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RSS Feed I'm sharing a pricing concept I picked up from the Death, Sex, and Money podcast that struck me as interesting/useful.
Here's what I cover:
-
Pricing by your client's hourly rate. Instead of a traditional sliding scale, what about pricing consults as a multiple of what your client earns per hour (e.g., one hour or two hours of their pay)? For many people, this feels more intuitive and equitable than a fixed dollar amount, and it reframes the exchange as commerce rather than capitalism.
-
The right message at the right time. Sometimes you've heard a concept before, but it doesn't land until the moment is right. (That's how this pricing idea landed for me this week.) The same is true for your clients. Don't underestimate the power of timing when you're sharing clinical recommendations; you may be the person who finally makes it click for them.
-
Revisiting pricing models. If you've been experimenting with accessibility but haven't found a model that fits, this "unit of time" approach might be worth testing.
Referenced:
-
Death, Sex, and Money podcast episode on pay-what-you-want pricing
-
Previous In the Clinic with Camille episodes on pricing: pay from the heart (ep 53) and putting prices on your website (ep 118)
I'm heading out to teach my Deep Dive class on omega-3 fatty acids right after recording this, so it's a quick one. Have an amazing week!
Thanks for listening.
I'd love to hear from you. Leave me a voicemail with feedback or submit a question (click the pink "Send Camille a Message" button on the side of the page) 💚
Camille's Helpful Links for Practitioners
WEBVTT
00:00:00.550 --> 00:00:03.567
Hi there, welcome to In the Clinic with Camille. My name is Camille Freeman,
00:00:03.567 --> 00:00:07.511
and this podcast is for herbalists and nutritionists who are in clinical practice.
00:00:08.139 --> 00:00:13.487
I am just popping in here today to do a really teeny tiny episode about a concept
00:00:13.487 --> 00:00:17.157
that I heard about recently that clicked some things in my brain,
00:00:17.157 --> 00:00:19.796
and I thought, oh, it might be useful for you, too.
00:00:20.289 --> 00:00:24.307
So here's the deal. I was listening to the Death, Sex, and Money podcast,
00:00:24.307 --> 00:00:29.856
which I really appreciate and enjoy, and they did an episode recently on pay-what-you-want pricing.
00:00:30.559 --> 00:00:34.207
And, of course, pay-what-you-want pricing is a little bit different from a sliding
00:00:34.207 --> 00:00:38.887
scale in the sense that a lot of times it starts at zero and goes up to however
00:00:38.887 --> 00:00:40.468
much you might want to pay.
00:00:40.904 --> 00:00:46.477
And in this podcast, it was really more in the context of retail environments
00:00:46.477 --> 00:00:49.594
such as a coffee shop and a musician and that sort of thing.
00:00:49.797 --> 00:00:53.687
However, as clinicians, of course, we have lots of different models for how
00:00:53.687 --> 00:00:58.817
we can make our pricing accessible, and lots of people work with a sliding scale
00:00:58.817 --> 00:01:02.437
model where we try to help people place themselves on the sliding scale.
00:01:03.111 --> 00:01:07.777
I've done separate episodes before about my experiences with that and some of
00:01:07.777 --> 00:01:11.437
the different pricing models that I've played with, so I'm not going to go into
00:01:11.437 --> 00:01:12.544
the full thing right now.
00:01:13.873 --> 00:01:18.723
One of the things that they shared in this podcast was the idea of pricing things
00:01:18.723 --> 00:01:23.515
based on the customer or the consumer or the client's hourly rate.
00:01:24.293 --> 00:01:27.863
So however much they would get paid for an hour of their time,
00:01:28.333 --> 00:01:30.533
that you could adjust your pricing based on that.
00:01:30.812 --> 00:01:34.523
And I thought, oh, that's such a smart idea. Obviously, it's not going to work
00:01:34.523 --> 00:01:36.753
for everybody in certain populations, etc., etc.
