Intro:
Do you feel like you were meant to have a kick ass career as a hairstylist, like you got into this industry to make big things happen? Maybe you’re struggling to build a solid base and want some stability. Maybe you know social media is important. But it feels like a waste of time because you weren’t seeing any results. Maybe you’ve already had some amazing success but are craving more. Maybe you’re ready to truly enjoy the freedom and flexibility this industry has to offer. Cutting and coloring skills will only get you so far. But to build a lifelong career as a wealthy stylist, it takes business skills and a serious marketing strategy. When you’re ready to quit just working in your business and start working on it, join us here where we share real success stories from real stylists. I’m Britt Siva, social media and marketing strategist just for hairstylists, and this is the Thriving Stylist podcast.
Britt Seva:
What is up and welcome back to the Thriving Stylist Podcast. I’m your host, Britt Siva, and today I want to talk about a new way to approach talking pricing with clients. Now, I know price is a dirty word. We hate talking about money. We don’t like talking about cost and we’re living in a very price, cost sensitive market right now. I’m recording this podcast Summer of 2024. So I think this is a real timely one. Let me tell you about the inspiration for this episode. So recently an Instagram video from an incredibly successful South African speaker named Vusi Thembekwayo, I hope I’m saying that correctly, crossed my feed and I have not been able to stop thinking about it since it did. I’m going to sample that video for you so you can hear it. But just to give you a little preview, the reason it stopped me dead in my tracks is because in the video he was talking about what I call perceived value and I started talking about perceived value in 2019.
You can go back and listen to the podcast episode on it and ironically, I sourced this video I saw a snip of and I found his presentation in full and he also gave this presentation way back in 2019. So he and I were thinking on the same wavelength. One of the things he really digs into is how the fatal flaw of most entrepreneurs is that they talk about cost and price. He said never do you ever talk about cost or price. Now let me back that up for a second. I am huge on pricing transparency. Always have been. I believe that we should be very fair and upfront with our clients about what things are going to cost. I think that pricing transparency on your website is incredibly important. Even when you have a pricing range like haircut between $67 and 145, that’s a massive range. That’s not pricing transparency. That’s information. But as a client, I’m like, “Maybe I can afford you. Maybe I can’t.” That’s almost like pricing ambiguity, right? It’s random information living on a website.
I am big on very clear conversations and communication around price and I don’t shy away from it. If you have ever taken any of my live master classes I’ve ever hosted before, I taught my very first one in 2015. So I’m nine years into this at this point. Never have I ever had a challenge with the cost of any of my products or services or experiences rolling off my tongue. I feel very confident with every price point I offer because I know the perceived value on the flip side is much, much higher. But if you’ve ever sat in any of my masterclasses, you’ll notice I don’t say, “When you join Thriver Society, you’re going to get 12 modules, this many logins to the community, this many office hours.” I don’t worry about that at all.
Instead, I say, “When people join Thriver Society, they double or triple their income within two years. They’re able to scale their schedule back so instead of working five days a week, they now work three. They no longer work nights or weekends. They’re home to cook dinner for their families. They’re at every morning soccer game and in fact, they can coach the team if they want to because not only do they have an abundance of time, they have an abundance of money, an abundance of confidence and they can get back to being centered around the family that they love. That’s the power of Thriver Society.” Now, I could just get in and say, “I’m going to teach you how to use Instagram. I’m going to teach you how to make your website. I’m going to teach you what guest experience looks like,” and listen. I do all of those things. But here’s the deal. Nobody wants to learn how to use Instagram. They want to just double or triple their income. They want to just be home with their families. They just want to be at the soccer game.
They just want to not be exhausted by their job. I talk about the value of what happens when you and I work together and yeah, there’s a bunch of little parts and pieces that go along the way and yeah, you do have to make a financial investment to make it happen. But I say very openly, “If you were to pay 799 for the year and on the flip side made an additional $20,000 this year, would it be worth it for you?” It’s kind of like a no-brainer investment and that is what happens. If you were to start talking about pricing with your clients that way, your business would explode. When you look at every successful business today, whether it be service-based, product-based, transactional, electronic, whatever, it is talking about the value. If I were to say, “Oh, you’d like to be blonde? That’s going to take 32 foils today,” that is the least appealing thing I’ve ever heard. Do you know why? Do you know what happened running through my mind, even as I said those words? The first thing that ran through my mind is how long will that take?
