How to get comfortable saying your price
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[00:00:00] If you want to have a successful therapy business, I want you to get really comfortable saying your price and it's because in order to have patients on our schedule in order to make money so that we can have a business to call our own, we have to actually tell people how much our services cost. and how they can get onto name is Wong.
I'm an occu certified hand therapist. my therapy clinic for ove five years ago, I started So I have been creating p telling people about my p
Some of the ways that I started to, um, practice myself. And then when I had a team start training them on how to confidently talk about money and tell people are about our prices and our services, because when you sound really confident, people are going to be attracted to that and want to work with you.
And you wouldn't [00:01:00] start your business unless you knew you had a really good service. Right. As therapists, we have really good services. We know how to really help people and so many people need our help. But I think there's a lot of therapists just stuck, not wanting to start their own thing because we have to do this thing called selling.
It's pretty much not selling, it's selling. you know, telling people, um, what our services and what our prices are. Let me share with you, um, a little story. I was out, I was out, um, in the UK and I was at this little cute shop in Bath and I go in there and I'm, I'm always looking for a hat, like I love hats.
And I go into this cue shop, it's very boutiquey. And the woman was like, and she saw me looking at hats and I wanted to try stuff on, but wasn't really sure. I was like, yeah, you know. So she comes and she starts talking to me and she's like, oh, you know, [00:02:00] so what kind of hats. What, you know, what color do you normally wear?
And she's like, well, let me share with you. I'm, I'm a stylist and I love styling people. And she's like, if you love hats, let me show you a few hats. So she's like, try it on, do this and do that. And she's like, well, based on your, your skin color and your tone, I know nothing about skin color and tone. Um, she's like, well, you know, I think.
I normally buy beige hats. And she's like, well, with the tone, your undertones, she goes, um, that's not such a great color. And I'm thinking, shit, really? I like how many brown hats do I have? She puts this one hat on. I'm like, I love this hat. And, um, and I'm looking at it and I'm trying it on. She's like, well, I'll just leave you.
And she was showing us some things. And then she was like, well, I'll leave you, um, to discuss, you know, what you want. Um, and at some point I was like, You know, we made, my friend and I made some kind of comment like, Like it's, it's okay if you sell to us, you know, it's [00:03:00] okay. She goes, Oh no. She goes, I don't sell.
She goes, that's not what I do. She goes, I just show you things and then you get to decide. And in that moment I was just like, Oh my God, I love this so much. And that's what we do. The thing is, is that when it comes to therapy, We don't have a product to show. We can't have you try it on, you know, you have to sign a consent for me to touch you because sometimes the therapy that I provide hurts.
Right. Um, a little bit more than that, but like there's, we provide a service that is not guaranteed. It's not like I put on a blue hat and I can see myself, you know, you know, So my point is, is like she, it was so much, she did not want to sell, but what she was doing was selling. And so what we have to do as therapists is we have to get really comfortable in the fact that if we own our own business, we have to do a certain [00:04:00] amount of selling and the selling.
Is essentially the same, only it looks a little different because we don't have like this nice white mug that we can sell or this beautiful blue hat that you can try on, right? But we have to really get comfortable in the way we do it and the price that we say to people. Because if you cannot do it, say it comfortably.
If you cannot say it confidently that someone needs your services and this is your price, they won't believe that you believe that you have really amazing services. And what I want to share is pricing is completely relative. What you think is expensive or inexpensive is different from what I think is expensive and inexpensive.
So it's completely irrelevant to the aspect of telling someone about your occupational therapy services and saying, Hey, [00:05:00] I have a really good service. I have a really great service. I can help you with X, Y, and Z. I am really good with nerve injuries because I've spent the last 20 years. 20 years working on people with nerve related injuries.
You sir, X, Y, and Z, you look like you have a very, you know, complex nerve related issue that stems from your neck because all the nerves come out of there. And I know I can help you. Here's my price and let's get started with this one session first. That's all I'm doing. That's all I'm doing. If you need to stop record or stop and rewind and listen to that again, that's essentially what you want to do.
