Myo Life
Myo Life is a podcast for bored, burned out dental hygienists (and myofunctional therapists) who are ready to work less, earn more, have total control of their calendar, enjoy geographic freedom and most of all - make a bigger impact for their patients - while ditching the long hours, constant aches and dreaded Monday's. You will learn simple and effective strategies and tools to start and grow your profitable myofunctional therapy practice. Make sure you subscribe so you don't miss a thing!
Myo Life
#27 Ditch Discount Guilt and Find Your Happy Price
Let's Connect! Text me here or email me myotrainingacademy@gmail.com
In this episode of the Myo Life Podcast, Carmen dives into the mindset blocks around pricing and teaches how to ditch discount guilt and find your happy price. You'll learn how to stop whispering your rates and start owning your value—without apology.
"Is It Time To Ditch Hygiene?" is a self assessment workbook to help you get honest about where you are, see what's actually possible in a career you’ll love and to help you decide what comes next!
Hey, I'm Carmen and welcome to Mayo Life. That's short for my Outrageous Life, which is exactly the kind of life I get to live since I found the courage to ditch dental hygiene and build a life I'm bonkers about as a myofunctional therapist and entrepreneur. Here you will find all the things myo business and how to build a life that you, too, are bonkers about. I'm very happy you're here. Shall we dive in Well. Hello, friend, and welcome back to the MyoLife podcast. I'm Carmen, the Director of Bravery at the Myofunctional Therapy Training Academy, and I am so glad that you're here.
Speaker 1:We've got a great topic today. If you have ever whispered your prices like they are a dirty little secret, this episode is going to be your wake-up call. Today we're tackling the weirdness around charging real money for your services, because if you're anything like a lot of my students, you don't need a new pricing calculator. You need a money mindset makeover. By the end of this episode, you will have a new perspective, pricing clarity and the confidence to stop discounting yourself. All right, let's talk about the awkward, weird, tummy, gut-twisting feeling that shows up when you tell someone your price and then you immediately want to shirk or you immediately want to apologize If you have ever caught yourself saying, well, it's like $2,000, $3,000, but I can do a discount if you need it, then yeah, this one's for you. This weirdness is deeper than a number on a page. It is old baggage from hygiene. You've spent years getting paid by the hour and being told what you're worth by somebody else and now you're stepping into business ownership like, wait, I get to decide this, I get to figure this out. And this is when the imposter syndrome happens. This is when the second guessing happens. This is when you, you know, imagine your client's face cringing when you say your price. But here's the thing you are not charging for minutes. You are charging for a transformation. For the very first time, your client is going to sleep through the night, or their TMJ pain is going to go away, or maybe their kid is going to stop wetting the bed. This is not an hourly transaction. This is life changing transformation and it is your job to believe that it's worth it, so that they can believe it too.
Speaker 1:So let's uh, let's burn some myths to the ground First. You've heard me say it and you will hear me continue saying it there is not a going rate. Okay, it's not a thing that is a leftover belief from the dental world. If you're Googling what other myofunctional therapists charge so you can blend in, then you're not setting a smart price. You are borrowing somebody else's money story. Okay, uh, how somebody else set their prices. They might be racing you to the drain and you don't want to set your business up after that.
Speaker 1:Okay, I teach this inside the ditch hygiene Academy profitable pricing lab. Stop crowdsourcing your confidence. Pricing is not about what others charge. It's about what you need to earn in order to be profitable, to stay into business and also to not secretly hate every single invoice that you send, or not to hate every client that you work with. Okay, so that's the the, the first one. There is no mayor of my own town. Do not crowdsource your pricing. Do not let you tell somebody else what, what it should be. Okay, don't race somebody to the, to the bottom.
Speaker 1:Second, you are not Walmart. You're not a clearance sticker. You're not offering a toothbrush or a face scrubber. You are offering a result that can't be picked off of the end cap. Okay, you're not a commodity like wheat or corn that goes to the lowest bidder. You're a blue ocean business and that means that you're creating something new, something different. You're not racing others to the bottom Price shoppers. These aren't your people, okay, you want clients who are committed to the outcome, not just the cheapest sticker price.
Speaker 1:So let's get technical for a minute, because clarity builds confidence. So inside the Ditch Hygiene Academy, I help you calculate your direct costs. So these are things like your kits, your materials, your postage and then indirect costs. So this is going to be like software If you have a virtual assistant rent your office equipment, set up your lighting, your camera, that kind of stuff. After those, you also have to factor in personal expenses. So this is going to be everything from gas to groceries to saving for your kids' braces.
Speaker 1:These numbers you have to know, because that's when you ask do I need to earn? Okay, if I need to earn five thousand dollars a month to be able to just keep beanie weenies on the table and keep the lights on, and you only need to earn a thousand dollars a month because your husband pays all of the bills, you can charge differently than what I charge for. Okay, so that the happy pricing formula that I live by and that I teach it is the perfect number that sits above your resentment level, but below your. I'm going to vomit when I say this price out loud threshold? Okay. So somewhere in between there, nobody gets to tell you what that is but you. So you're not going to be guessing it, you're going to be calculating it and then you're going to be trusting it.
