March 24, 2020

Reader success story from Simon Ihlenfeldt

Sent by Jonathan Stark on March 24th, 2020

Fellow list member Simon Ihlenfeldt sent in the following success story (shared with permission):

Hi Jonathan, your last email inspired me to give you feedback as well. I started Fall 2018 changing my mind about pricing. Soon i found you and got inspired by you every day. I’m also client of your group coachings. I’m not there always, but it’s a good chance to give something back to you. Before i knew that hourly billing is nuts my biggest project was a 30k project which had an enormous workload. * In january 2019, i was able to get my first 50k project * In spring 2019, i was able to get my first 130k project * 2 Weeks ago we got our first 250k project. Crazy, isn’t it? Especially in this time the last big project basically saved my company for the next months. Thanks for all your awesome work and inspiration. —Simon

Notice how quickly Simon’s numbers went up initially… from $30k to $50k in a few months. Then from $50k to $130k a few months later.

This fast increase doesn’t always happen but it’s not uncommon because experienced service providers chronically underprice their assistance. If you’re great at what you do and are sending out proposals every month or two, it’s fairly likely that you could increase your profits dramatically with a single proposal.

This has happened many times with my coaching students. We’ll work on a proposal together, come up with three prices (two of which are tens of thousands more than they were planning to charge), and then outline scope within each of those price options. And then - much to the student’s surprise, the client will pick option 2 or 3.

It doesn’t happen every time, but when it does it’s a game changer. Having real profits for the first time has lasting beneficial impact on your business.

NOTE: If you’re NOT sending out proposals as often as every month or so, hit reply and let me know what your situation is so I can write a useful follow-up.

Yours,

—J