Pricing Fizz

Fermentation may have been a greater discovery than fire

David Rains Wallace

These days, there’s much talk about fire. Well, for the 50th email, let’s talk about beer instead.

Beer, you see, is indeed great, but only until it has some fizz left. The fizz may objectively be just boring old Co2, but opening the bottle makes it spring to life and animate the liquid around it into a feast for the senses. For a little while, it’s perfect, but then it slowly starts to lose its magic. Once it goes flat, it tastes unpleasantly close to bread-flavored swill (or so I’m told).

Just like beer, the price of service becomes staler the longer you use it. A new pricing policy motivates and reinvigorates, but after a while, you get used to it, as do your clients. Then others copy your price, inflation sets in, you learn and start providing additional value, or you do a series of good moves and suddenly a lot more people are asking for your help.

Well, time for a new pricing policy, one that better reflects the new reality. The longer the same pricing policy is used, the harder it is to subsequently change. 

I suggest you make a  yearly calendar appointment with yourself, with only 2 items on the agenda:

1. Pour yourself a drink you like
2. Think whether your pricing policy still has some “fizz”, a good reason to keep existing unchanged

After that, just do whatever comes naturally.

Živjeli! (Cheers!)