So immediately, I’m not in an emotional place. Even if I decided I wanted to be a blonde, as soon as you start saying, “It’s 32 foils, it’s going to cost $119,” it has become so transactional that the blonde transformation has lost all of its emotional appeal to me and now I’m pulling up my bank statement. You have taken all the wind out of my sails when it comes to what it would take to get my hair done. So what I want to do is I want to play a sample of this video from Vusi’s presentation because he says it so much more eloquently than I ever could and this little snip is him coaching a makeup artist, which is why I want to share it with you and he really shifts her mindset around how she should start talking about her prices to gain more clientele. Listen to this.
Vusi Thembekwayo:
True fact, I’m the most premium priced speaker in South Africa. I charge [inaudible 00:06:15] more than any other speaker in the market. My office will also tell you, price is not a negotiation I have with my clients. I never talk price. I talk value. Anytime you find yourself talking price, know that now you are not an entrepreneur anymore. Never talk price with customers. Talk value. Don’t talk price. Talk value. The difference between the two is perception. So I’m going to come back to this in a minute. I need an example. What do you do, ma’am?
Speaker 3:
I’m a makeup artist.
Vusi Thembekwayo:
You’re a makeup artist. This is fantastic. How much do you charge per hour?
Speaker 3:
I charge per face. So I’d say [inaudible 00:06:38].
Vusi Thembekwayo:
I’ve never in my life changed per face. That’s really cool. How much per face?
Speaker 3:
[inaudible 00:06:53].
Vusi Thembekwayo:
[inaudible 00:06:53] per face and it takes you 45 minutes to an hour. How many customers have come to you and said, “Can you lower the price?”
Speaker 3:
Quite a few.
Vusi Thembekwayo:
Quite a few? What do you do then? You lower the price, right?
Speaker 3:
No.
Vusi Thembekwayo:
What do you do?
Speaker 3:
I say, “No, I can’t.”
Vusi Thembekwayo:
Why?
Speaker 3:
[inaudible 00:07:12] Because that’s my time. That’s my skill and that’s my product.
Vusi Thembekwayo:
Never say no.
Speaker 3:
Why?
Vusi Thembekwayo:
Because then you walk away from a sale. The fact that I came to you means I’m interested in buying. So this is a great sales technique. What you got to figure out is how to make the customer feel bad for not buying. The minute you say no, they don’t feel bad because then they’re like, “She’s arrogant,” and they walk away. Never say no. No is a word you should try never to use in a sales process. You’ve got to find a way of saying no without saying no and then you’ve got to find a way of saying, “I’m not the problem. It’s the customer. You are.” Okay? So let’s try this. Can me model this? I’m coming to you. [inaudible 00:07:46]
Speaker 3:
[inaudible 00:07:46]
Vusi Thembekwayo:
[inaudible 00:07:46] Can you do my face, please? Yes.
Speaker 3:
Yeah.
Vusi Thembekwayo:
Right, I have a budget of 420.
Speaker 3:
Okay. I charge [inaudible 00:07:53].
Vusi Thembekwayo:
No, I wasn’t asking how much you charge. I said my budget is 420.
Speaker 3:
Okay. I can refer you to someone else [inaudible 00:08:07].
Vusi Thembekwayo:
Oh, you can refer me? Okay, cool. Give me their number. Take the number. Walk away. Whatever you just said to me, no.
Speaker 3:
No.
Vusi Thembekwayo:
Can I play you? Try it.
Speaker 3:
[inaudible 00:08:16]
Vusi Thembekwayo:
[inaudible 00:08:16]
Speaker 3:
[inaudible 00:08:17]
Vusi Thembekwayo:
Of what?
Speaker 3:
[inaudible 00:08:22]
Vusi Thembekwayo:
420’s your budget?
Speaker 3:
Mm-hmm.
Vusi Thembekwayo:
Where are you going?
Speaker 3:
A wedding. [inaudible 00:08:26]
Vusi Thembekwayo:
You’re going to a wedding? Oh, wow. So they’re going to be friends there?
Speaker 3:
Yeah.
Vusi Thembekwayo:
Are you married?
Speaker 3:
No.
Vusi Thembekwayo:
You have an ex? [inaudible 00:08:36] Just watch. Just watch. All right, so your ex might be at the wedding. What’s it worth to you to make sure that your ex sees you looking the best you’ve ever looked?