And let's stop moralizing price. And the reason why I say that is that I get irritated every single time I'm, you know, I see Facebook groups and it's always, it's always certain OTs that just, They have a, a money block on how [00:06:00] much they want to sell their services. And unfortunately I feel like there's a lot of shame in the OT community that shames you for, You know, having premium prices and having premium services and whatever you want to create as your price to make your business sustainable and profitable for you, you do it, but let's not moralize.
Let's not say what is right and what is wrong. There's nothing unethical. About your pricing of your services. If you took your pricing and you went to the top tier athlete, I can guarantee you that based on your price, they would think that you were not good enough. Because your prices would be too cheap.
I don't care how good you think you are, but pricing has a Perception [00:07:00] to it if you're considering yourself to be the best you also can't be the cheapest, right? So let's not moralize that and let's say you're wrong for having this price or your Right for having this price and I see that a lot You In certain groups.
And I, I, if you're buying into that, this is your message to not buy into it because pricing is completely relative. People have their own mental and they're called money blocks, right? I didn't realize what it was, but people have money blocks in terms because they internalize what is right and what is wrong, what is right.
ethical and what is not ethical just because you're uncomfortable saying your price or saying a higher price does not make you a bad person does not make you unethical for for having whatever price you determine is required to make your business sustainable [00:08:00] and profitable. Right? There's always someone who's willing to pay for it.
There is always someone who is going to be willing to pay for it if there is a need and you, you do things to help build their trust in you that you can help them with their particular problem. So let's not moralize this and say there's a right or wrong. Let's not say, uh, what is ethical, unethical about your prices.
I can tell you there's a vast, um, vast difference between various types of services. And you think about the level of services that some, someone's, um, able to provide. You can go and get a 50 massage. Or you can go and get a 400 massage as I included gratuity. Okay, vastly different experiences, vastly different services.
There's nothing wrong with that person who wants to charge [00:09:00] 400 and there's nothing wrong with the people who want to charge 50 completely different services as therapists. We are not trained in OT school. I have never once. been in a job where they taught me to talk about money and talk about what patients actually need and not about money.
And I'll tell you right now, I had knee surgery over, how old is my son? 17. Um, so I had my knee surgery 18 years ago and I was looking for the best physical therapist to help me with my knee recovery. And I didn't know anything about money. All I knew was my insurance covered so many visits and I had a copay.
I didn't care about those things. I cared about my knee. I cared about my knee getting better. And I can tell you after five visits, they discharged me and gave me a book of exercises to do. I was still walking with a knee brace. [00:10:00] Um, and I have encountered that so many times along the way where when I'm looking for help people discount me.
People are like, they're making assumptions that I'm not willing to pay when in fact I am willing to pay top dollar for top services. Right. I am willing to pay so that I don't have to go and have a knee surgery. Right? Money. It was never about money. It was always about what can I get? Like, can you help me solve my problem?
If you can talk to your patients about that, then uh, all you have to do is you. You practice how to say your prices, right? So whatever price gives you that like gut wrench, like, Oh my God, are they got, you just need one person. You need one person to say yes, and that's your price. And then as you get more comfortable and you need to raise your races, your prices, then you try, you, you know, you raise it again and whatever gives you that little not, that's what you [00:11:00] do.
But here are some ways in which, you know, you can get comfortable. was saying your price, right? When you have to practice saying it out loud, don't imagine things in your head. You have to practice saying things out loud. You have to practice what's called role playing. So, you can practice on camera and record yourself.
Hey, Mr. Stone. So, yes, you know, based on what you're telling me about your hand numbness, I can help you. Right. Here's how I'm going to be help. I'm going to be able to help you. First, you know, um, our initial evaluation, our initial evaluation is this much, right? And what we're going to do in our evaluation is we're going to, you know, figure out where it's coming from, right?
