How to Justify a $100k+++ Price Tag
How to Justify a $100k+++ Price Tag
It seems like there's a prevailing trend pushing everyone towards the bottom of the market, doesn't it? That’s how it felt for me when I started offering live painting services.
Businesses that weathered the storm of COVID have emerged weary and battle-scarred, only to be bombarded by mainstream media and the coaching industry with messages about the necessity of:
Reducing prices because apparently, that's all consumers can afford.
Increasing volume because that's the only path to profitability.
Giving everything away for free to earn trust.
For me, pursuing a high-volume, low-margin business model targeting the widest possible market share doesn't align with my vision.
IT. WAS. NOT. ENABLING.
I came to realize that there's an alternative approach.
Instead of starting at the bottom of the market, aim for the top. Target a select group of clients willing to pay a premium for exceptional service. This approach, known as the descension model, offers higher margins, less competition, and ultimately, more enjoyment.
Through my research, I observed that businesses, regardless of their niche or target audience, can command top euro for services that deliver impact, efficiency, and an outstanding experience.
By positioning yourself as the dominant brand in your field, you can set your own prices with little to no competition. While others race to the bottom, those who dare to defy convention and rise to the top can dominate the market.
I decided to trust my instinct, that selling a premium service to a smaller group of clients—perhaps 6 to 10 individuals—each paying $100k or more, is remarkably achievable when positioned correctly and offered by an expert poised to become an icon. In my case, as the icon, I've coined the term "Iconic Art Aficionados!" for my clients. Through my holding pool, I position my clients as icons on a global scale.
This is where the real opportunity lies.
So, how do you Justify a $100k+++ Price Tag?
Let me start by telling you a story…
I am a medical doctor doing my specialist training in Family Medicine, also called general practice, house medicine, district medicine. Prior to this I had worked within several specialities - preventive medicine, social medicine, psychiatry, paediatrics, gynecology and obstetrics, cardiology, internal medicine, general surgery, nephrology, acute medicine, subacute medicine, radiation oncology, radiology.
When I became an artist, I started live event painting, but I was also always passionate about creating global impact.
I found that with live event painting, I was contacted by people, who always wanted me to go cheaper, even those who never responded…
While I had wonderful clients who I cherish, I found that I was in some cases taking on work where I knew I was getting paid less than I would as a physician, so I was basically paying them to paint for them. I knew that if I wanted to make global impact, this was not the way to do it.
COVID and having two babies would force me to reevaluate my vision as an artist, who I am. I dug all the way back into my past, all the way to back when I was 9 years old. I identified artists who only work on five or six weddings per year. This means that they had more time to travel and enjoy their lives with their families. In my case, I would also be able to make global impact.
Are you wanting to be in that position too?
OK… Well let’s make a start…
Tip #1 – Intentionally Choose the People You Sell To
I often ponder over the concept of intentional marketing. This means that you stop taking a scattershot approach in which you target as large an audience as possible. Instead, you decide on the exact type of person you want to work with – with such precision, you literally pinpoint a handful of ideal clients.
You research them as much as possible and position your offer as the solution to the specific challenges that they have. Crucially here, this isn’t about pushing them into pain and telling them why they’re a mess (that’s mainstream)… it’s about seeing a bigger vision for them that they cannot see for themselves (I call this the “expanded vision” and being able to clearly articulate this to them through your brand, communication and connection.
This is a crucial part of working with people at the premium and luxury level. They’re not looking for “support” – they’re looking for efficiency, efficacy and a bigger impact than they can see for themselves. Provide that to the perfect few people and not only will you have no cap on your pricing, you’ll pick and choose the people you work with so your days will be ridiculously joyful too.
Tip #2 – It’s About Confidence. Supreme Confidence.
I love the phrase: “Drop humble at the door.” In order to attract these premium clients and for you to be the dominant premium brand in your niche, it is critical that you step into your identity as the very best in the world at (fill in the blank).
