Letter to service providers: Please charge me more money!

Okay, here is a really crazy post. I may even secretly hope certain people don’t see it! But… I get really nervous when my service providers don’t charge me enough money. Why? Because I know it can’t be sustained. Because I know that my service provider is walking the long and bleak road to self-deprivation, depletion and resentment. While other customers may deceive themselves into thinking they are getting a good deal when their massage therapist charges them an outrageously low amount, I wonder to myself, “How does she live on what she makes?” And I know she can’t stay in business over the long run.

Charging appropriately coveys confidence. Confidence is attractive! It tells me that you believe you are good at what you do. I work hard, and when I see a service provider, I want to relax and trust that they can deliver their service competently. Let me rest in your capable hands.

Besides, if you don’t charge me enough money, I may doubt that you can really help me. You don’t want me thinking, “I hope this isn’t a case where ‘you get what you pay for.’” Low fees tell me you must be brand new or you must not be very good. To be fair, this is not always conscious on my part. I’m only human. (Although I do assume expensive cheese and wine must somehow be better. High prices do convey that message, whether or not it is true.)

But the biggest reason I want you to charge me more money is because I know what other people don’t always realize. If you don’t charge me more money, you will disappear. And that would be a huge bummer for me. Like most women, I use a fair amount of service providers and I build relationships with them. I don’t see people I don’t like and trust. I like my hair dresser, my chiropractor, my therapist, and my waxer. In my business I have relationships with my virtual assistant, my editor, and my web developer. The list goes on and on! If they don’t make enough money, they’ll go out of business. Then what will I do?

If you don’t charge me, and everyone else, more money, will you make enough to continue being a business owner? Are you really charging me enough to pay all your business expenses and then pay yourself enough money to live on? And are you really living or are you merely surviving? If you don’t have enough money, you will become resentful, depleted and depressed. This will spill over into your work. And eventually, you will simply have to close the doors and do something else.

I don’t want to lose you. So PLEASE make sure you charge me enough money.