On this week’s Dear Katie, I was asked a question about attracting higher paying clients, and it is one that I think resonates with a lot of you reading this: We have had a few prospects come through Google Ads and our website, but none of them have ever been able to afford us. What are your suggestions on how to find the higher-paying clients? 

And it’s so frustrating to be in this position.

Some prospects legitimately cannot afford your service, but others are just trying to get you to lower your prices. 

You’ll never win every prospect over, and that’s okay, but what you can do is stop bleeding your time before booking calls and take the steps to start attracting those higher-paying clients.

How? 

Let’s jump in.

1. Weed Them Out Before Booking Calls

Minimizing your calls with people who cannot afford you should be a top priority. You’re spending a lot of your valuable time on prospects that will never pan out and need to recuperate it.

But, how?

Before someone schedules a call with you, be sure that they know your minimum pricing. I do this by having people fill out a form prior to getting to my calendar, and it works very well. For example:

• We offer services A, B and C.
• Each service starts at $XXXX.
• Are you willing to invest at least this amount to grow your firm?

A simple form like this weeds out many of the people who cannot afford your services, but you’ll still have a handful of people who will book a call with you because they can. 

I’ve found that most people don’t want to waste their time on a call when they can’t afford a service because they also don’t want to lose out on time.

Once you weed out these prospects, you can begin closing more prospects who are willing to pay higher fees. You will also need to do something that can be a bit tricky: change your language.

2. Change Your Language

What type of language do you use on your website, in your ads, at events or even in newsletters?

If you’re using the wrong language, you can easily attract broke clients; the type of client who can’t pay more for your services and will always push back on price.

If you want to attract higher-paying clients, you need to speak their language. 

You can do this by following these steps:

• Upgrade your topics: For example, shift from basic bookkeeping tips to advanced tax strategies, wealth planning, and business growth.
• Focus on results and not the process: Broke clients want the cheapest solution. High-value clients care about the outcome—speak to that.
• Set higher expectations: Articulate who you are, what you offer and who you offer it for. See more on this below.

For example, if you only work with businesses doing $1M+, don’t be afraid to call it out in your content. 

If you have a minimum fee, mention it upfront.

High-value clients want to work with high-value providers. 

Make it clear you’re for them, and you’ll start attracting clients who are happy to pay your fees. However, you may also need to change where you post to make sure that your ideal client sees your message.

3. Put Yourself in Their Circle of Influence

You know what they say: birds of a feather flock together. 

If you want to attract higher-paying clients, put yourself in their circle of influence. Find out where they’re hanging out – online and in person – and spend time there.

• Are there digital communities, groups or Slack channels they’re spending time in? If so, join them.
• Are they attending key in-person events that you should be at? 

I personally have found that in-person events offer a great ROI – but only when coupled with a strong online presence. 

Here’s why:

• When I attend an event, I often meet people who “know” me online.
• For those who didn’t know me online, I can use my online strategy to stay in front of them after the event.
• My online presence reinforces the person they met at the event.

When trying to get in front of the right people, also consider: who are they listening to?

Start with podcasts. 

• Which podcasts are they listening to?

• Can you get on those podcasts?
• Can you use the topics or language from these podcasts as inspiration for your own content and marketing materials?
• Should you be following the other guests on their podcasts or finding ways to collaborate with them?

Next, look at coaches.

What coaches are they following? 

Can you join their coaching program? 

Or can you team up with the coach to add value to the group?

At the end of the day, attracting higher-paying clients comes down to speaking their language and spending time in their circle of influence. 

Weeding out lower-paying prospects early on will also help you focus more time on the people you want to reach. 

And, that’s a wrap on this Dear Katie question.

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Now I want to hear from you. Do you have a question? 

Submit it here

Until next time, cheers to your success!

Katie