What People REALLY Pay Premium Prices For

0:01Hello, this is Mark Satterfield and welcome to the Velvet Rope Playbook. Tonight's chapter, What People Really Pay Premium Prices For. People don't pay premium prices for architecture. They pay for confidence that they're going to love coming home every day. People don't pay premium prices for financial advice. They pay for the feeling that someone smart is watching over the decisions that could affect the rest of their lives. People don't pay premium prices for a luxury real estate agent. they pay for access, judgment, and the confidence that they won't make a very expensive mistake. And people don't pay premium prices for a consultant because they want more consulting.

0:45They pay because they want to get where they're going faster with fewer wrong turns along the way. That distinction sounds simple, but it can completely change the way you market your services. Because most professionals describe what they do. Wealthy clients are much more interested in what having you in their corner allows them to feel, experience, avoid, or accomplish. Think about two architects. One says, we specialize in custom residential architecture and provide comprehensive design services from initial concept through construction. Perfectly reasonable, perfectly professional, and almost completely interchangeable with what dozens of other architects could say.

1:33The other architect says,

1:45Now we're talking about something very different. The service is still architecture, but the value has shifted from drawings and design services to personal expression and a better experience. And this matters even more when you're selling to affluent clients because they're frequently choosing among several highly competent professionals. Everybody they're considering may have good credentials. Everybody may have experience. Everybody may be capable of doing the work. So credentials alone don't necessarily explain why someone should pay you substantially more. Here's a simple exercise I suggest you do.

2:26Write this sentence. People don't pay premium prices for blank. They pay premium prices for blank. Now put your service in the first blank. Then, and this is the important part, you're not allowed to put another service, feature, or deliverable in the second blank. If you're an interior designer, don't say they pay for better interior design. What do they actually want? Perhaps they want to walk into their home and think, this finally feels like us. If you're an estate planning attorney, they're probably not dreaming about trusts and legal documents. They may be paying for the confidence that what they've spent a lifetime building will pass to the people they care about without creating chaos.

3:21If you're a private travel advisor, they're not necessarily paying you to book hotels and flights. They may be paying so that for two weeks a year, they don't have to figure anything out. That's where your premium value lives. Now, here's another way to find your answer. Think about your best clients and ask yourselves, what are they able to stop worrying about once they hire me? That's often a much better marketing question than what services do I provide? Because when you're marketing to affluent clients, your biggest competitor frequently isn't another professional charging less. It's the prospect thinking, I'm not convinced enough there's enough difference to justify paying more.

4:08Your marketing has to make that difference visible. So go back to that sentence and complete it for your own business. People don't pay premium prices for blank. They pay premium prices for blank. If you can come up with a compelling answer to that second blank, you may have just found one of the most important messages in your entire marketing strategy. And if you're struggling to figure out exactly what this message should be like, go to getwealthyclients.com and click on the link about working with me personally. I'll send you information and we can identify what makes you difficult to compare with everyone else and turn that into messaging that gives affluent prospects a compelling reason to choose you.

4:58This is Mark Satterfield. I hope you found this chapter of the Velvet Rope Playbook to be helpful. I'll talk to you soon. Bye for now.