Black Entrepreneur Blueprint 505 - Jay Jones - The Simple Formula To Raise Your Prices And Make More Money

[00:00:12] [SPEAKER_00]: Welcome to BLACK ENTREPRENEUR BLUEPRINT, the number one podcast and resource for BLACK ENTREPRENEURS.

[00:00:19] [SPEAKER_00]: I'm your host Jay Jones and BLACK ENTREPRENEUR BLUEPRINT was created specifically to educate

[00:00:25] [SPEAKER_00]: and inspire BLACK ENTREPRENEURS to launch, build and grow successful, sustainable businesses.

[00:00:32] [SPEAKER_00]: Join us as we help building economic power base in the worldwide black community by

[00:00:38] [SPEAKER_00]: building and supporting black owned businesses.

[00:00:41] [SPEAKER_00]: If you're currently an entrepreneur or want to be an entrepreneur,

[00:00:45] [SPEAKER_00]: you're invited to join us each and every week here at BLACK ENTREPRENEUR BLUEPRINT.

[00:00:50] [SPEAKER_00]: Welcome to the BEB family and get ready to elevate your entrepreneur IQ.

[00:01:00] [SPEAKER_00]: Welcome to the BLACK ENTREPRENEUR BLUEPRINT episode number 505.

[00:01:07] [SPEAKER_00]: I'm your host Jay Jones and today we have another outstanding and informative show

[00:01:11] [SPEAKER_00]: and stored for you. Today we're going to be doing a rebroadcast of one of our most downloaded episodes

[00:01:17] [SPEAKER_00]: from May of 2023 titled The Simple Formula To Raise Your Prices And Make More Money.

[00:01:25] [SPEAKER_00]: The Simple Formula To Raise Your Prices And Make More Money.

[00:01:30] [SPEAKER_00]: Now, before we get to today's content, I just want to share a few things with the

[00:01:34] [SPEAKER_00]: BLACK ENTREPRENEUR BLUEPRINT family. First and foremost, I want to welcome all

[00:01:38] [SPEAKER_00]: first time listeners. Welcome to the BEB family. Please stick around until the end of today's broadcast

[00:01:44] [SPEAKER_00]: and I'm going to share all my social media contact information and resource links such as the link to

[00:01:51] [SPEAKER_00]: the new revised revamped BEB Academy. Go to newbebeacademy.com for more information. Now,

[00:02:00] [SPEAKER_00]: let's get ready for today's show. Now one of the biggest concerns for entrepreneurs is not

[00:02:05] [SPEAKER_00]: charging enough for their products or services and possibly leaving money on the table. The truth is

[00:02:11] [SPEAKER_00]: that there's a science to maximizing your pricing and profits that many entrepreneurs don't know.

[00:02:17] [SPEAKER_00]: So today we're going to discuss this and I'm going to decode the formula

[00:02:21] [SPEAKER_00]: to help you increase your prices and profitability without getting pushed back from your customers.

[00:02:27] [SPEAKER_00]: So are you charging enough for your products or services or are you leaving too much money

[00:02:32] [SPEAKER_00]: on the table? That's the question that many entrepreneurs struggle with. Now today's show

[00:02:37] [SPEAKER_00]: I'm actually going to divulge and decode this simple formula that's going to allow you to raise your

[00:02:42] [SPEAKER_00]: prices, make more money and be more profitable without your customers complaining. And that's

[00:02:48] [SPEAKER_00]: the whole key. How can you raise prices without your customers complaining? Now you see price

[00:02:55] [SPEAKER_00]: increases all the time based on economic situations and also things based on the supply chain.

[00:03:03] [SPEAKER_00]: So when people raise their prices for things like that, that's usually not a problem because it's

[00:03:08] [SPEAKER_00]: understood. But the whole key is how do you increase prices and profitability without your customers

[00:03:15] [SPEAKER_00]: complaining? And we're going to discuss that and dive into that today. Now this show is probably

[00:03:21] [SPEAKER_00]: going to be a little bit shorter than normal. I'm about to do some traveling so I got to get

[00:03:25] [SPEAKER_00]: out of here, but it's still going to be super impactful. Remember 2023 and beyond every show

[00:03:31] [SPEAKER_00]: that I do, I want it to be super impactful. So if you have any topics you want me to discuss

[00:03:36] [SPEAKER_00]: on the show, just email me or send me a DM via Instagram. So let's dive into the content

[00:03:42] [SPEAKER_00]: today, the simple formula to raise your prices and make more money without your customers

[00:03:48] [SPEAKER_00]: complaining. Once again, that's the key. First we want to talk about and understand the definition

[00:03:53] [SPEAKER_00]: and the relationship between price and perceived value price and perceived value. Price is actually

[00:04:02] [SPEAKER_00]: what you pay. So if you're buying something and it's $49.99, that's the price. Perceived value

[00:04:09] [SPEAKER_00]: is what you get or what you perceive to get and perceived value is something arbitrary

[00:04:16] [SPEAKER_00]: that only you can you can determine. So price is what you pay, perceived value is what you get

[00:04:23] [SPEAKER_00]: or what you perceive that you're getting. Now here's the holy grail to making a sale, right?

[00:04:30] [SPEAKER_00]: If your price exceeds the perceived value, you will not make sales. So if your price exceeds

[00:04:36] [SPEAKER_00]: the perceived value, you won't make sales. But if your perceived value is greater than the price,

[00:04:43] [SPEAKER_00]: you do make sales. So it's almost like a sea salt, right? So for example, if you go into the store

[00:04:50] [SPEAKER_00]: and you're looking for a pair of sneakers now, you have Nike's for $150 or you can find some

[00:05:00] [SPEAKER_00]: no brand sneakers that look kind of like Nike's. We used to call them Bobo's back in the day in

[00:05:05] [SPEAKER_00]: Philly. You see a pair of Bobo's over there that looks similar to Nike, but they're selling

[00:05:10] [SPEAKER_00]: for $75. What are you going to buy? You're probably going to buy the Nike because the perceived value

[00:05:18] [SPEAKER_00]: is that they're better quality. It may be literally the same shoe, but because you perceive that

[00:05:25] [SPEAKER_00]: Nike quality is better than this other no name brand, you're going to spend your money and

[00:05:30] [SPEAKER_00]: buy that product. And I'll give you a real life example too. Now years ago when I was in the

[00:05:36] [SPEAKER_00]: condom business, yes, I say condom business. You can listen to that on one of the older episodes.

[00:05:42] [SPEAKER_00]: We used to have products that went with the condoms. We had t-shirts. We had hats with a zipper on

[00:05:48] [SPEAKER_00]: the side where you could put the condom in. We had all types of different products. One of our

[00:05:53] [SPEAKER_00]: manufacturers was in Brooklyn, New York. And we went up there one day, we were discussing

[00:05:58] [SPEAKER_00]: an agreement about them manufacturing products for us. And while we were there, the owner

[00:06:05] [SPEAKER_00]: and his son were taking us around to the facilities. And so they actually used to produce clothing for a

[00:06:12] [SPEAKER_00]: lot of the major store brands, Macy's, JC Penney's, and all other types of stores like that.

[00:06:19] [SPEAKER_00]: One of the products that they manufactured were trench coats. So as we looked at the production

[00:06:24] [SPEAKER_00]: of these trench coats, we went to the end of the line where all the trench coats were finished.

[00:06:30] [SPEAKER_00]: Now, at the end of the line, a certain percentage of the coats were labeled London Fog.

[00:06:37] [SPEAKER_00]: And then the other percentage of the coats were labeled JC Penney's. It's literally the same exact

[00:06:44] [SPEAKER_00]: coat trench coat, right? And they had a London Fog tag here. They were manufacturing for them

[00:06:50] [SPEAKER_00]: and they also were manufacturing for JC Penney's. The London Fog trench coat sold damn near three

[00:06:57] [SPEAKER_00]: times of what the JC Penney's coats sell for. And they're the exact identical product. Once again,

[00:07:05] [SPEAKER_00]: pricing and then perceived value that London Fog tag in the back of that coat had to perceive value

[00:07:14] [SPEAKER_00]: that this is a better quality coat than the exact same coat that you could have bought at JC Penney's.

[00:07:20] [SPEAKER_00]: And that's real talk because literally they were the exact same coat with nothing different.

[00:07:26] [SPEAKER_00]: I thought, you know, maybe they would have done the stitching different or something else,

[00:07:30] [SPEAKER_00]: the fabric, but they literally were the same coat. And they were telling me they manufacture

[00:07:36] [SPEAKER_00]: for a lot of different companies. And once again, they'll put the same product with different tags.

[00:07:42] [SPEAKER_00]: And so that's a real life example, guys. So you have to understand the relationship versus price

[00:07:48] [SPEAKER_00]: versus perceived value. And it's funny because people who bought the London Fog coats,

[00:07:55] [SPEAKER_00]: they knew they were going to spend more money. Just like when you buy particular items,

[00:07:59] [SPEAKER_00]: you don't mind spending money because you think you're getting the value for some things. You know,

[00:08:05] [SPEAKER_00]: I get it and I understand other things I don't. But that's to each his own. So price versus perceived

[00:08:12] [SPEAKER_00]: value. Now, so you understand that if your price exceeds the perceived value, you're not

[00:08:18] [SPEAKER_00]: going to make sales. But if your perceived value is greater than the price that you charge,

[00:08:23] [SPEAKER_00]: then you will make sales. So you need to look at your products and services right now,

[00:08:28] [SPEAKER_00]: because you may be leaving money on the table. So think about the profitability of the trench

[00:08:35] [SPEAKER_00]: coats, right? So one of them sells with $300. The other sells for 100. I don't know what the

[00:08:40] [SPEAKER_00]: manufacturing cost was, but just say it's $25 to manufacture those coats. So London Fog,

[00:08:48] [SPEAKER_00]: which was being sold in Macy's, they're selling it for 300 costs 25. That's a $275 profit. The same

[00:08:56] [SPEAKER_00]: trench coat that's sold in JC pennies that's being sold for $100 minus the 25 costs is grossing

[00:09:04] [SPEAKER_00]: $75. So you're looking at $275 profit versus a $75 profit. Same exact product, same exact item,

[00:09:15] [SPEAKER_00]: no differences at all. But there's several things that make that perceived value different. And we're

[00:09:21] [SPEAKER_00]: going to talk about that in a second. So here's the formula, guys. Higher pricing plus aligned

[00:09:27] [SPEAKER_00]: to perceive value equals more money and more profits. Higher pricing plus aligned to perceived

[00:09:34] [SPEAKER_00]: value equals more money and more profits. So many entrepreneurs don't feel comfortable with charging

[00:09:41] [SPEAKER_00]: higher prices for their products or services because you're scared that you're not going to make the

[00:09:46] [SPEAKER_00]: sales, right? But what if you're leaving thousands of dollars in revenue on the table each month?

[00:09:52] [SPEAKER_00]: And they're two key words you need to know. And the words are aligned and supported. Now,

[00:09:58] [SPEAKER_00]: what do I mean by aligned and supported? Okay, so your pricing and perceived value

[00:10:04] [SPEAKER_00]: must be aligned and supported, right? Your pricing and perceived value must match both

[00:10:10] [SPEAKER_00]: in alignment or presentation of your product or service and in the support material around

[00:10:16] [SPEAKER_00]: your product or service, like testimonials or free trials. Okay, so alignment and supporting

[00:10:22] [SPEAKER_00]: your price. Everything has to be aligned. If it's not aligned, you're not going to make money.

[00:10:27] [SPEAKER_00]: So for example, and I use this all the time, if you're buying beats headphones, right? Versus

[00:10:40] [SPEAKER_00]: some, you know, low end brand headphones. The perception is that beats are better, right?

[00:10:46] [SPEAKER_00]: But why do you have that perception? Okay, is it because Dr. Dre promoted them and you trust

[00:10:53] [SPEAKER_00]: with Dr. Dre was, you know, what he does? Is it because of the packaging? Nice, you know,

[00:10:59] [SPEAKER_00]: expensive packaging. You open it up nice box, hard cardboard box. They have all types of

[00:11:05] [SPEAKER_00]: literature and things in there. It's packaged nicely. Okay, so everything is aligned with the

[00:11:11] [SPEAKER_00]: price. You're going to pay $299, but everything is aligned. The marketing is aligned, the positioning

[00:11:18] [SPEAKER_00]: of the product or services aligned, and also the packaging is aligned. Okay, that's what you

[00:11:23] [SPEAKER_00]: have to understand when we're talking about that alignment and supporting. Now, how do you

[00:11:29] [SPEAKER_00]: support that? Once again, packaging is a support item, right? The material or the testimonials

[00:11:37] [SPEAKER_00]: is a support item. You go on the website, you see video testimonials, also a free trial that

[00:11:43] [SPEAKER_00]: gives you the opportunity to try something out. So you may have a high high end software,

[00:11:49] [SPEAKER_00]: right? That you may use for CRM or whatever. And in order to get support that high price,

[00:11:55] [SPEAKER_00]: the software company may allow you to try the software for 14 day free trial or whatever. But

[00:12:02] [SPEAKER_00]: once again, everything has to be aligned and it has to be supported. So let me give you a couple

[00:12:09] [SPEAKER_00]: other examples real quick. I'm going to stick close to home in this scenario. And I'm going to use

[00:12:14] [SPEAKER_00]: mortgage brokers that target million dollar home buyers. And their actual target market is

[00:12:21] [SPEAKER_00]: real estate agents that sell those type of homes. So we have mortgage broker number one,

[00:12:26] [SPEAKER_00]: and mortgage broker number two, who are both trying to target real estate agents that sell

[00:12:32] [SPEAKER_00]: high end homes. So mortgage broker number one says, you know what? My referral strategy is this,

[00:12:39] [SPEAKER_00]: I'm going to go in real estate offices, and I'm going to drop off flyers. Okay,

[00:12:43] [SPEAKER_00]: so that's mortgage broker number one's whole referral plan, going to real estate offices

[00:12:49] [SPEAKER_00]: just dropping off flyers. Now, mortgage broker number two is a little more detail.

[00:12:54] [SPEAKER_00]: What he's done is he actually has a portal on his website for real estate agents so they

[00:13:00] [SPEAKER_00]: can refer clients by completing a short online form, right? Now this portal has realtor testimonials,

[00:13:07] [SPEAKER_00]: videos, it gives immediate email responses, thanking the realtor for the referrals and

[00:13:12] [SPEAKER_00]: automatically updates the status of the loan for that client that's buying that realtor's home.

[00:13:19] [SPEAKER_00]: Now the question is, which mortgage broker is aligned with this market and supports his

[00:13:24] [SPEAKER_00]: product or service better? Obviously it's mortgage broker number two. If you're going to deal with

[00:13:30] [SPEAKER_00]: real realtor that are selling million dollar homes, right, you're not just going to come out

[00:13:35] [SPEAKER_00]: and pass out flyers in a real estate office, you're going to create systems. And I always

[00:13:40] [SPEAKER_00]: talk about systems, lead generation system, a referral system and a fulfillment system,

[00:13:47] [SPEAKER_00]: professional. I'm not talking about handing out business cards with crayon written on it,

[00:13:52] [SPEAKER_00]: right? That's the difference. And that's what I'm talking about being aligned, understanding

[00:13:57] [SPEAKER_00]: who your customer is, understanding what their perception is going to be based on the way

[00:14:03] [SPEAKER_00]: that you approach them. Okay, so now the real estate agents are like, you know what, I can

[00:14:09] [SPEAKER_00]: go right online, I can enter this information and I'm going to get updated information on my

[00:14:14] [SPEAKER_00]: client's loan, their application, man, or am I going to call this other mortgage guy number one who

[00:14:21] [SPEAKER_00]: dropped off flyers? Okay, once again, you have to understand alignment. Everything has to be

[00:14:29] [SPEAKER_00]: aligned, right? So you're doing high end homes, your presentation has to be high

[00:14:34] [SPEAKER_00]: You only can sell three type of products guys high end, you know, mid level or low end products

[00:14:40] [SPEAKER_00]: or services. And it all depends on where you position yourself in amongst those three. But

[00:14:46] [SPEAKER_00]: you have to support whatever position that you decide to take Walmart, right? Low prices.

[00:14:53] [SPEAKER_00]: That's their thing. You know, we have a supermarket around here called Aldi.

[00:14:58] [SPEAKER_00]: My wife loves it. I can't stand it. They have low prices and there's no frills

[00:15:03] [SPEAKER_00]: in the supermarket. Most of the stuff is in boxes. Right? So they whatever the product is

[00:15:09] [SPEAKER_00]: delivered in, they cut the box open and they stick it on the shelves. But you understand why

[00:15:14] [SPEAKER_00]: you're going in there because everything is aligned. They're not telling you that,

[00:15:18] [SPEAKER_00]: you know, their whole foods, they're saying, No, we're about price. You can get quality

[00:15:23] [SPEAKER_00]: products at a decent price. So all of that is aligned. Now, if you went into a whole foods and

[00:15:31] [SPEAKER_00]: it looked like that, there's no alignment there. You're the pricing versus the perceived value

[00:15:37] [SPEAKER_00]: is not there and nobody will buy anything. That's why it's important guys for you to

[00:15:41] [SPEAKER_00]: understand these two key words aligned and supported. You want to be aligned and

[00:15:48] [SPEAKER_00]: you want to support that alignment by, you know, visuals by testimonials by whatever way that you

[00:15:55] [SPEAKER_00]: can. All right. So that was an example with two different mortgage brokers. Right? Now I'm going

[00:16:01] [SPEAKER_00]: to give you guys another example. If you're a high end watch company like Rolex, right?

[00:16:07] [SPEAKER_00]: How do they align their pricing and perceived value? Right? Number one, Rolexes are not

[00:16:12] [SPEAKER_00]: sold everywhere. You can't go into certain stores and buy Rolex. You can't go into Walmart or

[00:16:19] [SPEAKER_00]: JC Penney's and buy Rolex, right? So number one, the locations that they're sold in are high end

[00:16:27] [SPEAKER_00]: locations. They also have a beautiful website and advertising to support their and align

[00:16:33] [SPEAKER_00]: their product with their customers. Their customers are high and wealthy individuals

[00:16:38] [SPEAKER_00]: that can afford those products or services. Right? So the product is perceived to be made with the

[00:16:44] [SPEAKER_00]: highest quality and precision that justifies the price. As for people that are in watches,

[00:16:50] [SPEAKER_00]: in the watches, right? A time makes tells the same time as a Rolex, right? But it's the perceived

[00:16:56] [SPEAKER_00]: value, the quality of that Rolex that allows them to sell as many as they do and they're more

[00:17:04] [SPEAKER_00]: profitable. You know, so you have to understand that guys, the formula is higher pricing plus

[00:17:10] [SPEAKER_00]: aligned perceived value equals more money and more profits. So what do you think happens to

[00:17:16] [SPEAKER_00]: businesses that have a significant price increase for their products or services?

[00:17:21] [SPEAKER_00]: And it's not related to economic or industry fluctuations. So the key is most of the businesses

[00:17:28] [SPEAKER_00]: are going to lose customers means they're not going to make as many sales as because

[00:17:32] [SPEAKER_00]: their price increase is not aligned with the product or service and it's not supported by

[00:17:38] [SPEAKER_00]: the perceived value of the product or service. So think about it all the time why you change

[00:17:44] [SPEAKER_00]: products, right? Oh man, you know, this pocketbook was usually only $100. Man, now they're up to

[00:17:52] [SPEAKER_00]: $175. Is it worth it when you go to the supermarket, right? You always are looking at prices.

[00:17:59] [SPEAKER_00]: But if it's a particular brand that you like, then you're going to spend that money. I'm going to go

[00:18:05] [SPEAKER_00]: back to Aldi again, right? There's certain things in Aldi I tell my wife don't ever buy again please.

[00:18:11] [SPEAKER_00]: So she went in one day and she bought these fake ego waffles, right? Look like the box even looked

[00:18:18] [SPEAKER_00]: like it. You take it out and look like it. But when you taste it, it tasted like Styrofoam.

[00:18:23] [SPEAKER_00]: And I'm like, yo, don't don't even don't even buy that anymore because it's not worth it.

[00:18:28] [SPEAKER_00]: The price didn't validate the perceived value or the actual perceived value. Now other people may

[00:18:35] [SPEAKER_00]: like it and be like, yeah, they're going to keep buying these fake egos from Aldi but not me. So

[00:18:41] [SPEAKER_00]: remember if your price exceeds perceived value, you won't make sales. If your perceived value

[00:18:47] [SPEAKER_00]: is greater than your price, you will make sales. So now let's talk about how do you raise

[00:18:53] [SPEAKER_00]: your prices and make more money and become more profitable. And here are a couple of tips that

[00:18:59] [SPEAKER_00]: you need to take into account. Number one, once again, your price versus perceived value

[00:19:04] [SPEAKER_00]: must be aligned. So if you have a high end product or service that you're selling,

[00:19:09] [SPEAKER_00]: everything about the whole process has to be high end, right? If you own a high end fashion

[00:19:17] [SPEAKER_00]: boutique and you're in the middle of a low income area, your building looks like crap.

[00:19:25] [SPEAKER_00]: You got paint coming off the walls, but you're selling dresses for $1,000 apiece. Guess what?

[00:19:31] [SPEAKER_00]: You're not going to make any sales. OK, your price versus perceived value must be aligned.

[00:19:37] [SPEAKER_00]: Just think about when Jim Jones tried to go into Gucci and he was mad because they didn't

[00:19:42] [SPEAKER_00]: give him champagne. You walk into Gucci, they treat you like a king or a queen. They give you

[00:19:47] [SPEAKER_00]: champagne, they cater to everything you want. And once again, the price versus perceived value

[00:19:54] [SPEAKER_00]: is aligned. OK, also your messaging has to be aligned. When I talk about your messaging,

[00:20:02] [SPEAKER_00]: I'm talking about what message do you give to your product? BMW, the ultimate driving machine.

[00:20:09] [SPEAKER_00]: You don't hear Ford saying that BMW is a higher priced automobile. And when it comes to automobiles,

[00:20:17] [SPEAKER_00]: Lamborghinis are one of the most expensive vehicles out there. And guess what guys?

[00:20:22] [SPEAKER_00]: They don't advertise at all. And their philosophy is the product speaks for itself.

[00:20:29] [SPEAKER_00]: OK, so that they're like, look, it doesn't matter. We're that good. We don't have to

[00:20:34] [SPEAKER_00]: advertise. OK, so that's their alignment. That's what they're doing. Their messaging

[00:20:39] [SPEAKER_00]: is aligned with their product. And the message is we're so good, we don't have to advertise like

[00:20:45] [SPEAKER_00]: everybody else. And what I'm giving you now, guys, is some tips on how you increase your

[00:20:51] [SPEAKER_00]: prices and make more money without your customers complaining. Another tip is your

[00:20:56] [SPEAKER_00]: brand or product image must be aligned and professional, right? Website. You know,

[00:21:02] [SPEAKER_00]: how are you going to sell something without a website? OK, now I know a lot of people if you

[00:21:07] [SPEAKER_00]: sell services or whatever that's all fine and dandy. But people want to be able to go and access to

[00:21:12] [SPEAKER_00]: find out more about your company, your product or your service. And I remember years ago before

[00:21:18] [SPEAKER_00]: I got black entrepreneur blueprint dot com, the website redone or rebranded. I was talking

[00:21:25] [SPEAKER_00]: to a PR person and they were like, look, your content is great. But your back end is is do do

[00:21:32] [SPEAKER_00]: man is horrible. Right? And that's true. I did a WordPress website myself. It was basic when

[00:21:39] [SPEAKER_00]: I started out and I just just kept letting it go on and go on. And she said this is going to

[00:21:44] [SPEAKER_00]: hurt your brand and it's going to stop you from getting speaking engagements will not stop

[00:21:49] [SPEAKER_00]: you, but it's going to deter you because your back end doesn't match your front end. OK, so your

[00:21:55] [SPEAKER_00]: brand or product image must be aligned and professional. And that was the example I kind

[00:22:00] [SPEAKER_00]: of gave when it came to the mortgage guys. So one has a great portal that, you know,

[00:22:07] [SPEAKER_00]: his partners referral partners, these real estate agents could jump on its automated.

[00:22:12] [SPEAKER_00]: It's professional. Another guy is handing out flyers in the real estate agencies. Right?

[00:22:17] [SPEAKER_00]: What's the difference? One of them looks professional and looks aligned for a million

[00:22:22] [SPEAKER_00]: dollar customers. The other one didn't. The next tip is understand your audience.

[00:22:28] [SPEAKER_00]: What do they want and what do they need? Who is your audience? So in the example of million

[00:22:33] [SPEAKER_00]: dollar home buyers, that's a different audience than somebody that's buying a

[00:22:39] [SPEAKER_00]: twenty five thousand dollar bungalow or whatever. It's a different audience. So you need to

[00:22:43] [SPEAKER_00]: understand the audience on your customers wants and needs. And here's something I learned

[00:22:49] [SPEAKER_00]: a long time ago. You give your customer what they want, not necessarily what they need. People

[00:22:55] [SPEAKER_00]: are going to buy what they want before they'll buy something that they need. Right? Think about

[00:23:00] [SPEAKER_00]: how many people that are in financial difficulty right now got 70 inch TV screens on the wall

[00:23:08] [SPEAKER_00]: and they can't pay the electric bill. Right? They're going to buy what they want before

[00:23:13] [SPEAKER_00]: handling what they need. I learned that a long time ago. You don't give them what they need.

[00:23:17] [SPEAKER_00]: You give them what they want. Right? Hopefully both of those things will be aligned,

[00:23:22] [SPEAKER_00]: but many times people are going to spend on what they want versus what they need. Now,

[00:23:27] [SPEAKER_00]: there's certain things that everybody needs food, clothing and shelter. And if you're behind

[00:23:33] [SPEAKER_00]: on that, then you know it's a major issue. But give them what they want before you give

[00:23:38] [SPEAKER_00]: them what they need. And lastly, you have to understand what motivates people. I always talk

[00:23:43] [SPEAKER_00]: about the psychology of selling. Right? So there's only three things that really motivate

[00:23:49] [SPEAKER_00]: people. Right? People either going to move away from pain or they're going to move towards

[00:23:55] [SPEAKER_00]: pleasure or they're going to do or buy something for status. You're either moving away from pain,

[00:24:01] [SPEAKER_00]: moving towards pleasure, or you're going to move or buy something for status. Right?

[00:24:06] [SPEAKER_00]: So let's talk about all three of these individually because I think this is important.

[00:24:12] [SPEAKER_00]: So moving away from pain, right? That makes sense. So if you have bad feet and you're a waiter or

[00:24:19] [SPEAKER_00]: waitress in a restaurant, you want to get some insoles or get whatever product or service

[00:24:25] [SPEAKER_00]: that's going to take away that pain. Right? So if you're selling insoles,

[00:24:30] [SPEAKER_00]: hey, you got an opportunity to get with that customer. If you are a tax accountant,

[00:24:35] [SPEAKER_00]: right? And somebody has they owe the IRS $50,000 and you'll be able to help them out.

[00:24:42] [SPEAKER_00]: They're moving away from that pain. Right? So that's moving away from pain. Now let's look

[00:24:47] [SPEAKER_00]: at moving towards pleasure. Anybody listening played a lottery powerball, mega millions or whatever.

[00:24:54] [SPEAKER_00]: Right? You're spending money because you want to you want to hit that windfall

[00:24:58] [SPEAKER_00]: and move towards pleasure. Another example could be somebody that starts a side hustle

[00:25:05] [SPEAKER_00]: because they want to move to a new home. They need to save money and build up their capital,

[00:25:10] [SPEAKER_00]: their assets to move to a new home. So they're going to do a side hustle because it's going

[00:25:15] [SPEAKER_00]: to help them move toward pleasure. Now the last one is status. And the reason I want to focus

[00:25:23] [SPEAKER_00]: on this a little bit more is I have a lot of B.E.B. family members that sell clothing or items like

[00:25:29] [SPEAKER_00]: that, that you're really not solving a problem. Right? So, you know, one of the B.E.B. family

[00:25:35] [SPEAKER_00]: members has an athletic clothing line. It's really not solving the problems, got nice

[00:25:40] [SPEAKER_00]: slogans, everything looks good. But the question is why is somebody going to buy

[00:25:45] [SPEAKER_00]: this brand that isn't well known versus buying another more well known brand? And so

[00:25:52] [SPEAKER_00]: you have to go and look at status. And so when you talk about status, people buy things and do

[00:25:59] [SPEAKER_00]: things because of status. People buy, you know, red bottoms because of status. People buy high

[00:26:06] [SPEAKER_00]: end pocket books and purses because of status. People buy expensive cars and jewelry because

[00:26:13] [SPEAKER_00]: of status. It's not solving a problem. Right? You can buy, you know, a thousand dollar pair

[00:26:20] [SPEAKER_00]: red bottoms versus another pair of shoes that cost $100. That's probably the same quality.

[00:26:27] [SPEAKER_00]: Right? I can buy a watch. It doesn't have to be a Rolex. Not might not be the same quality,

[00:26:34] [SPEAKER_00]: but I can buy a $500 watch versus buying a $20,000 watch and it all is based on what you think.

[00:26:43] [SPEAKER_00]: But status and it's unfortunate in our community, sometimes status outweighs common sense. Right?

[00:26:50] [SPEAKER_00]: You over there buying all of this designer stuff and you having problems paying your bills.

[00:26:56] [SPEAKER_00]: It don't work like that. You need to be able to pay your bills first and then get the status,

[00:27:01] [SPEAKER_00]: but the status makes you feel good. It actually is moving you toward pleasure

[00:27:06] [SPEAKER_00]: when you think it is, but it's probably hurting your pocket trying to live a life that you're

[00:27:11] [SPEAKER_00]: not ready to live yet because you haven't, you don't have the access or the money to do so.

[00:27:17] [SPEAKER_00]: But these are the three things that motivate people moving away from pain. That's usually number

[00:27:24] [SPEAKER_00]: one, moving towards pleasure and then there's also status. So if you're selling a product or

[00:27:31] [SPEAKER_00]: a service or whatever that's based on status, then you got to be able to build up that status

[00:27:37] [SPEAKER_00]: and that status has to be aligned with that perceived value. So if I got the J Jones athletic

[00:27:44] [SPEAKER_00]: wear, you know, with a picture of my logo on it versus somebody trying to buy a Gucci sweatsuit,

[00:27:53] [SPEAKER_00]: what are they going to buy? They're going to buy the Gucci because J Jones has no status.