00:01:37.441 --> 00:01:42.283
But in terms of giving people a benchmark for what is this worth,
00:01:42.283 --> 00:01:48.403
like an hour of your time, feels like a very accessible number for people.
00:01:48.403 --> 00:01:53.461
Like most people have a good idea of approximately how much they get paid per hour.
00:01:54.117 --> 00:01:59.565
And I think it feels very equitable to me. So I could see something like pricing
00:01:59.757 --> 00:02:06.177
your consults at one hour or two hours of the customer or the client or the
00:02:06.520 --> 00:02:08.162
consumer's hourly rate.
00:02:08.659 --> 00:02:13.988
That seems, in some ways, cognitively a little bit easier than a sliding scale.
00:02:14.481 --> 00:02:18.163
Now, I know there are problems such as what do you do when somebody is retired,
00:02:18.163 --> 00:02:20.153
when they don't have a job, etc., etc.
00:02:20.473 --> 00:02:23.409
Like that, you know, there may be a minimum price or something like that.
00:02:23.641 --> 00:02:30.413
But anyway, I love this idea of the unit of time kind of being the anchor as
00:02:30.413 --> 00:02:35.326
opposed to the actual dollar value, because I do think it puts us in the realm of...
00:02:36.503 --> 00:02:40.389
Of exchange and commerce as opposed to capitalism.
00:02:40.726 --> 00:02:44.513
It gives people a sense of like, oh, okay, I actually have a quite high hourly
00:02:44.513 --> 00:02:48.863
salary, which means I probably need to be paying about that much or,
00:02:48.863 --> 00:02:52.250
you know, half that much or double that much or whatever it is that you decide on.
00:02:52.645 --> 00:02:55.907
Anyway, it struck me as a useful concept, something to think about.
00:02:56.360 --> 00:03:00.823
The other thing that came to me is I'm pretty sure that I've heard that concept
00:03:00.823 --> 00:03:06.363
presented in other places before, but something about hearing it this week landed
00:03:06.682 --> 00:03:08.232
and made a lot of sense to me.
00:03:08.569 --> 00:03:11.273
And the other times I've heard it, I think I've just glossed it over.
00:03:11.273 --> 00:03:13.683
It hasn't really clicked in my mind.
00:03:13.683 --> 00:03:18.652
So I also wanted to just put in a little plug for sometimes when you think that,
00:03:18.861 --> 00:03:21.983
oh, you've explained things before, or people have heard this concept before,
00:03:21.983 --> 00:03:24.163
everybody knows you're supposed to do X, Y, Z.
00:03:25.137 --> 00:03:29.183
There are times when the way that you say it, or the time that you say it,
00:03:29.473 --> 00:03:34.651
or the moment in time that you say it, that that is the time that it clicks for people.
00:03:34.901 --> 00:03:40.703
So I also just want to put in a plug for this idea that sometimes when we're
00:03:40.703 --> 00:03:44.146
in a place to hear something and receive something, that is when we hear it.
00:03:44.442 --> 00:03:47.989
So I think the same is true for our clinical recommendations and our advice.
00:03:48.434 --> 00:03:52.523
And also for us as people who are moving through this world,
00:03:52.523 --> 00:03:56.939
sometimes you just hear things in a different way at a certain time, and then it makes sense.
00:03:57.235 --> 00:04:01.153
So anyway, when the timing is right, the message makes a lot more sense.
00:04:01.153 --> 00:04:05.083
And sometimes you're the right person in the right place at the right time to
00:04:05.463 --> 00:04:09.756
share the message in a way that a client understands it or it clicks in their mind.
00:04:09.872 --> 00:04:14.613
So anyway, just a little plug for the work that we do and also sharing this
00:04:14.613 --> 00:04:20.339
idea of pricing things based on the client or consumer's hourly rate,
00:04:21.113 --> 00:04:24.813
might be an interesting thing to play around with if you have been trying to
00:04:24.813 --> 00:04:30.471
figure out a pricing model that works for you that takes into account different people,
00:04:31.663 --> 00:04:33.472
who have a spectrum of what they can afford.
