TRUE VALUE

TRUE VALUE
The quote today comes from Jim Rohn, who says - “You don't get paid for the hour. You get paid for the value you bring to the hour.”

Oh, I do like this one! As a Consultant, who charges and gets paid by the hour, this is like manna from heaven for me. Not only does it make absolute sense to me it also takes into account my Intellectual Property (IP)! I can just see all the eyebrows shoot up – well it does, and they do.

Ok, let me try and explain this on paper. When I sit with a client, in a meeting and then charge him/her for that hour (or more), I am often looked at like I am crazy. Why? If you go to a doctor or a lawyer, you would expect to pay for that hour – why would my time be any different? So, I don’t have a whole bunch of letters behind my name to say that I am a doctor or a lawyer, so what right do I have to charge anyone for my time?

Well it’s like this – yes a doctor/lawyer has studied for x number of years to gain their knowledge, which they use in order to address whatever problem it is that you have. Well so have I – I have gained my knowledge through experience. For the last 30+ years, I have had on the job training – I have lived, slept, eaten and . . ok let’s not go there. Suffice it to say that I know exactly what I am doing, how to do it and when it needs to be done.

So when I sit in the client’s office, in a meeting, answering questions – I am giving that client the benefit of my 30+ years of business experience and like any doctor and/or lawyer who has studied, I deserve to be paid for the value that I have brought to that hour of discussion.

Take time to remember this, the next time you have a meeting with someone whose brain you are ‘picking’.