[00:27:59] [SPEAKER_00]: So if you're selling products like that, you need to create that status and the way you do

[00:28:04] [SPEAKER_00]: that, you have to support that by maybe having high end or influencers wearing your

[00:28:10] [SPEAKER_00]: products or services. Look at some of the dumbest stuff out there that people are spending money

[00:28:16] [SPEAKER_00]: on like y'all ever seen these crazy big ass red boots? They look like clown shoes and they come

[00:28:23] [SPEAKER_00]: up to under the knee and it really looks like a comic character. People are paying 350,

[00:28:29] [SPEAKER_00]: 450 dollars for a pair of big ass styrofoam red boots looking like clowns. But somebody,

[00:28:38] [SPEAKER_00]: I don't know how they did it. Their geniuses, somebody made that quote unquote a status symbol.

[00:28:44] [SPEAKER_00]: So people are buying a product that literally costs about $5 to make if that because all it is

[00:28:51] [SPEAKER_00]: is styrofoam. So the three motivating factors are moving away from pain, which is normally number

[00:28:57] [SPEAKER_00]: one, number two, moving towards pleasure and number three status. People will buy things

[00:29:02] [SPEAKER_00]: for the quote unquote status. And that's usually the third thing. All right, so before we get to

[00:29:09] [SPEAKER_00]: the last quarter of the show, I'm going to do this real quick guys. Let me just share all my social

[00:29:13] [SPEAKER_00]: media contact information and my resource links. I'm going to keep it super simple. Everything I

[00:29:19] [SPEAKER_00]: talked about at the beginning of the show and I'm about to talk about go to the website

[00:29:24] [SPEAKER_00]: black entrepreneur blueprint dot com. It's been revised is in and we have all types of

[00:29:30] [SPEAKER_00]: resources on the site. So I mentioned at the top of the show, my new book is out unlocking

[00:29:35] [SPEAKER_00]: the power of chat GPT go to unlocking chat GPT.com. Also, I mentioned be be academy dot com go to

[00:29:44] [SPEAKER_00]: the website black entrepreneur blueprint dot com on the front page you'll see information about

[00:29:50] [SPEAKER_00]: be be Academy pinpoint monetize your genius which is a pound for pound one of my best online

[00:29:56] [SPEAKER_00]: programs and also brand builder Academy Elite. If you want to build a physical products brand

[00:30:02] [SPEAKER_00]: or digital products brand brand and ecommerce business, this is what you want to go and check

[00:30:08] [SPEAKER_00]: out now in terms of connecting with me anything long family hit me on my email J Jones at black

[00:30:15] [SPEAKER_00]: entrepreneur blueprint dot com J A Y J O N ES at black entrepreneur blueprint dot com Facebook

[00:30:23] [SPEAKER_00]: just type in black entrepreneur blueprint Twitter J Jones 001 J A Y J O N ES 001 Instagram I got two

[00:30:33] [SPEAKER_00]: IG accounts. The first one is J Jones for real J A Y J O N ES the number four are E a L second

[00:30:42] [SPEAKER_00]: one is black entrepreneur blueprint LinkedIn don't forget to connect with me there go to LinkedIn

[00:30:47] [SPEAKER_00]: type in J Jones black entrepreneur blueprint you'll find me there and YouTube don't forget

[00:30:52] [SPEAKER_00]: to subscribe to the YouTube channel family we have additional content on YouTube that is not

[00:30:57] [SPEAKER_00]: on the show yes the show does come out on YouTube and all your major podcast platforms every

[00:31:04] [SPEAKER_00]: Monday morning at 5am Eastern Standard Time but we have additional content on YouTube that is

[00:31:10] [SPEAKER_00]: not on the show so make sure you check that out all my contact information is also on

[00:31:15] [SPEAKER_00]: the website go to black entrepreneur blueprint dot com hit the about button under my bio there all

[00:31:21] [SPEAKER_00]: the links there make sure you guys utilize the website because we have all types of resources

[00:31:26] [SPEAKER_00]: to help you elevate your entrepreneur IQ and we want black entrepreneur blueprint dot com

[00:31:32] [SPEAKER_00]: to be the website for black entrepreneurs. All right let's get back to the last quarter

[00:31:38] [SPEAKER_00]: of the show and we were talking about today the simple formula to raise your prices and

[00:31:42] [SPEAKER_00]: make more money without getting your customers upset and so the whole philosophy is this guys

[00:31:49] [SPEAKER_00]: now when you raise your prices as long as everything is aligned like we talked about

[00:31:54] [SPEAKER_00]: you're going to be okay you may actually lose the number of customers or the number of sales

[00:32:00] [SPEAKER_00]: that you make but there's a high probability that you're going to make more money with less

[00:32:06] [SPEAKER_00]: customers so what you're doing is you're creating higher value customers okay so would you rather sell

[00:32:14] [SPEAKER_00]: a hundred units of whatever you're selling at a hundred dollars or would you rather sell 300 units

[00:32:22] [SPEAKER_00]: at 30 there's a difference in the type of customer okay so a lot of times businesses want to get

[00:32:31] [SPEAKER_00]: their highest value customer and they don't mind giving up the number of sales or units that they sell