00:04:34.325 --> 00:04:37.757
I'm going to leave it there for now. I'm getting ready to go teach a deep dive
00:04:37.757 --> 00:04:39.712
class on omega-3 fatty acids.
00:04:40.118 --> 00:04:45.187
So I wanted to get a podcast out there for this week, but also I need to ground
00:04:45.187 --> 00:04:46.537
myself a little bit before I teach.
00:04:46.787 --> 00:04:50.427
So I hope you have an amazing rest of your day. Thank you so much for the work
00:04:50.427 --> 00:04:53.184
that you do, and I will see you back here next week.
00:00:00.550 --> 00:00:03.567
Hi there, welcome to In the Clinic with Camille. My name is Camille Freeman,
00:00:03.567 --> 00:00:07.511
and this podcast is for herbalists and nutritionists who are in clinical practice.
00:00:08.139 --> 00:00:13.487
I am just popping in here today to do a really teeny tiny episode about a concept
00:00:13.487 --> 00:00:17.157
that I heard about recently that clicked some things in my brain,
00:00:17.157 --> 00:00:19.796
and I thought, oh, it might be useful for you, too.
00:00:20.289 --> 00:00:24.307
So here's the deal. I was listening to the Death, Sex, and Money podcast,
00:00:24.307 --> 00:00:29.856
which I really appreciate and enjoy, and they did an episode recently on pay-what-you-want pricing.
00:00:30.559 --> 00:00:34.207
And, of course, pay-what-you-want pricing is a little bit different from a sliding
00:00:34.207 --> 00:00:38.887
scale in the sense that a lot of times it starts at zero and goes up to however
00:00:38.887 --> 00:00:40.468
much you might want to pay.
00:00:40.904 --> 00:00:46.477
And in this podcast, it was really more in the context of retail environments
00:00:46.477 --> 00:00:49.594
such as a coffee shop and a musician and that sort of thing.
00:00:49.797 --> 00:00:53.687
However, as clinicians, of course, we have lots of different models for how
00:00:53.687 --> 00:00:58.817
we can make our pricing accessible, and lots of people work with a sliding scale
00:00:58.817 --> 00:01:02.437
model where we try to help people place themselves on the sliding scale.
00:01:03.111 --> 00:01:07.777
I've done separate episodes before about my experiences with that and some of
00:01:07.777 --> 00:01:11.437
the different pricing models that I've played with, so I'm not going to go into
00:01:11.437 --> 00:01:12.544
the full thing right now.
00:01:13.873 --> 00:01:18.723
One of the things that they shared in this podcast was the idea of pricing things
00:01:18.723 --> 00:01:23.515
based on the customer or the consumer or the client's hourly rate.
00:01:24.293 --> 00:01:27.863
So however much they would get paid for an hour of their time,
00:01:28.333 --> 00:01:30.533
that you could adjust your pricing based on that.
00:01:30.812 --> 00:01:34.523
And I thought, oh, that's such a smart idea. Obviously, it's not going to work
00:01:34.523 --> 00:01:36.753
for everybody in certain populations, etc., etc.
00:01:37.441 --> 00:01:42.283
But in terms of giving people a benchmark for what is this worth,
00:01:42.283 --> 00:01:48.403
like an hour of your time, feels like a very accessible number for people.
00:01:48.403 --> 00:01:53.461
Like most people have a good idea of approximately how much they get paid per hour.
00:01:54.117 --> 00:01:59.565
And I think it feels very equitable to me. So I could see something like pricing
00:01:59.757 --> 00:02:06.177
your consults at one hour or two hours of the customer or the client or the
00:02:06.520 --> 00:02:08.162
consumer's hourly rate.
00:02:08.659 --> 00:02:13.988
That seems, in some ways, cognitively a little bit easier than a sliding scale.