My question to you is simple: what is the biggest thing you can truthfully claim to be the best in the world at?
It doesn’t need to be as wide or general as Personal Development or Photography or Interior Design or Financial Planning… Go narrow and deep. The richness is there.
And once you’ve nailed that…
Claim it. Own it. Embody it.
Have supreme confidence in that.
And because you know it, because you bring that to the people you want to do business with, there is zero cap to your pricing.
You are the best of the best.
That peerless positioning enables extraordinary offers to be made.
That’s how I discovered my path as a polymath, as Scandinavia’s Pioneer Live Wedding & Event Painter, a global-frontier postcontemporary artist, and the World’s Pioneer Live Time Painter.
Tip #3 – Expand Their Vision
Clients at the premium end of the market are looking for a vision and experience that they cannot see for themselves. They often don’t even articulate what they want. They are seeking unique experiences, bespoke offerings that expand their vision of possibility.
Work out what that means for YOU, and your selected client targets and work on being able to articulate that vision richly and deeply, and deliver that experience peerlessly.
Your pricing won’t matter if you get this piece right.
Tip #4 – Your Offer Doesn’t Need Bells & Whistles
One of the biggest misconceptions about premium offers is that they need to be massive, filled with the kitchen sink, and every utensil you own to justify the investment in you.
It is the exact opposite.
Luxury clients as well as premium clients are seeking something unique, bespoke and that CUTS DOWN the amount of fluff.
Generally speaking, a luxury offer and even a premium offer is a bespoke one. It’s something that you intentionally put together to serve the needs of a specific client. And the odds are that none of your clients need access to every scrap of your expertise and they certainly don’t want sets of kitchen knives thrown in as bonuses to beef up your offer so YOU feel justified saying the price you’re charging.
Instead, they need access to the expertise that helps them to achieve the expanded vision you have so richly painted for them.
When I decided to delve into a luxury strategy model, I created a simple product that is completely gated off and exclusive - I paint live through the hands of time.
Tip #5 – Focus on the Experience (As Well as the Outcome)
Of course, the outcome that you achieve with your client is of critical importance. However, it’s not the only point of focus when you’re selling at a premium level.
A luxury client as well as a premium client, wants something experiential, special and rich. They want somebody who’s going to link arms with them and create an extraordinary experience. Your premium offer is all about taking your client on a journey. It’s about creating a magical world for them. It’s about YOU being personally involved as the icon of whom they want to be in the company.
Luxury brands are so good at this – the experience in a Rolex store… the experience of purchasing a Bugatti… the experience of selecting a De Beers necklace…
Evoke that, and you’re on the money.
Tip #6 – Get Out of Your Own Wallet
Let’s assume that you want to sell a $500,000 offer.
You’ve never invested in an offer at that level yourself. As a result, you believe that $500,000 is an extraordinary amount of money for someone to invest in you.
This is when you start to experience a mindset problem. You start asking yourself why someone would invest that much in you when you don’t even have that much to invest.
The problem here is that you’re inside your own wallet instead of that of your ideal client.
In other words, you’re looking at that $500,000 as though it’s something that you need to spend. But remember, you’re not selling to yourself. Your ideal client is somebody for whom $500,000 is not a big deal. They have a different perception of that sum of money.
The key here is to get into the mind and wallet of that ideal client.
Find the person who you desire to provide that extraordinary experience. Find the person who you see an expanded vision of possibility for. Show them how you can transform them and help them achieve their deepest desire.
That’s the value that they’re looking for. And they’ll gladly pay a premium and even… a luxury… to get it.
Premium Pricing… And YOUR Niche…
If you’re exceptional at what you do, and you’re aching to get out of the race to the bottom with all of those mainstream brands in your niche; then there is a different strategy. There is likely a premium position available in your market. You just need to be brave enough to claim it.
P.S. Want to dig deeper? Start by watching Abiosè’s MuseClass “Globe Muse” by clicking the button below.
