The story below is from an article (by Jay Abraham) that my coach and colleague, Rich Litvin, shared with me just the other day.  I’m passing it on to you this week because it’s a great illustration of a concept every professional should understand.

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A farmer wanted to buy a pony for his little daughter.  There were two for sale in his town.  Both ponies were equal in all aspects.

The first salesman told the farmer he wanted $500 for his pony, “Take it or leave it.”

The second salesman was selling his pony for $750.  But the second man told the farmer he wanted the farmer’s daughter to try out the pony for a month before the farmer had to make any purchasing decisions.  He offered to bring the pony out to the farmer’s home along with a month’s worth of hay to feed it.  He said he’d send out his own stableman once a week to show the little girl how to groom and care for the pony. He told the farmer the pony was kind and gentle, but to have his daughter ride it each day to make certain they got along together.

Finally, he said, that at the end of 30 days, he’d drive over to the farmer’s place and either take back the pony and clean up the stall, or he’d ask, right then, to be paid the $750.

Which pony do you suppose the farmer decided to purchase for his daughter?

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Unless your service seems to a prospective client to be no better than that provided by a lower-priced competitor, he or she will NEVER make the decision to hire one of you on price alone.  Show up powerfully when you pitch, and you’ll be worth the higher price.  Pony or no, your service is part of the package you’re selling.

If you’d like some help packaging your products, contact me.  Broach the upper limits of what you can offer, and no matter what your price, your clients and customers will keep REACHING…