Speaker 1:That number that you land on that is sacred, my friend. It supports your life. It supports you building a life that you are bonkers about. It supports your outrageous life. Okay, that number that I need supports this beautiful, exciting freedom that I get to live. Okay, it also lets me show up fully for my clients without resenting them. So, for example, $3,000 might sound high, okay, until your client sleeps through the night for the first time in a decade. That's not expensive, my friend, that's a bargain, and they're going to be so grateful that they made that investment in themselves.
Speaker 1:Okay, not everybody can afford to work with an expert, and that is okay. Wrap your mind around that. Yes, it's hard. Yes, it's hard to think about that. You can't be everything to everybody. You have to be speaking to and showing up for the ones who can. Okay, this is a total sidebar, but this also means knowing very intimately who your. Who is not. Who has a person, a pulse.
Speaker 1:And, of course, you guessed it, I teach this in depth in both the Ditch Hygiene Academy and the Myo Business Accelerator, which shameless plug, by the way will be opening soon, or might actually be open, depending on when you're listening to this. So how would you know which one you should be in? Uh, I like to tell people that the Ditch Hygiene Academy is a massive program that includes all of the Mayo instruction as well as all of the business stuff. So if you feel very ill prepared for the industry, then you need this program, even if you've taken another training. Okay, if you took another training that overwhelmingly under-delivered and you don't know anything, anything or you don't feel confident about it, then you need the whole enchilada. So that's the Ditch Hygiene Academy. If you feel comfortable in your skills and you've already taken a training course and you just need help growing your practice, then the MBA program. That's all business that's for you.
Speaker 1:So, um, again, depending on when you're listening to this, we will be opening that program soon, or it might already be open. So to get in contact with us, just send us some fan mail and you can do that by clicking the link in it's at the very top of the episode description, wherever you're listening to this. So that link says um, let's connect, text me. So click on that. Make sure I get a name and a way to contact you. Okay, so that's super important.
Speaker 1:So that was a total sidebar and a shameless plug. Sorry, but not sorry. I will tell you this. The worst performing clients that I have ever had were the ones who paid the least, and they beat the hell out of me for every discount imaginable. Okay Now, the ones who have gotten amazing results and left the best reviews and sent me the most business were the ones who paid the highest price, waited on a waiting list for a spot, didn't ask for a single discount or favor. These are the who's that you should be speaking to.
Speaker 1:So let's get practical. Here is how you start shifting your energy and showing up like the expert that you already are. Number one stop apologizing for your price, say it, then zip your lips, sister, let it land. Your boss doesn't say well, susie, a crown is $1,400, and then hide behind the dental assistant because they're afraid of getting whacked. No, they own their price and it is what it is. Okay, not everybody can afford a crown and not everybody can afford it right at that time. That is okay.
Speaker 1:Number two you are going to ditch the sad email price list. You're going to try something new, like sending what I call a confident one sheet instead. So a one sheet is where you introduce yourself, you outline the transformation that you offer, you let your brand shine, talk about what sets you apart, how are you going to take them from where they are to where they want to go? What is the impact of them doing this important work with you? And, on the other hand, what's the impact if they don't do it? And if you want extra brownie points or extra connection points, record a personalized loom video to suzy q and blow her socks off, okay. So when somebody sends me an email and they say, hey, carmen, what are your prices for service, I don't just say, hey, my price is, you know, $4,000. I will tell them exactly what my price is, why it's worth paying that, who I work with, um with what sets me apart and how I'm going to bridge that gap for them, for from where they are to where they want to go. Okay, I also make sure I touch on the you know how they're gonna feel and the impact of doing this work and also what happens if they don't. Okay, so so do it.
Speaker 1:And then number three is practice saying your price out loud, with a smile, without sweaty armpits, and record it. Okay, say it until it feels normal. Talk about delivering your price until it it, it is what it is. Okay, here's the truth. Confidence is contagious, and so is doubt. So which one do you want your clients to catch? I always tell this to my students, like if you do not believe in your price, if you do not believe that the 12 months of the therapy that you're doing with somebody is worth that three, four or $5,000, they're going to feel that, on the other end, and they're not going to believe that it's worth it either. Okay, so your ideal client is already looking for somebody like you, but they're not going to trust your work until you do Don't get in your own way. All right, let's recap and get ready to land this plane.
Speaker 1:So pricing is not about finding the going rate, okay. It is about building a business that supports your life and reflects your value and attracts the right clients. Stop blending in, my friend, and start believing, okay. Belief is one of the pillars of all of our programs and you have got to believe my friend. Own your price, honor your worth and remember your confidence sets the ceiling for what your clients believe is possible.
Speaker 1:Now, if you're feeling fired up, do this. Next go evaluate your prices. Are they too low? If you are afraid that somebody won't pay your price, then it's time to work on your money mindset and leave your prices alone. Okay, once you set them, leave them there. You have to leave them there long enough to have data anyhow, and in fact, I would probably tell you to double them or raise them. That that would probably be my advice to you. Now, last, before I let you go, I have a favor to ask If this episode helped you out. Hit, subscribe, follow rate. It share all the things, because it's one of the best ways that I can reach and support others who are just trying to figure this all out. Okay, and just remember, if I'm not your jam, if it's not your vibe, then you can always unsubscribe just as easily. So until next time, my friend, go build a life you're bonkers about and I will be back soon with more myofunctional business goodness.