Because this doesn't come on its own. And we're going to, um, utilize some treatments to get some results today and see what's helping and what is not helping. I'm gonna give you one thing to do. And then from our evaluation, our treatment today, [00:12:00] um, if you're interested, I'm gonna, I can outline to you, I can create this plan of care to help you to get rid of your pain and to help you get rid of your numbness and to help you to be able to sleep again.
Right. That might be a goal to help you avoid surgery, or we're going to, we have to do a session in order to say, well, based on our session, is surgery avoidable? Whatever it is that you're going to say, you have to practice saying your price. You have to practice saying what you're going to be able to provide for the price that you're saying.
All right. For the price of your service, right? So practice it out loud. You can record yourself. You can watch it over and you can, you know, just get more and more comfortable. If you have someone to practice with, you can role play with someone else. Now, this is really great if you have a partner, if you have a staff person.
So when I first started, um, I practiced with my admin. So I would just practice saying the price, [00:13:00] but I can tell you right now, when I was working in a private clinic. Um, the manager and the owners, they are, they, the manager had, I mean, he had really huge money blocks. Like he couldn't imagine spending any kind of money on anything except for drinking, which is really funny because he had no qualms about spending money on drinking.
But when it came into his profession and the therapy, he had such a hard time selling our therapy services. And he would just be like, Oh, you know, and they made our, um, It really cheap, which is why I was seeing three to four patients at a time. Right. Um, and he was like, Oh, well you can pay whatever you can pay 50.
It's not, you can pay 50. It's okay. Right. And he made money such a big deal when people half the time didn't even care. They just wanted therapy. They just wanted to get better because all of our, like majority of my patients were post surgical. And one of my patients actually [00:14:00] from that, I had two patients that I practiced on.
I was one in acute care and I was working at the hospital at the time. And one of my patients in the hospital was, um, he wanted therapy at home. And he was like, well, you know, I really need therapy at home. Will you come and provide therapy for me in my home? And so I just, I was like, ah, sure. Um, um, I was like, well, I was like, I'm like, yeah, I can provide therapy for you at home.
you know, it's 100 session. He goes, yeah, I want it every day. Every day. He wanted therapy five days a week and he was still going to outpatient. So he was, he had to get home, um, do some stuff, you know, get situated in his home, but he, he didn't have anyone to help him. So he was going to the outpatient center three times a week and then he was also getting therapy at home.
He, he just loved therapy. therapy. And he just wanted so much of therapy. He had, I had provided [00:15:00] therapy for this man daily, right? Monday through Friday. I was on Monday through Friday, sometimes Saturdays at a hundred dollars, um, a session. And I went with him for like nine months of continuous therapy. He would not let me stop.
I had to go on vacation. I went on vacation for three and a half weeks. I was out for a month. I was like, George, I cannot, I cannot do therapy. Like I'm going to be gone. He was like, when you come back, I'm like, dude, you don't need more therapy. He was still continuing private therapy. He was doing therapy at the hospital, like outpatient loved it all.
They ended up discharging him because they're like, Oh, you're, you know, you're good enough. Do your stuff at home. And, and he was like, no, I don't want to do it at home alone. And we had gone from like every day at some point, we went down to three times a week. Cause I'm like, dude, you're doing really well.
You don't need more therapy. And he was like, no, but I want it. [00:16:00] I did therapy with him. And then, uh, when I was in a private practice, uh, he was coming, the, the guy had a really bad injury. He was coming to therapy at the clinic. I told him, this was also a place where I'd practice. Yeah. I didn't practice the money part, but I was practicing the recommendation part.
I was like, dude. the kind of thing, you know, kind of injury you had, he had a crush injury. He lost part of his finger broke. So his whole hand was a mess, brand spanking new injury. He lived, um, and I forgot what, um, what, um, Island, right. He lived there and he rented, um, he, he flew in emergency because of his hand injury.
came in, had the surgery, needed therapy right away, and he could have gone home to his home country. But he's like, I'm not gonna be able to find a certified hand therapist over there. So he rented a house and stayed in Miami for four [00:17:00] months. And he was like, I need extra therapy because I don't know what I'm doing.
