You want to be seen as the go-to expert. To have easy-going clients be excited to work with you, happy to pay high prices, and completely trust you and your advice.
Okay, let’s stop and imagine this:
After a leisurely morning, you log into work and see there’s a new application from a potential client who’s interested in working with you. They seem like just the right type of client you love working with.
Yes, you read that right. This amazing-sounding client filled out an application with their fingers crossed that you would deem them acceptable enough to talk to. And yes, it wasn’t a fluke. This happens all the time.
You did no chasing, begging, or pleading to get their business. You did not spend hours of unpaid time creating a fancy proposal for them, only for you to lose out to someone cheaper.
You didn’t spend precious time giving them a free consultation, only for them to take your generous insights and run since they were never planning on hiring you anyway.
Imagine clients you don’t have to sell to… they’re already sold
The application sounds excellent, so you set up a time to do a quick call with them. The purpose of the call isn’t to give them advice or be all salesy, duping them into working with you. It’s merely to see if you want to work with them and answer their questions. You’re just making sure it’s a good fit.
Thanks to your brand, they’re already sold on you. You don’t feel any stress about it. You don’t have to worry about being all ‘salesy’ or worrying you’re going to say the wrong thing and lose them.
80% or more of your calls close, and you LOVE that you don’t waste time talking to tire kickers. You have way better things to do than that.
The call goes well; the client sounds perfect, so you let them know you’d love to help them. However, you’re booked out with clients for quite a while, so you’re not available immediately. That’s okay. They wish they could get started sooner, but they’re willing to wait for you. They know you’re worth the wait.
Imagine clients who are happy to pay you precisely what you want
The next thing that happens is you send them your invoice to either pay a hefty deposit or pay in full.
They pay it on time and don’t ask for a discount. Alternatively, they may need a payment plan or need to wait to save up to work with you, but that’s okay. They are still happy to pay your rates because they can tell your expertise is worth it.
Want the free checklist of what you need in place before you can charge more without worrying that no one will pay it? Get it:
Next up is onboarding. This is easy because you have a very defined process. You only work with a certain type of client who needs the same types of services, which means you don’t have to waste time reinventing the wheel for every person who comes along.
An example from my own business – I only work with small service providers because they all basically need the same sort of thing. Branding strategy, website copywriting, the same type of website, business cards, etc. There’s minor variation in what they need and each step is then customized to them so they have a 100% unique end product, but the framework is always the same.
I don’t work with large corporations, or say, product-based businesses because they have very different needs, and I’d have to waste tons of time and mental energy just ‘figuring things out’.
Let’s get back to imagining. So you’ve got your process. You know it like the back of your hand and can take the client through it with minimal friction. By this point, you’ve probably explained to the client how things are going to work and they’re perfectly happy to go along with it.
Imagine clients who respect you, your time, and your processes
You may have a handful of things that you need them to do prior to starting work together. You give them the instructions and they actually follow the instructions, which means you can start their project or package on time without any drama.
Once you start work for them, they always listen to what you say and happily take your advice and respect your opinion. If you are offering a service that requires decisions or revisions, the revisions are minor and painless and once a decision is made, they stick with it.
Not to mention the fact that they respect your boundaries. They always show up for meetings (or give you plenty of advance notice if they have to reschedule) and they only contact you during specified hours. Not to mention the fact that you only hear from them occasionally – no client of yours is calling you every five minutes with one disaster after another!
You finish up and deliver the services, with no fuss, no muss. They pay the final invoice, and they go and sing your praises to their friends and colleagues, effortlessly sending you more business.
Imagine clients who let your life breathe easy
You knock off work for the day at a reasonable hour and spend time reading a book, exercising, hanging out with your kids, or having dinner with friends.
Overall, your life feels balanced.
- You feel respected. You knew you were the best at what you did but weren’t feeling seen. Now it feels obvious. Clients respect you. You’re excited to be an example of success for your family. You’re getting invited to opportunities from people in your industry that you were looked over for before.
- Your clients are happy to pay you hefty sums for your work, so your business making profit and it feels GOOD. Not just revenue with most of it going right back out the door. Nope, got plenty of money coming in to cover all your business expenses and pay yourself enough to easily cover your bills, invest, be generous, indulge in hobbies, and take vacations.
- You don’t have to take on so many clients now since you can charge more, and the ones you work with don’t waste your time. So now you actually have free time. You take evenings and weekends off. You can schedule a vacation without everything falling apart (or having your kids or spouse beg you to get off your computer and actually be present). You feel as good about this as you do about your bank account. You like money, but mainly so you can live out your values and experience life to the fullest … and you certainly can’t do that if you don’t have any free time to enjoy it!
- You’re enjoying good health again – damn it feels to be able to breathe, doesn’t it? Sleeping all night because you aren’t up worrying about work is sorely underrated.
- And you actually enjoy your work! You didn’t get into business just for yourself – you also deeply care about your clients and getting the best results for them. You’re no longer secretly pissed off at them all the time and genuinely enjoy working with them. This is because you now only work with clients that don’t suck, and you’re also able to charge enough that you have the space and energy to give them your full care.
I’m not making it up. This is completely do-able.
All of this is not fantasy. I know it sounds crazy, but I swear. A few changes to how you run your business and this is all perfectly attainable. You gotta get your BrandSauce™ flowing. It’s what positions you as a respected expert in the eyes of potential clients.
The problem is, if clients only see you as a minion to do their bidding… you’re gonna have a bad time. They’re going to bring terrible ideas to the table that you feel obligated to implement, boss you around, complain about your perfectly reasonable prices, and just generally go off the rails.
But if they come into the experience viewing you as someone they trust to advise on how to solve whatever problem they’re having, that changes everything.
Then they’re going to do what you say, respect your process, pay you whatever you want, and be HAPPY about it.
They’re happy because they don’t have to expend time and brain power figuring out what to do. They WANT to be led by an expert. But they have to trust that you are that expert.
This is exactly what I help my clients do. I help them be seen as the go-to expert so they can fill up their rosters with high-paying, easy-going clients that they absolutely love working with.
Get the free Expert Energy checklist and never again have clients question your value, complain about your prices, or waste your precious time. Download it right now:
