Value for Money


Photo no (38)Value for money is so subjective, isn’t it? And it’s also a very personal thing. What is a necessary expense for one of us, is a frivolous luxury for another, and vice versa. Writing about our values and beliefs about money recently left me thinking about the value we place on experiences and on things, and how that varies so hugely from person to person.

How and why do we place a value on one thing or experience rather than on others? Imagine you have €100 to spend as you choose, what do you think about?

  • Paying an outstanding bill?
  • Adding to your pension fund?
  • Doing some repairs on the house?
  • Buying a new article of clothing?
  • Putting it toward some new gadget or piece of technology?
  • Having a nice meal out?
  • Doing a workshop?
  • Books, cds, a piece of jewellery, getting your hair done…?

We all have our favourites, and our reasons vary too. Some things are valued for their rarity, some for their popularity. Some things are valued because they’re new, some because they’re old. Some are valued because they evoke a time or place in our lives when we were happy, or sad, or in love, or in deep mourning.

For example, when someone buys a new toy, such as an iPhone, do they value it for the variety of applications it can do for them? Or for how they think others will see them if they have one? Do they appreciate the creativity and inspiration that brought it about? Do they value it because it’s the newest, latest thing? Perhaps it’s several of these, or none.

How do we know what value others place on things or experiences? Often we assume from the outside photo (43)what someone’s motivations are on the inside, and sometimes we assume their motivations are the same as ours would be, which more often than not, they aren’t!

So it is with why a client might value the work we do with them. We might think they have come and continue to attend for a particular reason, but their motivation may be very different indeed. They may be interested in their own long term development as a person, or they may want to sort out an immediate problem. Or they may want someone to listen to them and acknowledge them. They may want to be attended to, and heard in a deep and meaningful way. They may on the face of it be looking for a relationship, but underneath looking for something else entirely.

Who can say?

A colleague said to me recently that she was disappointed when she offered a friend some help, but was turned down, that she knew she could help her friend, and was disappointed that she didn’t get the opportunity to help. It may be perfectly true that my colleague could have helped her friend, however, her friend may not have been looking for help. Her friend may have been looking for something else.

The point I’m trying to make is that we think we know what constitutes value for money for our clients, because we know what value we place on things and experiences. But we don’t know what constitutes value for money for someone else. €600 may seem cheap or expensive for an iPhone, depending on what you think it’s going to give you in return.

The same applies to therapy fees. Your fee may seem small or large to the client depending on how they see you, and what you’re offering. When I first attended therapy, I considered the cost to be small for what I got in return. I wasn’t interested in important insights, or clever analysis. I wasn’t even that interested in understanding my own process, although to my therapist I probably appeared to be very focussed on those things. I valued the therapy because my therapist was unfailingly kind, no matter what I said, or how I was with her. She accepted me for who I was, when I could not do that for myself. That is a very rare quality indeed. How do you put a price on that?

So when we think about the fees we are charging clients, what assumptions are we making about them? If we think the fee is expensive, or have doubts about our worthiness or deserving, then we may assume the client will think it expensive too. They may, or they may not. If we are finding it hard to get clients that can afford to pay, we may assume there are no clients that can afford to pay. That may be so, or it may not. We may assume that a client will leave if we don’t reduce our fees as they ask, and the client may well leave, or they may not.

We do not and cannot know.

So maybe it’s time to stop trying to second guess what our clients see in us, and what value they get from the process and start appreciating and valuing ourselves instead!

If you find it hard to value the work you do, and to put a price on that, maybe I can help you. Contact me here for your free 20 minute consultation, or to make an appointment.

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