SS: Why clients ghost you after seeing your prices

If you’ve ever wondered “How can I earn more as a designer?” today’s newsletter is for you.

See, many designers remain stuck asking themselves this question because they believe the path to earning more is simply becoming more “proficient” or “skilled” at design.

This outlook affects everything:

• Your income and profit margins

• Your weekly work hours

• Your quality of clients

• Your overall business stress level

So today, I want to go over what actually matters if you want to earn more as a designer and build a business that works for you.

And it’s all about converting your “commodity” design services into a “productized” service. (which allows you to charge more)

Productizing makes your service repeatable, allows you to outsource, and build a business that works for you.

Most designers trap themselves by positioning as mere task-takers for outsourced work.

When you say “I design logos” or “I create websites,” you’re essentially telling prospects:

“I have this skill. But YOU need to figure out how to use it and what goals it will achieve.”

The burden of visualizing outcomes, thinking strategically, and evaluating decisions falls ENTIRELY on the client. And frankly, NO client is eager to take on this extra work.

As Strategic Brand Designers, we take a different approach. We say:

“I know exactly what situation you’re in, because I work with clients like this day in and day out. I know you must be facing XXX specific problems. And I have the exact set of skills that’ll help you solve these problems and unlock YYY specific outcomes. Want to know more?”

See the difference?

It’s so much easier to say “yes” to, because the client can see exactly what outcomes they can achieve.

While generic designers are hired to outsource tasks…

Strategic Brand Designers are consulted to deliver transformations.

Which means you’re not trading “hours” or “skills”.

You think and act like someone who can take your client’s business from Point A (their painful current situation) to Point B (their desired outcome).

You have the required expertise that’s KEY in helping them achieve their goals. And you’re obsessed about doing EVERYTHING it takes to deliver on this transformation.

Operating from this mindset changes the whole frame of your conversation.

When you present a productized service like so, you earn respect as a fellow business owner and become THE strategic partner they can’t afford to lose.

So, how do you we do this?

In just 3 simple steps!

These are the first principles that you can use to build a productized offer for any service that you feel confident offering:

Step 1: Nail your Core Transformation (A to B)

Everything starts here. We must define points A & B clearly.

• Point A: What is their current situation? What problems are they facing? What pains will they feel if they don’t solve their problems?

• Point B: Where do we want to take them? How does their new world look like? What benefits will they unlock if they do solve their problems?

The better you understand points A & B, the more powerful your service becomes. Be ridiculously specific.

Step 2: Map your proven process (A → B)

With the “destination” pinned, now we move onto the “journey”.

This is where we educate clients on 2 key facts:

• How much expertise they’re still missing

• How much effort they’d need to get there

To do so, simply list everything you’ll do to deliver the transformation.

This shows clients the complexity and expertise required, and makes them think: “That’s actually hard. It makes sense to work with someone who’ll save me time and money.”

Ask yourself:

• What exact steps would I take to reach the destination?

• What do they need in place to get there?

• What could go wrong without expert guidance?

Step 3: Name Your Productized Service

The easiest way to name your Productized your service is to think in 2 tiers:

• Basic/Beginner/Auto-pilot/Starter/Launch/Etc.

• Advanced/Expert/Pro/Scale/Etc.

The reason is because the VAST majority of clients all fall into one of these two categories: either they are beginners and just want to “get started” doing something, or they are more advanced or want to “skip to the end” and pay to achieve their goal as quickly as possible.

Or, you could give it a compelling name that’s easy to visualize and feels tangible. Like a product they can “hold” in their hands.

Now, when you sell this “productized service”, you just put a price tag on the product!

And this completes your expertise-to-offer process.

Before you go, make sure you avoid this biggest mistake:

Don’t spend months planning the perfect service.

Build your productized offer using this framework, then start presenting it to prospects right away.

You’ll learn more from one real client conversation than from weeks of planning.

Sell → Deliver → Learn → Sell again

Cycle through this loop as fast as possible!

That’s how million-dollar offers are built. Through iteration, not perfection.

That’s it!

Stop selling your time and start selling transformations.

Chat soon,

Abi 😊

Sign Up

How I can help you ⬇️

​The Ultimate Operating System for Brand Designers ➡️

If you're ready to save hours on admin work, start confidently taking on more projects, and deliver consistently professional results, these proven templates and systems are your answer.