The undercharge <> overwhelm cycle (part 1)

Welcome to the Thought Follower, the savvy Solopreneur's guide to building a business on LinkedIn.

_{If someone forwarded this to you, subscribe here so you don’t miss the next one.}

Introducing the Undercharge <> Overwhelm cycle.

It’s a wicked problem facing Solopreneurs:

Here’s what the cycle sounds like:

“If I would charge more, I wouldn't have to take on so many projects at once.

So I get overwhelmed and work until midnight all week to try and get them all done.

I can’t do it forever!”

This vicious Solopreneur cycle feels impossible to break.

Here’s where you might be stuck:

• Marketing attracting the wrong buyers

• Sales & Discovery process focuses on price, not value

Today, we’re diving into the Sales & Discovery part of the cycle. (Next week, I’ll tackle marketing.)

Rethink your Discovery process

If underpricing has you stuck, it’s time to rethink your discovery process.

Discovery is about understanding exactly what the prospect values most, and helping them see how you deliver that.

If they believe you can solve their biggest problem, price becomes secondary.

Put another way, you need to make sure a prospect sees the value in your offer before you present the price.

The goal? Make the value of your offer so clear that they’re ready to sign on the dotted line before you even mention price.

To uncover what they truly value, ask questions like:

• what’s your biggest challenge when it comes to [x]?

• what’s holding you back from solving this?

• what metric is this hurting most in your biz?

• why is solving this a priority now?

These questions help you get to the root of their problem and help the prospect realise the true value of solving it with your help.

With this fresh in their mind, price becomes secondary. And even if they say no, you’ve uncovered a wealth of content inspiration and customer insights you can use.

I go deep on good Discovery in my 1:1 coaching with Solopreneurs because it’s a game-changer for breaking the undercharge <> overwhelm cycle.

But there’s more to the story.

If you’re talking to the wrong people, even separating price from value won’t help. That’s a marketing problem—and we’ll tackle it in part two of this series next Monday.

Break the cycle

If you’re stuck in the undercharge <> overwhelm cycle, reply to this email with ‘value’.

I’ll share my Sales + Discovery playbook so you can start separating price from value, and attract the clients who see your worth.

Know someone who’d benefit from this gazette? Go on, share the love - forward it to them!