How could you embarrass your fee?

Here’s a testimonial that makes me proud as a businessperson.

It comes from a client who rented my brain to help grow her nonprofit. ‘

Gilly commented that she had always been a supporter of the approach that mentoring should not be a paid activity, as this has the potential to change the dynamics of the relationship and create a power imbalance.

But after my first email response following our project kickoff call, she said the fact that she had paid something to be working with me left her mind. As far as she was concerned, the value of that exchange of wisdom and knowledge far outweighed any payment.

Wouldn’t you love clients to say that about you? We should all be so lucky.

If you want the same for your business, here’s my recommendation.

Create enough value to provoke price amnesia.

You often read about this kind of sentiment in online restaurant reviews. People comment that when they first looked at the menu, they thought to themselves, this better be an incredible meal, or we’re not going to be happy.

But once that buttery lobster tail hit their lips, that first bite erased the memory of whatever financial anxiety they had twenty minutes ago. That’s price amnesia, and it’s a powerful advantage for any kind of business. It means that you’re leading with value. You used your product to enable an asymmetrical position. Creating an imbalance of effort and care that’s so powerful, people’s brains forget what all the fuss was about in the first place.

Burnt, the highly underrated movie about a drug addicted chef who puts his career on hold, has a great scene about this kind of amnesia. Cooper reminds his kitchen staff that most people eat because they’re hungry, but he wants to make food that makes people stop eating. He doesn’t want to keep cooking and be interesting, he wants people to sit at that table and be sick with longing.

That’s the type of reaction all of us should strive for. Creating such unique value that people can’t remember their objections, concerns and fears that used to run rampant through their minds.

From a medical perspective, amnesia is actually the perfect term. Doctors say amnesia occurs after an event where something so distressing occurs, that the mind chooses to forget rather than deal with the stress.

The difference in the business world is, instead of the event causing stress, it causes joy. Whatever work you do, it provokes such a positive and memorable response, that your customer’s mind chooses to use it as a tranquilizer to forget past fear.

My mentor used to talk about this all the time. She said that whenever she finished one of her performances, she wanted her client to walk up to her after the show and say, holy shit, you just embarrassed your fee.

Now that’s leverage.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
What does your product do to people’s brains?