When You Learn Your Worth, You Will Stop Giving People Discounts

What is worth? How do you evaluate your value? Do you discount your value? Do you discount your product?

I like this quote for many reasons, but mostly for the principle behind it.

Let’s start with business.

In business, brands discount a lot. This is why I have always believed that it’s better (in most cases) to give away versus discount because giving something away doesn’t lessen the value, it simply creates motivation to understand the value. The value of your product is determined by what people are willing to pay for it.

I learned this concept very early in life as a collector of baseball cards. Beckett Magazine’s high and low prices were always determined by what people were willing to pay. An ’89 Upper Deck Ken Griffey Jr. card, for instance, had a huge demand in the ‘90s. Same for a Mark McGwire ’85 Topps team USA card. Yet, those cards have decreased in value over time because the demand has decreased significantly.

When crowds are lined up out the door, that means you have a great demand for your product and experience. That also may mean you have nailed the pricing perfectly. You have carefully determined the worth of your product. Discounting will cheapen, yet giving away will market.

The second you are questioning your worth, ask supporters of your brand what they think. People are usually more than willing to give feedback.

As an agency, we are constantly figuring out and reevaluating our worth. This is created by market conditions, market competition, client budgets, time, cost and value created. It’s not as simple as saying our service is worth $1m; it’s more so about proof of value. We need to make sure that if our clients pay X they are returned with a positive Y.

When it comes to people in business, everyone wants a great deal – employers want to make sure they are building the best staff possible with the budget available for staff; businesses that sell widgets want to make sure the margins are fair and profitable, too. Fair and profitable is the key. What is fair to you may not always be fair to the business. This is why finding a common value for your time and your experience will be critical to determining your worth in a workplace.

How do you determine your value without discounting your worth? It’s not as simple as dollars and cents, it’s more of a total package – office culture, space, leadership, mobility, flexibility, care and salary all play into the mix. Your worth, like our agency, is not as simple as creating a number – it’s about understanding the value and return you provide to a business. By not stopping at KPIs and instead going above and beyond, you can show worth through value creation, goals crushed and a commitment to the business tasks at hand. Be the best salesperson, the best burger flipper, the best PR pro – be the best.

If you are truly committed to excellence (not the commitment where you say you are but know you only give 70 percent), then those around you should recognize your success with praise, promotion and raise.

The second you are questioning your stance, ask your superiors what they think. Most likely they will be able to provide you with a pathway to add more value and worth – thus continuing you on a path to not discounting your value and earning your worth.