate Business Bible for Ambitious Salon Owners’
