Do you feel bad for charging money for your services? Are you tempted to give massive discounts or train for free?

If so, you’re not alone. But you should be confident in charging a higher price if you want to because you are helping people. If you can get them results, think about what that is worth to the client. Think about how happy they are at the end when their dog is now transformed into a well mannered family member.

That means a lot to people and in many cases is life changing!

Think about why you might feel bad, is it because we live in a society where we grow up hearing that money is bad and that if you want it, you are greedy?

Some people ARE greedy. They rip people off on purpose and are in it just for the money without caring about results or the happiness of the client.

But I know that isn’t you, or you wouldn’t be reading this.

Let me tell you about my experience with raising my rates.

I used to charge really low because hey, who would pay more in this area? (another one I hear all the time that isn’t true)

I got clients all the time that cancelled last minute, didn’t do their homework, didn’t seem to care and didn’t get results. Is that the kind of client you look forward to working with?

Do you know what happens when you see a client and don’t get them results because THEY didn’t do their homework? They blame you.

Unfair. But it’s the way it is.

I remember giving an acquaintance a lesson for free. I gave up over an hour of my time helping her and got the dog to stop pulling on the leash. All she had to do was be consistent in what she learned and stick to the prescribed equipment of a training collar rather than a harness.

I then saw her down the beach a few weeks later with some other people. The dog was back on the harness lunging and barking at her friends and acting totally out of control. She was not doing a single thing I had instructed.

And then do you know what she said to her friends?

“Oh meet Tenille, she is our dog trainer!”

Her friends laughed as her dog was clearly NOT trained.

I spoke up.

“No I’m not your trainer. We spent one session together and you have not kept up with a single thing I taught you.”

But usually, you won’t be there to speak up.

Another time I gave a free class pass to a friend. Someone else could have paid for the spot but I gave it to her for her new pup. She came to one class and never returned.

There was no pressing reason to keep up with training for either of these people. Life got in the way, they got busy, training got pushed aside.

And the truth is, while I knew these people personally, they weren’t the client type I would usually get. Neither of them were the type of people that would spend money on dog training.

Now imagine you see someone and they pay you a price over a thousand dollars for training. Are they going to do their homework? You bet your ass they are. Otherwise their money is spent for nothing.

So I changed the way I priced my services and charged for results.

People still signed up.

The quality of client went up.

Every client did their homework and therefore got better results.

And every client was a joy to work with. Because it’s unlikely someone invests in working with a person that they don’t like, trust or click with.

Here’s today’s live video replay on the topic: