Recently one of my coaching clients had a breakthrough about pricing.

She’d quoted a potential client for a service, and received some pushback on the investment during their conversation. And almost immediately, a familiar thought crept in…

“Maybe I’m charging too much.“
“Maybe I should offer a discount to get her over the line.“

If you’ve ever run a service-based business, I know you’ll have been there. We all have at some stage.

It’s that split second where your confidence starts to crumble and self-doubt creeps in. Where you suddenly question your pricing and your inner voice says things like “who the hell do you think you are?”

This is one of the biggest challenges when it comes to pricing your services – especially for women in business who care deeply about the work they do.

THE MISTAKE MOST WOMEN MAKE WITH PRICING

Negative thoughts like these are so common for women in business. And not because their work isn’t valuable. But because we’ve been brought up to be givers rather than receivers – especially for women in midlife, who’ve spent years prioritising everyone else.

Which means that when it comes to how to price your services, many women measure their work by the task, instead of the impact. We can do this because it feels like the safest and easiest way to decide on the value we offer, without requiring us to put a price on the intangible impact we have on our clients.

We think about the hours involved.
The deliverables.
The logistics.

Basically, how long it will take us to do the work and any hard costs involved in the process.

And it’s why so many women unintentionally undercharge, and then struggle on sales calls – because they haven’t allowed themselves to reflect on the real impact – the worth and value – of what they do.

THE RIPPLE EFFECT OF YOUR WORK

The truth is, your work is almost never just the surface-level problem you solve.

When someone works with you, the impact almost always goes much deeper than that.

For example, when someone books a personal branding shoot with me, they’re not just getting some beautiful, on-brand photos.

Yes, they receive professional images they can use on their website, social media, and marketing. But what I often see happen afterwards is much bigger.

Suddenly they have a bank of content ready to go instead of scrambling for images every time they want to post. Their online presence looks more established and credible. And most importantly, they start showing up more confidently because they actually like how they look in their brand.

And the ripple effects from that can be significant:

• They begin attracting clients they might not have attracted before.
• They feel confident raising their prices because their brand finally reflects the level they’re operating at.
• Media opportunities come their way.
• Speaking invitations land in their inbox.
• People reach out simply because they like the way they show up online and the impression it gives.

WHY PRICING BASED ON TIME MISSES THE POINT

So yes, they’re getting a beautiful content bank of images, and need to cover my time and costs related to the shoot.

But most of the value is in the emotional impact my images have on them and their business. Those ripple effects I listed above, they can bring a lot of additional revenue into my clients’ businesses.

I hear different versions of these follow-on effects from my photography clients all the time.

And photography is just one example. These ripple effects will occur in different ways across every service-based business.

• A business coach might help a client clarify their offer – which leads to better messaging, more aligned clients, and more consistent income.
• A stylist might help a woman feel comfortable in her clothes again – which changes how she walks into meetings, interviews, networking events, and opportunities she previously avoided.
• A website designer might build a site that finally reflects someone’s expertise – which suddenly makes it easier for them to promote what they do, attract more ideal clients, and convert them more easily.

The first outcome might look practical or tangible. But the real value often lies in what happens next.

This is the difference between time-based pricing and value-based pricing.

I often think about this as the ripple effect of good work. The first ripple is the obvious result – the photos, the strategy, the website, the consultation. But the second and third ripples are where the real transformation happens:

Confidence grows.
Visibility increases.
Opportunities appear.
Businesses evolve.

And that’s why pricing your work purely based on the time and costs involved misses the point entirely.

Because the real value of what you do isn’t just the hours you spend delivering it. It’s the change it creates for the person on the other side.

And we haven’t even talked about the years – often decades – you’ve spent honing your skills and building your expertise. That needs to be taken into account when you’re thinking about how to price your services, because it’s one of the many reasons your clients will work with you and experience such a wonderful transformation.

A SIMPLE SHIFT THAT CHANGES EVERYTHING

Which brings me back to my client.

Instead of immediately discounting on that call (which she would’ve done in the past), she decided to do something different.

She took a deep breath and explained the longer-term impact of her work. Not just what she would deliver, but what it would actually change for the client, and the additional, long-term benefits she’d experience as a result of their work together.

And guess what?

The client paused for a second, thought about what my client said… and then said yes on the spot, excited to get started.

Sometimes people simply need help seeing the bigger picture.

So next time your confidence starts crumbling when it comes to your pricing, instead of making a snap decision to discount, do yourself a favour and take a breath.

Then explain to your potential client the many benefits they’ll experience as a result of your work … whether it be emotional, physical, financial, or a mix of the above.

Because if you’ve ever struggled with pricing your services, this is where the shift begins.

Our clients don’t need discounts from us, and as business owners we certainly don’t benefit from discounting.

They just need help seeing the bigger picture, so they fully understand not just the process and end result, but the ongoing impact it will have.

So here’s a question I’d love you to sit with for a moment:

Do you truly understand the full impact of your work?

Not just the problem you solve – but the emotional, financial, and psychological ripple effects that follow it.

Because when you start seeing your work through that lens, your pricing – and your sales conversations – will start to feel very different.

Less like a negotiation and more like a conversation.

And in most cases, a whole lot easier.

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These are exactly the kinds of shifts I work on with the women inside my Shine Bright Mastermind.

Not just the strategy behind pricing and sales, but the deeper work around understanding your value, owning your expertise, and communicating it with confidence — so you can show up, sell your services, and build a business that actually supports you.

If this is something you’ve been navigating, you can find out more about the mastermind here.