We want to see our customers treated fairly — it’s in our CPA DNA. Somewhere between learning debits and credits, independence, objectivity, and integrity seep into our subconcious. I’m not quite sure how it happens, but I think it’s what leads to CPA’s being consistently ranked among the most trusted advisors, ahead of doctors, lawyers, and bankers. To be honest, it’s one of the things that attracted me to the profession.
That desire for upright honesty and fairness surfaces in a variety of different ways: the services we provide, the counsel we give, the interactions we have with third-parties on behalf of our customers…and, in our approach to pricing.
Common logic seems to tell us: to show that we treat each person fairly, we should price each service the same. That could be in the form of a stated hourly billing rate. Or as a standard menu pricing schedule. Or a simple flat fee.
The problem with pricing everyone the same, however, is that it forces us to treat everyone the same.
We lock ourselves into not being able to address our customer’s different circumstances. We limit ourselves to a pre-determined product and level of effort. We construct a one-size-fits-all solution, through which we try to squeeze each person. It’s a mass production world, that slowly cuts away the human dimension.
Customers want to be treated fairly too, as right they should. Sometimes they think this means we should have a standard quote — an hourly rate, a set fee. Anything other than that, and the seller is just trying to take advantage of them.
I would argue, however, that deep down, what customers truly want, what they need, is change — they want their situation to change for the better: removing a pain, or adding a gain. And change comes from exchange; the closed fist holds only one thing. Price is the cost of change. And no two changes are the same. So why should any two prices be the same?
Non-standard pricing allows for non-standard service. We’re freed to create new things, we’re given space to help our customers in the way they need to be helped, we can see them as human beings with unique situations and circumstances, and not just try to “standardize” them into our little accountant boxes. We become like the artists Kevin and Jason wrote about recently. Price should be as unique as the person it’s designed for.
It’s hard to say that what we do is worthless. But once we understand that what we do has no inherent value, that is, that its value is actually a derivative of how it helps our customer, then we can stop looking at ourselves and our internal operations to determine pricing, and start looking at our customers, who are the true arbiters.
The classical definition of justice is to give each person their due. And we can only give each person their due, when we treat them as unique from the start.
I think you hit it out of the park with this post. Always amazed to hear/read your insights. Also shows how smart Jason is to have chosen you to write for Thriveal. Need to post this up on Verasage as well!
Thanks Joe! — you are way too kind my friend. 🙂 Can’t claim originality for these thoughts, but hopefully the way they’ve been expressed are helpful. I really feel it’s important we humanize our profession, and that begins by making sure all of the components of our business point towards the importance of the human person, and our relationships with each other. Dude, rock on!
Well said, Adrian. How can you truly serve someone in a personal way if they are treated like everyone else when it comes to capturing the value of that change through pricing?
@Kevin — yep! Our way of doing things can undermine or undergird our beliefs. Thanks btw!
If we truly believe that each customer is unique in their needs, desires and expectations, then our pricing should also reflect this.
Good grief that is awesome! I love the line about how change is an exchange and a closed fist only hold one thing. Really great point of view about how pricing properly is BEST for our customer.
I agree 100% with the theory Adrian. But I would also argue that a lot of people see “value pricing” as “charge higher prices to customers who can afford to pay more”. Now, it might be the case that the customer who can afford to pay more actually “values” your services more – but that isn’t always the case.
I will admit – I myself have fallen into that trap. Why? Because “value pricing” is hard! It takes a lot of time and effort to truly figure out what your client wants and what they value. And most of the time, a client doesn’t understand what they value until you give it to them (or take it away).