00:02:14.481 --> 00:02:18.163
Now, I know there are problems such as what do you do when somebody is retired,
00:02:18.163 --> 00:02:20.153
when they don't have a job, etc., etc.
00:02:20.473 --> 00:02:23.409
Like that, you know, there may be a minimum price or something like that.
00:02:23.641 --> 00:02:30.413
But anyway, I love this idea of the unit of time kind of being the anchor as
00:02:30.413 --> 00:02:35.326
opposed to the actual dollar value, because I do think it puts us in the realm of...
00:02:36.503 --> 00:02:40.389
Of exchange and commerce as opposed to capitalism.
00:02:40.726 --> 00:02:44.513
It gives people a sense of like, oh, okay, I actually have a quite high hourly
00:02:44.513 --> 00:02:48.863
salary, which means I probably need to be paying about that much or,
00:02:48.863 --> 00:02:52.250
you know, half that much or double that much or whatever it is that you decide on.
00:02:52.645 --> 00:02:55.907
Anyway, it struck me as a useful concept, something to think about.
00:02:56.360 --> 00:03:00.823
The other thing that came to me is I'm pretty sure that I've heard that concept
00:03:00.823 --> 00:03:06.363
presented in other places before, but something about hearing it this week landed
00:03:06.682 --> 00:03:08.232
and made a lot of sense to me.
00:03:08.569 --> 00:03:11.273
And the other times I've heard it, I think I've just glossed it over.
00:03:11.273 --> 00:03:13.683
It hasn't really clicked in my mind.
00:03:13.683 --> 00:03:18.652
So I also wanted to just put in a little plug for sometimes when you think that,
00:03:18.861 --> 00:03:21.983
oh, you've explained things before, or people have heard this concept before,
00:03:21.983 --> 00:03:24.163
everybody knows you're supposed to do X, Y, Z.
00:03:25.137 --> 00:03:29.183
There are times when the way that you say it, or the time that you say it,
00:03:29.473 --> 00:03:34.651
or the moment in time that you say it, that that is the time that it clicks for people.
00:03:34.901 --> 00:03:40.703
So I also just want to put in a plug for this idea that sometimes when we're
00:03:40.703 --> 00:03:44.146
in a place to hear something and receive something, that is when we hear it.
00:03:44.442 --> 00:03:47.989
So I think the same is true for our clinical recommendations and our advice.
00:03:48.434 --> 00:03:52.523
And also for us as people who are moving through this world,
00:03:52.523 --> 00:03:56.939
sometimes you just hear things in a different way at a certain time, and then it makes sense.
00:03:57.235 --> 00:04:01.153
So anyway, when the timing is right, the message makes a lot more sense.
00:04:01.153 --> 00:04:05.083
And sometimes you're the right person in the right place at the right time to
00:04:05.463 --> 00:04:09.756
share the message in a way that a client understands it or it clicks in their mind.
00:04:09.872 --> 00:04:14.613
So anyway, just a little plug for the work that we do and also sharing this
00:04:14.613 --> 00:04:20.339
idea of pricing things based on the client or consumer's hourly rate,
00:04:21.113 --> 00:04:24.813
might be an interesting thing to play around with if you have been trying to
00:04:24.813 --> 00:04:30.471
figure out a pricing model that works for you that takes into account different people,
00:04:31.663 --> 00:04:33.472
who have a spectrum of what they can afford.
00:04:34.325 --> 00:04:37.757
I'm going to leave it there for now. I'm getting ready to go teach a deep dive
00:04:37.757 --> 00:04:39.712
class on omega-3 fatty acids.
00:04:40.118 --> 00:04:45.187
So I wanted to get a podcast out there for this week, but also I need to ground
00:04:45.187 --> 00:04:46.537
myself a little bit before I teach.
00:04:46.787 --> 00:04:50.427
So I hope you have an amazing rest of your day. Thank you so much for the work
00:04:50.427 --> 00:04:53.184
that you do, and I will see you back here next week.
