Can You Put a Price on Value?

This week I’ve been thinking a lot about perceived cost versus real value. It came up (again!) in a conversation with my sister - she runs a beautiful luxury cashmere and personal styling company (Alabaste - in case you were interested ;)), and we often compare notes on pricing and what people say when they see a number attached to something that’s taken hours, expertise, and deep intention to create.

If you’re a small business owner, a coach, a creative, or anyone who provides a service that can’t be scanned at a till, you’ve probably had this too:

“Oh wow, that’s more than I expected.”

“Hmm, let me think about it.”

“I can get something similar cheaper elsewhere.”

It’s not always said outright, but the undertone is clear.

And oftentimes it can make you question everything.

Because when you *know* the value of what you offer, but people don’t see it yet - it can feel disheartening. You start wondering if you need to lower your price. Make it more ‘palatable.’ Offer a discount.

But what we do know is: Transformation isn’t visible.

Let’s take coaching for example (but this applies to any transformation-based service).

“People say I have a huge impact on them… but they never sign up as clients.”

That line hit me hard when I read it in a post recently. It continues:

The better you are, the harder your value is to explain.

And it’s true. Coaching isn’t a product you can hold. It’s not always advice you can write down in a notebook and say, “I got this one golden tip.”

It’s shifts. It’s softening. It’s rebalancing. It’s tears followed by clarity. It’s walking out of a session feeling different, but not being able to explain exactly why.

So when someone goes home and their partner says, “What did they do?” and they say, “We just talked,” it can be hard to justify the cost.

But it’s not the chat that’s the point. It’s the outcome.

The ripple effect.

When we’re selling an invisible result, we have to anchor it to something visible.

Instead of:

“I help women ski with confidence again.” Try: “You’ll stop missing out on family ski holidays because fear is no longer running the show.”

Or:

“I help you reconnect with yourself.” Try: “You’ll stop second-guessing your every move, and start making decisions that feel aligned.”

When the value is hard to see, the offer must be unmistakably clear.

So whether you’re offering transformation, styling, design, healing, coaching, teaching, don’t shrink from your pricing. Don’t apologise for it. Instead, ask yourself:

What’s the true outcome of this work? What changes, tangibly or emotionally, for the person on the other side?

Because that is what they’re buying.

And when you stand in that, the price stops being the issue. The result becomes the investment.

Curious to rethink your offer positioning, or how you communicate the real value of your work? Let’s chat. I love helping women step into the full value of what they do.