Let clients raise your rates for you If you provide superior service and maintain rich relationships with your clients, and help them succeed, a magical thing will happen. Your clients will raise your fees for you. You won’t have to do a thing. It takes time, but consistency and reliability are rare and valuable. If you continue to rise to occasion when your clients need you, they will “tip” you way diners tip servers after they have become sufficiently sloshed to feel very generous. “Here! Take another three thousand dollars, just for being so nice!” Well, not exactly that way. Here’s what I mean. They will find ways to extend your contract. They will start asking why you charge less than others, or why others charge so much. They will refer you to other clients. They will give you different types of projects where you can be more creative about your fees. This has happened to me a half-dozen times at least. People who enjoy working with you, and who cherish your service and your commitment, will do you important favours. I was discussing this phenomenon recently with a friend who provides production services for TV and film across North America, often for large movie-makers and other production companies. Richard has been charging such low prices compared to competition that a client warned him, “If you don’t raise your rates, my VP won’t even look at you.” When invoices come in and VP sees one company charging $185 per hour and Richard’s company charging $45 per hour, VP will get nervous about gap and see Richard’s company as far below standard. The client continued, “Richard, you’ve got to make it look like you’re in same game.” When a client tells you something like this, I have one word for you. : OBEY.

At a certain airport car rental in Amarillo a young man named Kevin has another type of “show.” While several others franchises were just renting cars, he was selling a good attitude and a sense of humor.

After I made arrangements with Kevin for my rental, I asked, “Can you tell me how to get to Ambassador Hotel?”

“Sure can,” he replied. “It’s not that hard at all, since it’s tallest building in town. In fact Amarillo’s so flat you can stand outside and see just about everything there is to see.”

He then nailed down his “show” by saying, “In Amarillo if your dog runs away from home, two days later you can still see it leaving.”

BARBER-OSOPHY: If in your business you want to make a good living, and be favorably remembered, put on a good “show.”

Copyright 2005, Sumerlin Enterprises. Permission is granted to reprint this article as long as a link to www.barber-osophy.com is included.

Terry L. Sumerlin, known as the Barber-osopher, is the author of "Barber-osophy," and is a columnist for the San Antonio Business Journal. He speaks nationally as a humorist/motivational speaker. Visit his website at www.Barber-osophy.com.