I believe there is a more fundamental challenge, especially for boomers who are becoming their own employers and only now having to price out their service. It requires asking “how much do I really believe I’m worth?” and then figuring out how to achieve that. I was told of one couple in a franchise who acknowledged they were selling the product at less than cost but said they had to do that to stay in business. What they meant was staying in fantasy land. But a lot of us professionals do that: allowing the customer to put their lowball price on our services by telling us how tough things are right now. Life’s tough: get over it. When people ask me my fees I ask: Is price the most important thing for you? (that’s a question about value and when you drill down there is often a more important issue, so you can come to the price issue later); if they push on the price and ask “how much” before we’ve had a chance to talk about the service, what their real need is etc, I answer “probably more than you want to pay” (usually a safe observation, but needs to be said with a smile) – if they still want to talk, you might have a prospect, but if they wilt and walk away, don’t chase them or you’ll regret it. And if they want to tell you about someone else who charges a lot less, don’t get sucked in. David Sandler, inventor of the Sandler sales system, used to say “cover up your belly button” – in other words, know your worth and have a posture of confidence that you know the value of your service and don’t do cheap. Economical is ok: cheap is for cheapskates.

My two cents.