119 - Beating The Broken Cookie Effect

Did You Know  0:02  
Did you know that 62% of women rely on their businesses for their primary income yet 88% of these businesses generate less than $100,000 in annual revenue? 

Intro  0:13  
Hello, action taker! Welcome to Live Blissed Out. A podcast where I have inspirational & informational conversations with business owners and subject matter experts that help you get the scoop on a variety of topics. Tired of hesitating or making decisions without having the big picture? Wanna be in the know? Then this is the place to go. I'm your host Marisa Huston. Helping you achieve bliss through awareness and action. So let's get to it. In this episode, Patty block shares how you can price for value and stop settling for crumbs. In 2006 Patty founded the block group to empower women business owners who are experts in their fields as their trusted advisor. She brings a unique perspective having experienced and solved many of the same complex issues women face as leaders, moms daughters and sisters. Patty teaches women how to shift their mindset and build their confidence to generate more revenue with less stress by reimagining pricing and selling. She's a firm believer that when women earn more everyone around them benefits their staff, their family and their community. Clients often refer to Patty as their business therapist and secret weapon. By establishing long term relationships and serving as a strategic sounding board clients experience direct benefits to create real and lasting change, turning roadblocks into building blocks. To learn more, visit www.theblockgroup.net. 

Disclaimer  1:33  
The information opinions and recommendations presented in this podcast are for general information only and any reliance on the information provided in this podcast is done at your own risk. This podcast should not be considered professional advice. 

Marisa Huston  1:44  
Patty, welcome to the show. 

Patty Block  1:46  
Thank you. I'm thrilled to be here. 

Marisa Huston  1:47  
It's great to have you. So what are we talking about today? 

Patty Block  1:51  
What I'd like to talk about today is empowering women business owners to generate more revenue with less stress. It's the basis for everything that I teach. Funny story. When I was growing up, my mom used to make these fabulous cookies. The whole house smelled good and it was warm and the cookies were gooey. It's really wonderful cookie. And my whole life. I watched my mom eat the broken cookie. But it wasn't until I was a teenager that I thought to ask her, Why do you only eat the broken cookies? Do they taste better? And she laughed and said, No, I eat the broken cookies so you can have the whole ones. And not too long ago on a sunny April morning, I'm out for a walk, And I realized that that's what we as women business owners are doing in our business. That self sacrifice, we're bringing right into our businesses and undervaluing ourselves underpricing, our services, and everyone around us, our staff, our family, our clients, for sure they get the whole cookie. And we live on crumbs. And I realized, not only are we doing that in our company, it's very, very pervasive for women. And I can help them do it differently. Their businesses don't have to feel like a burden. And they don't have to sacrifice their needs and their happiness, and what fulfills them in order to take care of everybody else. So that really has become my mission. And if you can't hear from my voice, I love what I do for exactly that reason. Because I'm empowering women with a way to completely reshape their business. 

Marisa Huston  1:51  
That is huge. And I truly enjoyed that story, because it helped me understand exactly what women are up against in their business. They feel like they're putting so much effort, energy, passion into what they do. But on the flip side, they're not even able to show that financially and live the life that they are striving to achieve because they're undervaluing themselves. I see this happening all the time. Why do you think this is happening? 

Patty Block  3:50  
I think there are several reasons that we see this. And I call this the broken cookie effect. And one of the reasons is because many many of us have grown up with that type of role model, where our moms or our grandmothers or someone else in our family, who is in a strong role, put a lot of emphasis on putting others first. And that's very admirable. And we do want to emulate that. And I have. I've done the same thing, watching my mom sacrifice, and be in command of the family to put others first. The problem is that when we do that our companies are not profitable. And we struggle, sometimes with revenue swings. I think one of the reasons is our role model. And the other is we've been very conditioned as we've grown up and as we become business owners, we are not typically raised as breadwinners. So I know in my family, my brothers were. In fact, they were under a lot of pressure to get their education, to achieve, to be a breadwinner. I was not. There was a real double standard. And I always knew I was going to have a career and own a business. But that wasn't the expectation in my family. It was for me to grow up, get educated, get married, have children, all of which I did, but I wanted that career and business as well. So, I think there are several things that play into this as to why it's so pervasive. And about three years ago, I heard a really startling statistic. And that is what got me thinking about the broken cookie effect. And that was that 62% of women rely on their businesses for their primary income, but 88% of those businesses generate less than $100,000 in annual revenue. And that really shocked me. Because when women earn more, we share the wealth, and we create jobs, and we support our family. I personally have been a single mom, since my youngest was two years old, and he's now turning 30. So I've raised three kids on my own, and helped them all get through college and graduate school and start their careers. And then now all three business owners, and they also work in my company. So for me, I've been the breadwinner, because I've had to be, and I've had to support my family, and different women are in different circumstances. But I think that mentality of achieving. All of my clients are high achievers, I think we as women are often very high achievers, and ambitious. And it doesn't always translate into earning more money. But when it does, it gives you so much freedom. And there's so much more that you can do in your life and with your life when you're not worried about money. 

Marisa Huston  6:29  
Financial freedom is freedom. It allows you to make choices and live the life that you want to live. Knowing that you are financially independent and not having to worry, whatever that may be or look like for you is only achieved when you have that financial stability. The thing I see happening, and I'd love your perspective on it, is that there's a lot of competition. And so when women start out in a business, even though they know that they know what they're doing, in a sense that they typically take on something that they love, or that they have experienced in some way, they're still concerned that they know it as well as somebody else. And so when there's competition out there, they're looking at what those people are charging, and then they're downplaying what they offer, and are trying to compete with that. And then it becomes this roller coaster thing where they keep their prices down just so that they can get that next customer. How do you propose women address that issue from the get go, and also identify when it's okay to start moving the needle so that they can charge what they should be charging in order to be able to take care of themselves financially?

Patty Block  7:41  
I think there are two pieces that are critical. One is I don't believe in competition, I believe in collaboration. So when I need another business advisor, I am thrilled. I can't possibly take on everyone who comes to me, and I work only with women business owners. So when I have people that I trust that are doing something similar to what I do, I'm thrilled, because then I know I can make introductions, I can send referrals. And it's just a win win all the way around. So changing your mindset. Don't worry so much about your competition, and don't price based on what you think everyone else is pricing or what you may know they're pricing. It doesn't matter. When you differentiate yourself in the market, and you highlight what does make you differen, what is special about working with you, then that spirit of collaboration comes through, and it will benefit you in a million different way. So that's the first piece. The second piece is about finding your ideal buyer. So I'm going to make a distinction between an ideal client and an ideal buyer. So all the marketing companies and everything that we hear kind of screaming in our ears is about find your ideal client, make sure that they're exactly the right fit. And my feeling is that an ideal client does not happen by accident. You don't find an ideal client, you create an ideal client. And to give you an example, if you have a client who is consistently calling you at eight or nine at night, and you've made it clear that you have regular business hours, pretty much nine to five, and they keep calling you late in the evening that's not an ideal client, but you have the opportunity to help them become one by setting boundaries, and letting them know in a very nice way, I don't take calls after hours. However, if you leave me a message, I will get back with you first thing in the morning. Or it would be better if we set up a time to talk rather than just having them call you spontaneously, to say if you feel as though there's something urgent that me an email and we'll schedule a call in the morning. So setting those expectations helps you and it helps them and you're essentially training them to be an ideal client. When we talk about an ideal buyer. That is really the key. There are two elements to this, one is finding your ideal buyer and the other is building perceived value in the mind of your ideal buyer. So I use an example in retail. So here in the US, we have three stores, Walmart, Macy's, and Neiman Marcus. And Walmart is relatively low and low cost, you can buy essentially anything in a Walmart, Macy's is a step up, usually better quality goods, and a little bit more expensive. Neiman Marcus is designer goods, very high end and very expensive. But you can buy a blouse in all three stores. So which woman shops in which store depends on what she perceives is the value and what she thinks is important, and how much money she has to spend. Your buyers are buying in exactly the same way when they come to you or they come to someone in your industry. So one of the things you need to decide is where are you positioned in the market? Are you a Walmart, a Macy's, or Neiman Marcus? Most of my clients are a Macy's and Neiman Marcus. They don't want to be the low cost leader and they don't want to give that impression in the marketplace. So that's what I would say is to start with how do you position yourself in the marketplace and how are you communicating that? But also, how are you building perceived value and how your buyers look at you and think about you and what you offer. So those are some really important moving pieces and it's part of what I teach in helping women price for value, so that it's a right fit for you and it's a right fit for your buyer. And I think those are the two critical pieces. 

Marisa Huston  11:35  
I appreciate you sharing that because I think that a lot of women struggle in that area, because they can't visualize or justify why they would charge maybe twice, maybe three times more than somebody else. They don't see it for themselves. So as a result, they end up saying, well, if this other person is charging that little, then that's all I'm able to charge, not really understanding all the additional value that they provide, or being able to even more importantly, communicate that to the people around them. Because if somebody compares them to another person that's charging very little, they're going to ask that same question. And so I think the confidence comes from being able to distinguish yourself. And I think that's where a lot of women struggle, don't you? 

Patty Block  12:22  
I do. And a lot of what I teach, and a lot of the time that I spend with my clients is on how you can not only understand your value. It doesn't really matter what you think your value is, it matters what your buyers think your value is. And that's about building your reputation. And that's why that collaborative mindset is so effective, because you're coming at it from a point of abundance. And that will come across in everything that you talk about. I do teach all of these effective communication skills, and how you can quote package what you're offering so that people understand it better, there's some structure to it, and then you feel much more confident and comfortable in how you're talking about it. So yes, I think communication is 90%. of building a profitable company.

SG Associates LLC  13:12  
AGre you searching for a trusted merchant service provider for your business? SG Associates, LLC is your partner for quality payment and merchant service solutions. With over 15 years of experience in credit card processing SG Associates offers merchants the best pricing products and customer service available from a payment and solution service provider. Their number one goal is to save their merchants as much as possible on their credit card processing fees. To learn how they can help you call 1-800-455-5211 or visit www.sg-associatesllc.com. 

Marisa Huston  13:49  
I hear women saying, you know people always ask me for free advice. and I spend X amount of time pouring my heart out or giving them stuff so that I can help them. But I don't get compensated. And I've learned that it's not the person that's taking advantage of them, it's them allowing that person to take. What I mean by that is that you know, if they want free training, then if you communicate that, well, I'm so glad that you think you need help with this, I have a program, you can check out my link. Go there and I'd be happy to support you and help you get to where you want to go. So you're presenting it in a way that shows the person that you can help them but it's not going to be for free. You have full control over how you manage things. But what happens is they don't see that upfront. So then they think why are people taking advantage of me? Why are people acting this way? When in reality they should be looking at themselves and how they handle the situation. 

Patty Block  14:43  
I agree. And I also see that a lot. And what I often advise is don't give away what you sell. You can provide value in a lot of different ways. But it doesn't have to be with what you sell. So if you're an attorney and you have a law firm and you are advising people on employee handbooks or really any issues in their business, giving them free advice actually does them a disservice. Because free advice is usually like a kernel of something, it's like one piece of it. And, you know, as a service provider, that you need to give them the whole picture, like putting a puzzle together. And if there's a piece missing, they don't see the whole picture. And that's very much what we need to do as experts in our field, as service providers. We need to help people see the whole picture. And that means they need to compensate us for the value that we're bringing. 

Marisa Huston  15:36  
And how do we get that across Patty, given the fact that we are so inundated with free information that people just assume now that they can get all the information out there. Everything they need is available for free so why should I pay somebody? And to your point, free information is not complete. The other piece of it too, is that it is up to you, if you want to go the free route to gather all the information and put the pieces of the puzzle together. And hopefully, you're putting it together correctly, because you don't know what you don't know. And it can actually be even more disastrous. So talking to a professional, who has been through everything and understands what to anticipate and gives you all of the pieces that you need right up front so that you don't have to spend time researching, you don't have to hassle with anything, you have a trusted partner. That is priceless, in my opinion. But I think that people have this perception now that why should I pay when I can get all this information for free online? 

Patty Block  16:34  
Right. Well, you can get the information. In fact, we're inundated with information. But learning something doesn't mean you can put it into action. And we see this all the time. The online course space is so saturated right now. And you can learn anything in the world that you want to learn. What are you going to do with it. And the other thing I'll say is, many, many people buy these courses and don't finish them. We've already seen that's not the best way to learn for adult learners. So I have online programs that I offer. And every program that I do, has a hybrid. So, it has the group coaching component as part of it. And one big thing that happens with a trusted advisor is they hold you accountable. And we have a really hard time holding ourselves accountable. Even if you're very disciplined and high achieving, it's hard to know what are the right things to work on at the right time? And so we default to working on things that we're comfortable with. So, I work with a lot of accounting people. They seem to be very attracted to what I do. And I love working with accounting professionals. And their comfort level is working in Excel spreadsheet or working in their accounting platform. So when they have to choose how to spend their time, that's their default. The problem is they may need to work on more strategic issues in their business, but they don't really recognize that. So there are many benefits to working with a business advisor, making sure you're working on the right things at the right time and the right way and having someone who's holding you accountable. 

Marisa Huston  18:04  
I read somewhere, the same thing as you did. The statistics for people that actually take courses is pretty disturbing, to say the least. Because these courses are not cheap, for the most part. And people buy them and then they just sit there. They don't even watch them. And then if they do watch them, they feel good about watching them. In fact, I've heard certain women go Why is my business not growing? Like why are things not improving? I'm taking a million courses. I'm trying to develop my skills so that I can improve and nothing is happening. And essentially, what's happening is that they are learning but they're not applying. Action is absolutely necessary. Because even though we have to learn, and that's a given learning is part of the process, if we don't apply, then we're not going to get to where we need to go. And I think that's the missing element. 

