If you have VA business and you are not satisfied with your incomes, ask yourself:

• Do you want to come up with a pricing strategy that works better for you?
• Do you want to charge what you are worth?
• Do you want to work with ideal clients?
• Do you want to work less and have more freedom and flexibility?

If you answer to any of these questions with „YES,“ maybe you should continue to read this post and learn something about pricing strategy so that you can simplify your VA business and set it up for success.

In reality, there are real frustration and fears about raising rates and believe me, I know that. In this situation, you probably think that client will leave you.

Where to start?

I know that nobody feels confident in charging more and maybe you are not ready jet. Maybe you think that you aren’t an expert or that you aren’t good enough.

If you ask yourself how can I bring more value, you should know that you are the value.

You probably know that VA charge on three different ways based on:

1. hourly rate
2. retainer packages (which are built on the block of time, for example, „5-hour package“, „10-hour package“, „20-hour package“)
3. packages (which are based on value).

If you had a bad experience with the first two strategies like I was, maybe you should try with 3rd strategy or if you already use, if you should try to make it more profitable.

No more tracking time, no more rolling over hours

The changes come when my talking to the client hours doesn’t even come to the conversation. My packages are based only on value, and this is based on approximately 25 hours per week.

This is the difference between what we were working on and what we bill, but since package pricing isn’t based on hours but rather on the value, this doesn’t the end of the conversation with the clients. They are not buying your „5-hour package“ or „20-hour package, account, “ an account every little hour you spending rolling over staff, because that all goes away.

They are not buying your „5-hour package“ or „20-hour package“, and you don’t need to account every little hour you spending rolling over staff, because that all goes away.

Packages do not work if you continue to sell your time instead of selling your value.

Take a look at these four simple steps to creating packages that sell:

1. Awake your value
2. Create your packages
3. Price your packages
4. Transition your clients.

STEP #1  Awake your value

You need to have a cristal clear idea about your value. It isn’t that easy to know what your value is, so ask your clients. It is also a good way for making better marketing materials. Some great thinks that your clients said about you and sent to you via email and put it in a testimonial page on your website.

Always ask your client to write down something about you and your work and ask to send you a picture.

Ask your client something like: „Can you share with me the value that you get in working with me?“

If you are new, here are some tips:

#1 You have to believe in yourself (you sell value, and your client will have a benefit even it’s just one email or creating one Facebook post)

#2 Have a clear and unique selling point (USP) and a unique value proposition (UVP). You should be specialized in the niche that you work in. Don’t be a generalist VA.

#3 Sell value, not money! Your clients are making a business decision, and as a result, they don’t care about the money they are spending, but about the value, they getting by spending that money.

STEP #2  Creating your packages by bundling up your services

I think that you should know that clients don’t know how long it takes to get things done. They do not!

When a client looks at your package offerings, all they see is one – price.

For example, if you offer a Social Media Services you can offer three packages:

• Setup Package
• Maintenance Package
• Consultation Package.

The Setup package is consist of:

• 1-hour assessment, social media analysis, marketing plan
• Custom Twitter background and set up the Facebook business page
• Optimize LinkedIn page and research best groups, setup Hootsuite account.

All for $559.

The Maintenance Package is consist of:

• Up to 30 social media updates
• Answering direct messages and customer services
• Statistics report

All for $325.

The Consultation Package is consist of:

• Up to 1-hour consulting call
• Social media assessment
• Social media plan.

All for $299.

The point is that clients can see the right package and the price and exactly what they pay for and what will get.

You should never only show the features and not benefits.

For the previous example for social media services the benefits can be:

• Optimized social media plan = saved effort
• More targeted followers = more money
• Automated social media marketing system = saved time and money.

Put the benefits next to your services on your website.

SUPPORT vs SERVICES packages – BIG DIFFERENCE!

Service packages have number and parameters, such up to 30, X number of this or X number of that.

Support packages are based on the level of support that you are providing to that client. What does in mine? It can be based on the amount of hours that you giving them per month or quarter or per annual. It can be the level of support needed. It can be the expertise that you providing them.

Support packages are best suitable for the clients for those that you are already working with because you already have sense and some knowledge about how you are gonna be working with them.

STEP #3  Price your packages

What can you offer to your clients to pay extra?

It can be just a 1-hour consultation.

Make the „gold package“ and make a transfer your best client from „silver package“ to „gold package“.

Find bellow one simple pricing formula that I use for making the prices for my packages.

Number -> choose a dollar amount for one month (for example $3,000)

Billing -> choose realistic number of billing hours (for example 100)

Number / Billing hours 

$ 3,000 / 100 = $ 30

$ 30 (hr) x 10 (clients) = $ 300 package price

STEP #4  Transitioning clients to packages

Packages don’t have to be all or nothing. If you are perfectly happy working with a particular client hourly or with a retainer package and that arrangement works for both, it’s absolutely no need to change anything.

The key word here is that your arrangement has to work for both of you. Not just for the client.

It’s time to move your clients to the packages arrangement so:

• give clients as much notice as possible (at least 2 or 3 months)
• explain how you’re providing to them a solution and how they will have benefit by moving to packages
• tell them that you’ll be happy continuing to do the work without stopping.

You will lose some clients, but that is normal. Nothing wrong with that. You’ll find the new clients for sure.