Here's a fun valuation exercise to start your day.
In 2002, I was on a family ski trip and decided to learn how to snowboard.
After a few falls, I started to get the hang of it.
It was time to go to the top of the mountain at Squaw Valley (now Palisades Tahoe).
As I started down the mountain, a newbie skier was taking up the entire slope going back and forth.
My window of opportunity to pass her closed before I could pass her, and I crashed hard.
Helmets were not a thing in 2002 and I'm sure I had a concussion.
I had two choices:
Ride down the mountain in the ski patrol basket
Tough it out and ride down the mountain with a concussion
The embarrassment of riding in the ski patrol basket was too much for me to bear so I toughed it out.
That afternoon I purchased my first ski helmet.
Last week I was skiing, and my helmet started to fall apart.
After 21 years, it was time for a new helmet.
I was researching helmets and they've come a long way in 21 years.
I was talking to my daughter Alicia to get her opinion about which helmet to choose.
The prices ranged from $50, $100, $150, $250 to $500.
I knew the $50 helmets were crap.
Should I invest $500 on a new helmet?
Alicia said, "What is your brain worth?"
She made a great point.
I didn't need the bells and whistles of the $500 helmet and the impact technology was the same as the $250 helmet.
So, you can say I value my brain at $250 based on the helmet options available to me.
When you're selling your services, do you focus on price or the value of the outcome you create for your customer?
Some people charge $5000 for 10 hours of consulting.
People balk when you talk in dollars per hour because they're thinking $500 per hour is a lot of money.
Find out what problem keeps them up at night.
Ask them "What would it be worth to you to solve that problem?" and they will tell you what's important to them.
They won't give you a dollar amount, but they will tell you the emotional toll it's taking on them.
When you solve that problem and eliminate their emotional toll, they'll be forever grateful.
Try it. You'll like it.
