What’s the difference between cost and value?
This is probably a good time to put the figures in front of you for my coaching time.
We’re all familiar with the old expression “they know the cost of everything, but the value of nothing.” And we might even have used this to describe how we regarded a customer who beat us down on price, for instance.
But what you may not know, is that this phrase comes from ‘Lady Windemere’s Fan’, an Oscar Wilde play from 1892, that was first performed at London’s St. James’s Theatre, to an appreciative audience. This immortal line from the comedy comes from Lord Darlington, when asked what the definition of a cynic is.
As with so much of Wilde’s writing, the humour disguises some keenly observed observations on human behaviour.
But is it cynicism, or rather a lack of understanding, that gives rise to a push back on fees?
The economic principles are very basic: the supplier’s ‘cost price’ determines the break-even point for them, whilst for the buyer, the ‘value’ determines the potential profitability of their investment, and what it is worth to them (and to quote Shakespeare’s Hamlet – ‘ay, there’s the rub.’)
The fee for my 1-to-1 coaching programme is £250 GBP per month (or $330 USD, or $500 AUD – whichever currency is the most convenient to the client).
This cost is based on it being less than the Micro-budget rate of an 8-hour day’s pay for a re-recording mixer, a supervising sound editor, a dialogue editor, an ADR supervisor, a sound effects editor, a sound designer, a Foley supervisor, a Foley editor and a music editor.
The value proposition is that my coaching sessions – two ‘live’, face-to-face 1 hour sessions per month – at a mutually convenient time for the client’s time zone, with email support in-between, will be worth more to them than the cost of them investing less than a single day’s pay into their personal and professional development.
Plus, those fees are 100% tax deductible.
Done properly, it costs the client nothing; and they earn more money as a result.
I think I’m worth it, and I think my clients are definitely worth it.
The waiting list for my coaching services and details of my coaching content, including how to download my free eBook on the benefits of coaching for creatives, awaits you here:
www.soundproducer.com.au/coaching
Joining my waiting list is an easy and non-committal way to receive more details and arrange a 1-to-1 Zoom call to discuss your own needs.
[Pictured: At the 1892 premiere, Lord Darlington gives his definition of a cynic to his chums at their Gentleman’s Club.]
