Many of you have expressed the desire to get away from Home Goods crowd and start mingling more with the Baker crowd.  I believe that you need to earn your right to charge your clients for premium pricing by delivering a premium product and service to your clients.

Much of the ability to charge premium pricing is in appearances.  It is best to offer premium products/services from the get-go than to try to climb your way up the price ladder.

You may want to consider the following factors in rebranding your company to attract more premium customers.

Premium Service

If you want to charge premium prices you must have premium services.  Both in the type of services you provide and in customer service.

Provide high-end design services.  Stay away from basic services and piece-meal design, keep to whole-home design and new construction.  Consider turning down projects that are single-room decorating unless the budget is substantial.  If your specialty is a certain room or area (pool houses, kid's rooms) then take projects that give you a full and complete design of that room, not just a few pieces.

You also need to provide exceptional customer service.  Make your clients feel important and special.  Listen to them and provide clear communication.  Be thoughtful and have foresight to anticipate their needs and desires.  You need to be quick and efficient.  They need to trust you.  You need to go above and beyond.  Great customer services earns you the right to charge premium pricing. (Great customer service doesn't mean that you let your client's take advantage, you are not a butler and shouldn't be treated like "the help".)

Demonstrate Value

I discuss how to increase value perception in this article, but to charge premium pricing your value perception needs to be high.  Clients need to see the value in your prices and what you provide.  They need to understand why you charge more than others.  Be confident in your pricing and don't be afraid to share your prices.  But when discussing price, sell your value to your customers not the price tag.

Don't decrease your value perception by discounting your services, ever.

Look the Part

It is important to look the part when you are going to charge premium pricing.  This means that your website, your branding, marketing, advertising, it all needs to exude "premium-ness".  If you want to be able to charge more than Pottery Barn prices, your portfolio shouldn't look like a Pottery Barn catalog, it should look like Elle Decor.

Because impressions are important, your personal appearance should also exude "premium-ness".  Consider your car, your purse, your clothing, and your personal hygiene.  You've heard the saying: dress for the job that you want.

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