Speaker 3:
[inaudible 00:08:45]
Vusi Thembekwayo:
Look, you want to pay me 420. I charge 800. Add the difference between two is 380 bucks. What I’m trying to work out is making your ex feel bad is worth 380 bucks or not because if it is then I’m the person you come to. But if looking any kind of way, whether you see your ex or not is not important, then I’m happy to find you somebody who can do it for 420.
Speaker 3:
[inaudible 00:09:14]
Vusi Thembekwayo:
What did I just do? I changed the conversation from price to value. Now in her mind, the anchor is not price. The anchor is this bloody ex [inaudible 00:09:20].
Speaker 3:
[inaudible 00:09:25]
Vusi Thembekwayo:
All the time. Shift the anchor. Shift the anchor all the time. Yeah?
Speaker 3:
Yeah.
Vusi Thembekwayo:
Price is the conversation people have absent of value. The minute someone mentions price, it means that there’s no value. It means you’ve commoditized what you do. [inaudible 00:09:41] Never talk price. Always talk value.
Britt Seva:
Wow, pretty incredible, right? So I want to go back to a few of the key points that really resonated with me. The first one was never say no. He says, “The reason I came to you is because I want to work with you.” Every DM you get, every new Instagram follower, everybody who submits a form on your website, everybody who fills out the inquiry to be a part of your business is a hot lead. Those are people who desperately want to work with you and often we look at those and we say, “Oh, I got a DM. She’s only willing to pay $100 for my full blonding service. That package is 425. Get out of here. Scram. Don’t ever talk to me again,” and we get in this defensive standpoint of that client is not good enough for me. They don’t value my time. They don’t see my worth and we take it very personally.
He says, “Stop it. Stop putting your ego and your emotion and your personal value into every DM and every inquiry and instead, look at that as a viable lead. Look at it as a sales opportunity and sharpen your sales skillset.” He says, “Our job is to make customers feel bad for not buying from us because as soon as you say no, you’re arrogant.” Ever since 2020, there has been this movement in our industry where it is seen as cool and powerful and sexy and exciting and successful to honor the no and I’m a big fan of business nos. My team will tell you if a speaking inquiry hits my desk and no matter how big and exciting and juicy the brand is, if it doesn’t fit with my personal life, if it is more work than I want to take on, if it’s going to cause stress for me, it’s just a no. If I know physically I cannot do it, it’s a no. Now, if a speaking inquiry crosses my desk and they don’t have the budget to work with me, that’s not a no at all.
That’s an invitation for a different conversation. So I’m a big fan of nos. I’m actually a big fan of boundaries. I’m also a big fan of being really smart business and I think in our industry we have way over policied, way over processized, way over boundaries to the point where we do look arrogant as all get out. Our egos look enormous and it looks like, “Oh, hairstylists don’t want to work with clients anymore.” You know how I talk about the great divide? This is 100% how it starts is it looks to a lot of clients like we’re too good for them and then we shame them when they do hair themselves. How does that work? We’ve been telling them for years that they’re not good enough to sit in our chairs. So when they find an alternative, we then shame them for it. Can you see how that doesn’t make any sense? So instead, he’s changing the narrative.
He said, “It’s our job to make them feel bad for not buying,” and that’s not about shame and that’s not about being like, “Oh, you don’t have enough money? That’s on you, not me,” which is the approach we’ve taken. That makes us look arrogant. Instead, we create irresistible opportunities that are hard for them to walk away from and the result is if we do that correctly, we as the service provider never look wrong or arrogant. We simply look like we were trying to help and serve. It wasn’t a match at any given time. No worries. The door’s always open if you ever change your mind. It puts us back in the driver’s seat in the power position. It never makes us look arrogant. It makes us look elevated, sophisticated, smart and savvy, which is how most of us want to look within our communities and our clienteles. Then I love this phrase. What is your budget? What is my rate? Is the gap between those two numbers worth it for you? This was huge for me. So as he’s coaching the makeup artist, I can’t remember the exact figures.
But remember she charges per face, which I love and it was something like the client had a budget of $180 for makeup. But this makeup artist charged 400. So when in our mind when we hear that logically, we’re saying, “Oh my gosh. How am I going to get them to 400?” And even when somebody says 180, our mind tricks us a little bit and we hear 100, which is not true. But it happens. We’re like, “Oh my gosh, they’re at 100. I’m at 400. We’re never going to get there. How am I going to get them to pay $400?” You’re not trying to get them to pay $400. What are you trying to get them to pay? 220 because 220 is the gap between 180 and 400. But the reason our ego kicks in and the reason we start feeling sad and angry and cranky and all the things is we say, “I’m 400. They’re 180. They’re never going to pay 400. Throw it in the trash can.” All you’re trying to do is get them to spend an extra 220. It’s not about the 400 because that feels and seems insurmountable.
