This example comes from Sara @ Officebird who used it as an analogy to explain why she uses all inclusive pricing in her virtual assistant business. We think it’s excellent and thought it was worth putting on the main site:
Imagine this: you are walking through town, feeling a little peckish, and you spot a burger van with a big sign outside it saying “Burgers £1”. Ah-ha! Perfect.
(Thinking “What the heck has Caroline had for lunch if she’s wittering about burgers??!” Read on my friend, read on….)
So you go over and order a burger. The girl starts cooking it, and you wait. After a few moments, she asks you “It’s a burger, right?” and checks with her colleague about how to turn the grill on. Another five minutes later she asks the colleague where the cheese is. Your stomach continues to rumble. As she assembles the burger, she announces “Oh we don’t have any lettuce, hang on” and pops into the Co-op to get some… Your stomach growls.
Anyway after about 15 minutes your burger is presented to you – it’s perfect in every way, piled high with onions, cheese, salad, smothered in ketchup and a soft sesame bun wrapped in a pretty gingham napkin. You hand over your £1.
“Oh no, the burger is £1. The bun is 50p, the salad is 20p, the onions are £1, sauce 10p, the napkin is 15p and my time was 15 minutes so that’s £1.50 – so the total is £4.45.”
Shocking – especially since there’s another burger bar across the road serving up burgers with the works for £3.
Now think about your own pricing – what’s included? Do you charge extra for phone calls or envelopes or printing? Do you snag clients with a low hourly rate, only to spend double the amount of time on a project than it would normally take an experienced VA?
Which burger van are you? Is your pricing clear to clients?