The Client Who Taught Me About True Value
Got humbled yesterday. Client paid my $2,200 invoice and said: "This is the cheapest $2,200 I've ever spent." Made me realize I was still thinking too small. THE CLIENT STORY: Insurance brokerage, 50 employees Processing 300 claims daily 8 hours of manual data entry Compliance deadlines constantly missed My automation: Claims β PDF Vector β System 8 hours becomes 12 minutes 100% compliance achieved Zero missed deadlines THE VALUE I DELIVERED: Time saved: 8 hours daily = $60,000 annually Compliance achieved: Avoided $25,000 penalty Staff redeployment: 2 people to revenue activities Error reduction: 94% fewer mistakes Total annual value: $85,000+ What I charged: $2,200 THE REALIZATION: I was pricing my time, not their transformation. I was thinking about my cost, not their value. I was being "fair" instead of valuable. THE MINDSET SHIFT: From: "What's my time worth?" To: "What's their problem worth solving?" From: "Is this a fair price?" To: "Is this a good investment for them?" THE NEW PRICING FRAMEWORK: Calculate their pain cost Quantify your solution value Price at 10-20% of annual value Position as investment, not expense THE VALUE CATEGORIES: Time savings (quantifiable) Error reduction (measurable) Compliance achievement (valuable) Staff redeployment (strategic) Revenue enablement (crucial) THE INSURANCE BROKERAGE MATH: Manual processing cost: $60,000/year Compliance risk: $25,000 potential penalty Opportunity cost: $40,000 in lost productivity Total problem cost: $125,000/year My solution value: $85,000/year savings My pricing: $2,200 (2.6% of value) Their ROI: 3,864% THE CONFIDENCE BUILDER: They would pay $10,000 for this value They would pay $15,000 for this transformation They would pay $20,000 for this peace of mind $2,200 was a gift to them. THE CLIENT'S PERSPECTIVE: "We tried hiring two more people: $80,000" "We looked at enterprise software: $50,000 setup" "We considered outsourcing: $45,000 annually" "Your automation: $2,200 total"