The value of YOU – with Shelly Davies

What does a writer know about pricing? Quite a bit, as it turns out. Shelly Davies is a business writer, trainer and keynote speaker who helps her clients cut through corporate and bureaucratic jargon to communicate clearly. Talented and in demand, she is also unapologetic about charging what she knows she’s worth – but it wasn’t always that way.

As one of our keynote speakers at the ACE New Zealand Conference 2022, Shelly will share her journey towards understanding her own value and developing the courage to fight for it.

If you’re a consultant struggling with client pushback on price, Shelly’s high-energy, straight-talking session might be just the nudge you need to rethink the way you charge for your services.

We caught up with Shelly to get an insight into how she views what many see as ‘the pricing struggle’.

Why do you think so many of us struggle to charge what we’re worth?

I’m sure there are lots of reasons but, from what I’ve observed, our culture here in Aotearoa plays a huge part in it.

Whether you’re looking at it from the perspective of colonial influence or our pacific roots, there seems to be this expectation that we should be giving generously of ourselves. It’s subtle, but it’s there – and I think its particularly prevalent in what’s expected of women.

My own personal experience has also taught me that each of us has our own core beliefs and values relating to money – and these often play out into our professional lives.

On my own journey, I worked with ‘Money Mentalist’, Lynda Moore who helped me understand that deep down I believed that people could either be good or wealthy – never both. With Lynda’s help, I flipped that belief on its head and that, in turn, completely transformed the way I value myself.

Of course, everyone’s beliefs around money are unique, but I’m willing to bet that there are plenty of others out there who also have core money values holding them back.

So, how can consultants start to change the way they value themselves when pricing?

Full disclosure – I am not a pricing expert! But, over the years, I have seen a huge shift in the success of my business as a direct result of how I’ve changed my approach to pricing… so I guess that qualifies me to offer some advice.

One of the things that has worked the best for me is being very clear about what’s in my wheelhouse. By knowing which types of clients can afford my services and how I can add value for them, I’m able to provide an attractive offering – and charge accordingly.

The other thing I would say is that everything I’ve learnt is the result of constantly trying new things. The only way to figure out what will work for you is to examine your existing beliefs, seek out different perspectives and be open to experimenting.

Finally… never work for free! Like many of us, I love being able to use my talents to help people – but I’ll always ensure that I charge for my work, even if this is in the form of a koha to my favourite charity.

Register for the ACE NZ 2022 Conference to enjoy this, and a number of other, world-class presentations.