The wonderful, liberating phrase “you can’t lose a client you never had” has a few less-than-obvious implications.
You’ve probably heard somebody completely cluelessly say, “Well I would never pay that much for that.” It would be an opinion to take into account IF it came from someone who could possibly ever be your client.
The thing is, people who can become clients usually have enough context not to give grand statements like that.
So while the authors of such grand statements think they are expressing their wisdom it’s just a loud declaration of ignorance. People love to judge what they don’t understand—especially when pricing intangible things like expertise. They assume a high price tag is a problem, not realizing they’re missing the bigger picture. The real value is subjective, and as such isn’t always obvious to everyone.
Despite knowing that, I’ve let too many opinions like that one shake my confidence. I have not lowered my prices over it, but I have delayed important actions. It also “inspired” me to overexplain my worth on multiple occasions.
And from today’s perspective, it makes about as much sense as a premium bourbon maker taking pricing advice from someone who never drinks alcohol.
It’s simple: If you would never dream of actively asking someone for pricing advice, feel free to completely disregard any and all unsolicited advice they decide to give you.