So he came into therapy at the clinic that was working at every day, because that's what I recommend. I like doing if you're not able to do this at home, had a wound care issues. He came in every day. And then I would do his therapy on the weekends because the clinic wasn't open. So I would see him seven days a week.
Um, but that's where I was also like, Oh, this is my price. You know, I wouldn't, I would not charge 100 now. You know, to go to someone's home. But what I'm saying is wherever your price that was my starting price. I was like 100 bucks. Yeah. I'm gonna round it up even go to the bank pull out 100 bucks pay me cash, right?
Um, but you have to get really comfortable saying your price And then when I started my own business, um, I had a, uh, a clinic and people had to come to me and my price was like, I think my price started at 75. Right. And [00:18:00] even at that price, I was like, so uncomfortable saying it out loud because I was seeing a lot of post surgical cases.
I'm like, it's 24 visits. Now my price is much higher. Um, And I'm still saying you need 24 to 36 visits. I mean, some not everyone needs that many visits. Some people just need, you know, six, some people need 12. But, um, when you say your price, your price is not just that individual package. Your price is also, I mean, not the individual session, but your price might be that whole package of what that person needs.
But be honest. Be honest and say it because you're doing them a disservice if you have your own like insecurities around Having conversations money. So get really comfortable saying your price out loud practice with yourself practice with someone else Um, if you have someone who you can practice it's called role playing And then really the third one is like working on your own mindset around money because it's very [00:19:00] arbitrary.
I think two of my favorite books that is on, you can look up money mindset, but my two favorite books is, um, Jen Sincero, who wrote like, uh, something about like, you're a badass with money. And then the other one is Denise Duffel, Duffel, Denise, um, Duffield Thomas. I'm hoping I'm saying that correctly. Her book is a chill and prosper, but there's these two people that talk about money mindset and how like a lot of times we're uncomfortable with saying our price because we have our own insecurities or things that we grew up with that's stopping us from essentially making money but stopping us from delivering the service that we're meant to deliver at the price point that we need to deliver it at.
Another person I think who talks around money mindset a lot is Tony Robbins. Um, I don't think I've ever Read his book on money mindset, you [00:20:00] know itself or have taken his You know done his like live in person event, but I know that he does talk a certain amount about money mindset, but It at the end of the day, that mindset is what's stopping you from saying your price comfortably, um, sounding confident about what your prices are and being able to help someone with that.
the thing that they're coming to you for. Um, and you can't deliver that service. You can't be life changing until you kind of wrap your head around that money. Money mindset is not moralizing. You know, don't let people say you're wrong or you're unethical because of your price. You know, really think That is their issue.
Cause I've had a couple of therapists, you know, say shit to me about like my prices or like it's unethical. If your prices are on your website, there's absolutely nothing [00:21:00] unethical about that just because they're uncomfortable with something doesn't mean it's unethical. Right? Just because they don't want it doesn't mean there is a right and wrong to it.
So you just want to keep that in mind because when you're, you're starting your business and growing your business in order to be In order to make the kind of money that you want to make so that your business is sustainable, so that you can continue to grow your business, so that you could have the life that you live, that you want to live, you have to be comfortable with setting your prices and then saying your prices.
Um, I hope this helps you because I think that there's a lot of people who have, I mean, I think there's a lot of, um, strong feelings around this. And around this topic, and I would love to hear what your feelings are, if you agree or you disagree, um, leave them below for me, I would love to hear from you, and I would love to hear if [00:22:00] this video was helpful around that, because I'm telling you OTs, you cannot grow your business without setting the appropriate price, so that you can keep staying in business, alright?
So, and keep helping people. If you want me to talk more about this, definitely leave me a comment, okay? Until next time, I'll see you soon.