[00:32:37] [SPEAKER_00]: versus the profitability that it brings okay and so that's what you have to decide and when you increase

[00:32:45] [SPEAKER_00]: prices it's easy to increase prices very little so if you do a five percent seven percent increase

[00:32:52] [SPEAKER_00]: in pricing that's not going to make a difference right but if you have a big jump in your pricing

[00:32:59] [SPEAKER_00]: then people are going to be like yo what's going on and one of the things that when I do my speaking

[00:33:06] [SPEAKER_00]: engagements based on the type of entity if it's a non-profit or something like that my pricing is

[00:33:12] [SPEAKER_00]: a little bit different but my mentor and I mentioned this on a previous show he was like man your

[00:33:17] [SPEAKER_00]: pricing is too low and I'm like yeah but I'm trying to you know help and elevate as many people

[00:33:22] [SPEAKER_00]: as I can he was like yeah but for real in real in real talk you're actually hurting your customers

[00:33:28] [SPEAKER_00]: he said because and I did a show on this people that don't spend money if they don't pay they don't

[00:33:35] [SPEAKER_00]: pay attention right so if I have an online course and it's $97 versus an online program

[00:33:44] [SPEAKER_00]: which with a couple more bells and whistles and it's for $970 people will finish the

[00:33:50] [SPEAKER_00]: $970 program more so than they finished the $97 program because they invested that much money

[00:33:58] [SPEAKER_00]: now am I going to get as many people to sign up for a $970 program dollar program versus a $97

[00:34:05] [SPEAKER_00]: program no but what are the results so now if you have more committed people that get better

[00:34:12] [SPEAKER_00]: results now you can support the price by using them as testimonials and so I can see all of my

[00:34:21] [SPEAKER_00]: online courses I can see how far people have gone in the course and I've done this myself I've

[00:34:27] [SPEAKER_00]: literally bought programs and never even looked at them okay but I know if I bought a thousand

[00:34:34] [SPEAKER_00]: dollar program you damn right I'm going to look at it and I'm going to go through the

[00:34:38] [SPEAKER_00]: material so my mentor or one of my mentors was saying you're actually doing your customers a

[00:34:44] [SPEAKER_00]: disservice now here's a real-life example when it comes to my speaking fees so I have I believe

[00:34:49] [SPEAKER_00]: four engagements for June now the the fees are going to vary based on what type of organization

[00:34:56] [SPEAKER_00]: non-profit smaller organizations they get they get obviously a different price but when I go to

[00:35:03] [SPEAKER_00]: major corporations or major entities I up my speaking fee to $10,000 right and it was a jump

[00:35:11] [SPEAKER_00]: from five thousand to ten thousand and I've actually got more speaking engagements and here's the

[00:35:17] [SPEAKER_00]: whole key somebody that's in that industry that actually books speakers they help you book and

[00:35:24] [SPEAKER_00]: obviously they get a commission they're saying that you know what if you only charge $5,000

[00:35:30] [SPEAKER_00]: and I'm getting a 20 20 commission that's really not a lot of money for me to book you

[00:35:36] [SPEAKER_00]: but if you charge $10,000 and I get 20% they get $2,000 every time they book me to speak

[00:35:44] [SPEAKER_00]: and so now because I'm using that leverage I'm actually getting more speaking engagements and

[00:35:50] [SPEAKER_00]: making more money so you just have to be strategic about it you know in terms of your

[00:35:56] [SPEAKER_00]: product and or services and once again it has to be aligned are you a high-end product or service

[00:36:01] [SPEAKER_00]: mid-level or low-level and everything about your product your pricing and your positioning

[00:36:08] [SPEAKER_00]: has to be aligned in order for you to make money so what I would implore you to do guys is look

[00:36:14] [SPEAKER_00]: at your current pricing look at it and see if you're able to increase your pricing I'm not talking

[00:36:20] [SPEAKER_00]: about 3% or 5% significantly and if it's going to make a difference for you okay but once again

[00:36:27] [SPEAKER_00]: everything has to be aligned right remember the formula is this higher pricing plus aligned perceived

[00:36:35] [SPEAKER_00]: value equals more money and more profit higher pricing plus aligned perceived value equals more

[00:36:43] [SPEAKER_00]: money and more profit okay so price versus perceived value if your price exceeds your perceived value

[00:36:53] [SPEAKER_00]: then you're not going to make sales if your perceived value exceeds your pricing you will make sales

[00:37:00] [SPEAKER_00]: and that's pretty much the bottom line with anything so make sure everything is aligned

[00:37:05] [SPEAKER_00]: your product your pricing and your positioning I say this each and every week guys because it's

[00:37:12] [SPEAKER_00]: true but we get more and more downloads because of you the BEB family I appreciate you guys so much

[00:37:17] [SPEAKER_00]: please continue to spread the word about the podcast the website black entrepreneur blueprint.com

[00:37:24] [SPEAKER_00]: the ecosystem with all the books online courses and resources to help you elevate your

[00:37:30] [SPEAKER_00]: entrepreneur IQ remember it's not about me it's not about you it's about us it's about building

[00:37:36] [SPEAKER_00]: an economic power base in a worldwide black community by building and supporting black-owned

[00:37:41] [SPEAKER_00]: businesses love you guys see you same time next week peace