Patty Block  18:54  
I agree. And if those business owners took all the money they were spending on courses over the last 10 years, and applied it to hiring a business advisor, somebody they really trusted, that was going to hold them accountable, the business owner would be miles ahead, because they don't need to be an expert in every business process. You're then leveraging someone else's experience, and expertise. And it streamlines everything that you're doing in your business so it can run like a well oiled machine, and you can be more profitable. So I think people misunderstand how to use a business advisor or a business coach. And when you find the right person and work with them in a very effective way, it really catapults what you want to accomplish inside your business. 

Marisa Huston  19:39  
There's just nothing like having an expert by your side to help you through the process. Because at the end of the day, those courses are still DIY. You still have to put the work in and many people stop after they listen to the course. They don't really apply what they learn and so that's not really going to be beneficial. And so there's that element of not just a coach but even group interaction with other people is very helpful because you get different perspectives, and it motivates you. And that's just how we're built. And I truly believe that having that component in there is essential to move ahead. Can you share exactly what you do and how people can get a hold of you so that they understand what kind of services you offer and how you might be able to help them? 

Patty Block  20:22  
You bet. I founded my company in 2006 and work exclusively with women business owners all over the country. And my clients are service companies, where the business owner is an expert in her field. So attorneys, CPAs, marketing and public relations professional, I have a client who is an expert in human factors engineering, and works with medical devices. So specialty consultants are wonderful clients, for me. And the way I work with clients is in three main ways. I have private consulting, where I work one on one, and in many cases, I become a key member of the team and I'm helping them with all different aspects of their business. The second way I work with clients is through the revenue roundtable. And that is a group coaching environment. I carefully curate the revenue roundtable group, and that is women that are peers. And again, all experts in their fields, but all different industries. And we come together and meet and the whole goal of the revenue roundtable is helping them build their companies and generate more revenue with less stress, so that includes the pricing and the selling thesis. And the third way is I have online programs, value driven pricing and painless selling to ideal buyers. And those focus specifically on how you price and how you can change that. And I wanted to mention, I don't always recommend that you raise your prices. Sometimes your prices are okay. But adding structure to your pricing makes it so much easier for you to communicate and for your buyer to understand. So adding structure is a real key to that. 

Marisa Huston  21:59  
I'm so glad you brought that up Patty. You have to make things as simple as possible, make it easy. And many times you go into a website or talk to potential business owners that you're looking for to help serve you and everything is so confusing and it's not really packaged appropriately, that people get turned off just by the pricing and they walk away. 

Patty Block  22:18  
That's right, or they don't want to put the energy into trying to figure out what you're talking about. Yes, you do need to make it easy for people to understand and easy for them to buy. So the online programs that I offer, have a group coaching component, they're hybrid courses. Because again, I think just learning from a video is not enough. So those are the three ways you can work with me, you can visit my website, at www.the blockgroupnet. And I love connecting with people on LinkedIn. It's Patty with a y. So Patti Block on LinkedIn. And when you connect with me, please send me a message to say that you heard me on this podcast, so that I can make that mental connection. And I also want to offer your audience access to a quiz that I have. It's called Revenue, Roadblocks Quiz, and the website is www.myrevenueroadblocks.com. And when you take the quiz, it helps you recognize and understand what is keeping you stuck, what is in your way that you're not generating more revenue. And that includes fears and insecurities and mindset, and all the pieces that keep you stuck. And then talking about how you build perceived value and find your ideal buyers. So, if you'd like to take the quiz, I would love that. And when you do, you'll get a report that will give you some insight into what is happening inside your business and what you might want to start looking at to make changes. 

Marisa Huston  23:42  
The bottom line is that there are so many pieces to this puzzle that need to be understood in order to unlock the power of what women can provide in their businesses. And they don't know how to do certain elements and that's what's keeping them stuck. That's what's holding them back. And so knowing that there are services like yours that they can reach out to for help so that they can map this all out and set themselves up for success. I truly appreciate you taking the time to share this with us. 

Patty Block  24:12  
Thank you. It's really been my pleasure. And I've really enjoyed it's been fun. 

Marisa Huston  24:16  
That's a wrap for this episode of Live Blissed Out. Thanks for listening, and thanks to Patty Block for joining us on the show. If you have a question or comment for a future episode, all you have to do is go to www.speakpipe.com/lbovm or click the link in the show notes to leave a brief audio message. If you find value in our show, please visit www.liveblissedout.com to reach out, subscribe and share on social media. This show is made possible through listeners like you. Thank you. So long for now and remember to keep moving forward!