Why Your “Reasonable” Price Can Cost You Business

This email came in from one of the wedding superheroes in our Book More Brides community.  If you’re ready for a dose of inspiration and a little kick in the bum to encourage you to go for the price you really deserve, keep reading.

This made my day!

Stephanie,

I have to say the wedding tip of Why You Need to Raise Your Price TODAY was excellent and, well to add a pun, right on the MONEY!!

In my many years of being a wedding DJ, I was scared to raise my prices.

I’ll admit my first mistake when starting my business was to be “the most affordable (cheapest) DJ in town.” I had years of wedding DJ experience, but zero business experience.

I honestly believe that I lost business to customers because I was too cheap.

In my first few months of running my DJ business I remember one week where I received 5 calls in 2 days, sent out 5 contracts, was so excited to potentially book 5 weddings all at once…..and guess what, NOT ONE of them booked me. Why?

Most likely because with such a low price, they all probably questioned this “cheap DJ” and didn’t want the risk for their wedding.

What was my first step in raising my prices? Well, after a few years on my own in business, I had another DJ who lived far outside of my market ask me how much I charged and why so little. He then asked what one of my competitors was charging, which was much more than what I was at the time.

His follow up question was, “Are they booking events in your town at that rate?”   I answered, “yes,” to which he replied, “If they are charging that much and booking events at that price, then why aren’t you charging that much?”

That question alone started me on a different path.

Fast forward to now. I know the value of what I do, I know the excellent reputation I have with customers and venues in my market, and I continually grow and do more with my business now than I ever have.

I love being in the wedding business. I love helping brides and in-turn they enjoy all that I do in helping them plan their reception and offer advice, suggestions and guide them in getting everything ready.   All this being said, why wouldn’t I raise my prices to what I’m worth?

These days I’m charging more than I ever have and am booking more weddings than ever before.

Sure, I still have those “you’re outside of my budget” calls or people who think that a DJ should cost far less than what I charge. No, I’m not ripping people off at all, I simply am charging more because I feel I’m worth it.

And yes, I agree when you raise your rates it can be a little scary thinking you’re going to lose business, BUT it does push you to do more, do better…and remember your next customer could be right there at a wedding seeing your performance.

If they’re impressed to the point that YOU are the DJ (or other wedding service) they want, it would be crazy to not charge what you’re worth. 🙂

Gary from Nebraska

What do you think about raising your price?

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