Most serious professionals hear "clients buy on emotion" as an insult to everything they've worked for. It isn't. It's a description of how buyers experience expertise they can't yet measure, and understanding that distinction changes everything about how successful you will be in your business development.

If your pricing method depends on nudging your fee upward and hoping you do not scare people off, you are already behind. In this piece, I explain why that logic may work for dog food, but not for consultants, coaches, attorneys, CPAs, and other experts whose value is discovered in conversation, not by testing the market and hoping for the best.

Anita Henderson, Write Your Life Consulting, joins host John Ray on The Price and Value Journey podcast to make the business case for writing your book and why AI can't do it for you.

Professional services trains a lot of us the same way. We become excellent "put-the-vase-away" people who are accurate and dependable, when what our clients highly value is filling the vase with "flowers."

This guide represents investments in others and yourself as well. Instead of gifts that depreciate, investments that enhance your reputation as a professional of value. Some you give to others, and yes, some you give to yourself.

There's plenty that professional services providers can learn from canned chili prices.

The real reason for most price objections? It's not because all clients are price sensitive. It's usually because of inadequate value conversations.

Disney Cruise Lines doesn't just sell cruises. They sell delight. The same is true for professional service providers.

In reality, your competition takes such forms as internal resistance, false solutions, belief barriers, and relational dynamics.

Recent episodes of The Price and Value Journey podcast have focused on a crucial question: how do expert service providers build sustainable, valuable businesses in a rapidly changing environment? These conversations revealed practical wisdom from seasoned professionals who've navigated everything from personal reinvention to AI disruption. In this post, I highlight a few guest perspectives that stood out.

Jessie Broussard, Chief Marketing Officer of top 50 accounting firm Frazier & Deeter, warns against the use of a phrase that's often a cliché in the marketing lingo of some firms: "trusted advisor."

A couple of "low-cost" airlines have finally added first-class; many service providers operate like all their clients should be first class.

The real answer to "how long did it take to write the book" involves the lifetime sum of your experiences and those who assisted you.

Do you really understand the competition? It's invariably not other service providers in your same discipline or industry.

When clients look to hire an attorney, they assume expertise. Their decision is grounded in intangible qualities of the professional.

Your business is a journey. It's your own uniquely beautiful and fulfilling trek, with all the hills, valleys, stops, and detours.

What the experience of fraternity members and professional service providers have in common.

Thoughts on sushi, the concept of "too good to be true," and value conversations as acts of generous service.

Intangible value is like a glacier: it's unseen and unrecognized, but it's the fundamental underpinning to how clients perceive your value.

What should you do when you get asked, "how much for an hour of your time?"