But when you look at it factually, it’s never been about the 400. It’s about the 220. All you’re trying to do is sell them on the gap. They’re already emotionally committed to the 180. You’ve just got to close that 220. So now it’s your job to figure out how to get them to understand that by spending 220 additional dollars, they’re going to get everything they hoped for and more. Now, the example he gave was, “You’re going to run into an ex at the wedding and of course you want to look your best. The emotional value of that is worth so much more than $220, no-brainer.” Now, we’re not always going to have that specific scenario to our advantage. But what could it be? Start really thinking about that. He says, “Never talk price. Always talk value,” and I really think we’ve lost that art in our industry. Now, I coach to six perceived value levers. One of them is called communication and the lever that he’s leaning into is that communication lever.
I’m talking about all six of those levers in the Stand Out and Grow Fast Bootcamp that I’m hosting in August of 2024. So if you’re listening to this in real time, check my website. Check my link and bio. You can sign up. I would love to have you there. But the goal for you is to not be the low price leader. It’s not to only attract really rich and wealthy clients. It’s not to make it seem like you’re an elitist. It’s not to only attract clients who can super afford you, only attract clients who are comfortable paying $400. That is the most shortsighted mindset I’ve ever heard. You’ve likely made some choices to invest in things you couldn’t afford. How many of you listening to this podcast have ever made a car payment before? How many of you fell in love with a brand new Honda Civic or a brand new Jeep Wrangler? In my case, it was a brand new Jeep Grand Cherokee and this was many, many years ago and this was a very young version of me and I had my daughter at the time.
She was young and I was like, “I want to drive a safe car for her.” I was working really hard. I wanted to have a newer car. But I didn’t have a nickel to my name. I probably had a couple thousand dollars in the bank and I went to the car dealership to drive this Jeep Grand Cherokee and they were like, “Well, for $2,800 down,” and I think my car payment was $380 a month, which was a lot of money by the way, a ton of cash, “you can drive away in this Jeep Grand Cherokee.” So what do you think I did? Of course, I bought the car and for five years I paid $380 a month to own it and I felt great about it. Was that a car I could afford? I made the payments. I was never delinquent on the payments. No, I went into debt to drive that vehicle. But it was important to me and it was important to me because I felt like it was safer for my daughter than my Saturn, which I was driving at the time. Does everybody remember Saturns?
I was driving a little Saturn sedan. It made me feel more confident. I had more space. My husband and I were able to go on camping trips with it. It had all of these perks and benefits. So emotionally I closed my own gap with it. I need this car because it’s going to do for me, X, Y and Z. No, I cannot afford it. But I will go into debt so that it can be mine. You need to create that same emotional gap. That’s how you’re going to fill your chair. Imagine if a car company like Jeep said, “We’re only selling to those who can pay cash and who can afford this right off the lot.” They would go under in a minute. But instead, they have created a system that closes that emotional gap. They create the emotional gap. You’ve seen the same commercials I have of the family that piles in and they go on this amazing camping trip and they’re driving and they’re off-roading and they’re going through the rivers. I want that. That’s creating that and closing that emotional gap. That’s what we need to do as well, right?
So for those of you who are joining us in the bootcamp coming up, I’m so excited to dig into this with you. If you’re not, I have a few questions I want you to really think about. Number one, what is your perceived value? Is it just I do good hair? That’s not perceived value. Most clients today can find a stylist who does good hair. That is just about the easiest thing to do. It is so ridiculously easy to find a stylist who has certifications and trainings and does good hair and takes good pictures and gets a good result. That’s easy. What else do you got? What else do you have that’s different? Number two, oh, and by the way, do you prominently display those things? Maybe in your heart of hearts you do things that are better than just good hair. How would I know about it as a new prospective client? Number two, what are the things you can do when a guest reaches out to you to make sure that you are never the one saying no, just like Vusi says?
Okay, and number three, how can you lean into the transformation that you provide to close that gap? Little food for thought. So much love. Happy business building and I’ll see you on the next one.
