Episode #21: Creating and Pricing Your Signature Offer to Scale Your Business with Terra Bohlmann

Intro (00:02): Welcome to The Fast-Track Entrepreneur Podcast with your host Terra Bohlmann. You are about to get filled with business strategies, advice, and motivation to get you prepared to fast track your five year plan in less than one year. So buckle up and let's create your first class business with clarity and confidence.

Terra (00:28): Welcome back to The Fast-Track Entrepreneur Podcast. I'm Terra Bohlmann and I'm so excited to talk to you about today's topic. So we last left off with me going through my business map method. And the first step of it is really building that solid foundation that is so important for your business. And once you have your foundation in place, it really sets the tone for everything else because everything else touches on it. So if you think of your foundation as an outline of everything you do in your business, everything interacts with it. And then what you have in the middle is your offers and your pricing. So once your foundations in place, remember we know what you stand for, your vision, your branding, who your perfect customers are, because we've created perfect cross customer profiles for your business. It's just getting so much clarity down to your strategic give back and your framework, which separates you from everyone else as well.

Terra (01:37): And once we have that in place, it tells you exactly what to offer so that you can serve that perfect customer and your business. So I'm going to talk today about offers because it's one of these things that I get a lot right. I find that most women entrepreneurs either have way too many offers or they don't have clarity on the one offer. So the one offer I would suggest that most women entrepreneurs lead with is what I call your signature offer. This is the thing that you're known for. So when you have the proper framework in place, what's your framework? Remember is your step-by-step on how you do something so that your known in the marketplace as an expert and it gives you authority. Your offer should be exactly what you talk about in your framework. So in my case, one of my signature offers is I have a mastermind.

Terra (02:38): And so my business map method is something we obviously do when you're part of the mastermind. Because I'm a big believer in planning and once you have a plan, then you get into action and then you have community on top of that with likeminded women entrepreneurs. And it is amazing. It's like having a shortcut in business. It's beyond awesome. So one of my offers being the Concorde mastermind is a solution that takes somebody from my framework to the next step, right? And then I have that packaged up and a really cool way. I have it priced accordingly. Actually, it's a little bit less than most standard masterminds. It's a year long program and it's amazing. We go to three really cool locations. We get together in real life. We do two calls a month with the masterminds. I bring in experts like it is meant to fast track your business success.

Terra (03:39): So the Concorde was something that I focused on solely for a year by itself with no other distractions. And then it wasn't until somebody was more than one person, it was a couple of people were like, Oh, I want this Terra. But is there something that can get me started? Like, I'm not ready to take the big leap into a mastermind yet. I need something that is going to get me started. And I said, yeah, let me think about that. And then that's when I was able to create a down sell, which was a way that people can work with me so that they can get money coming in and get a little more clarity and be ready to come into the mastermind. Because the mastermind I run is women are making six figures, if not pretty close to six figures and some even seven figures.

Terra (04:23): So you have to be ready to step in to a peer group like that. So I totally get that. It's not for everybody, but you know, I have other things that serve other women to get them to that point. So when I started my signature offer, that was really all I had. And then over time I've been able to, you know, the mastermind has changed in the way of the high achieving women that have came in that are, you know, you have to group women in a like-minded category together or else they're going to get bored if they're talking about startup issues when you know now in the mastermind we'd just talk about you know, different issues. So it's important to be able to know who the perfect customer profile is for the mastermind for me versus who the business map method online program called the fast track Academy that I have, who that's for as well as another offer I'm going to be launching later this spring, which is a group coaching program.

Terra (05:21): So I had to be really clear and what type of woman is for each one of those as well as the pricing accordingly. So it was something honestly that when I first started business coaching, that's all I did was business coach one person at a time, months, a month. You know, I had like 30 clients a month. It was a high volume, low cost type of thing, but it completely burned me out because it was just rinse and repeat, same issues on the phone every single day, time and time out. And it wasn't what I thought it was going to be and I couldn't, I was so in it. I was so in my business that I couldn't see the forest through the trees or what my friend, Amanda Walker always says is you can't read the label it from inside the bottle. And so when I had, I had to step away from that and that's really when the business map method was born was because I had to get out of the day to day in order to see the bigger picture on how to scale my business.

Terra (06:17): And then I knew kind of where I want it to go. I still know where I want it to go, but you can't do everything at once so you stair step into things. So that's how my business model has evolved over time. Let's talk about how yours can evolve as well. So taking a look at the big picture of the business map method. Step one is all about being very clear on your foundation. And again, so many women entrepreneurs just kind of railroad through the foundation cause they're building it as they go. Sometimes I say you're building the airplane, mid flight, it's a little scary sometimes. It just has to be that way. And I totally understand and I commend women who can do that and just get into action right away and adjust as they go. But it never feels like they have enough time and whatnot.

Terra (07:04): So I say, okay, let's land that plane for some maintenance. Let's get really clear on your business foundation. Then that'll tee up exactly what you need to sell your offers and the pricing as your step two step three. Once we know what we're selling, we need to know how we're selling it. So that's what I call the third step, which is called the BMS, the business map, the sales side of things. And then after we know how we're going to sell, the fourth step is how do you get visibility and exposure so that people know you're there. So many times we rush right into visibility, exposure, marketing, and we're not really clear what we sell, who it's for, what the foundation is. And then it's frustrating cause we're spending tons of time, money, energy on marketing when in fact we need to be clear on the other steps before him.

Terra (07:54): So then once we know what we're selling, how we're selling it, how we're getting visibility so that people know we're there to serve them, then the next step really becomes around creating the customer experience. And that's the fist step. So customer experience is exactly once somebody transacts with you, what happens next? And we want to wow them. We want to put together a really cool onboarding and then how do we deliver what we sell? And then what a lot of women skip is how do you transition them when someone's done with your offer, you know they've completed your, you know, had your product, they completed your service, then what happens? So we need to have a transition plan in place so that everyone that has transacted with you feels good about it. And then you're teeing them up for potential to come back to buy from you and all that good stuff.

Terra (08:50): So the experience is really important. And then the last step of the business map method is all about building your dream team. And why did I put that last? Because if you don't have all the other five steps in place, your team is going to be extremely frustrated and you will be too. And then what happens as you go hire people to help you because you're overwhelmed but you can't articulate all the other things and there's holes in your business model. They're frustrated, you're frustrated, you're hiring them thinking they're going to fix it and they may try but it's may not be what you want. And so now you have a building a business model based on everyone else instead of getting really clear with what you want to do. So I put team last because while it's important, we need to have everything else in place first.

Terra (09:34): And your team is like your roles and responsibilities and who's going to be on the team, what you expect of your team, how you communicate, what kind of tools you're using, all that kind of stuff. So, and then the output of once you do all this strategy work is to create your business map, which is your tangible document. It's usually 50 to 60 pages of your brain on paper so that you have a tool that you can share with your team that you can reference. Often you can literally take it to the bank if you overlay some financials, like it's just a complete strategy document and how your entire business runs. And that's why I'm so passionate about the business map method. So when we're thinking in terms of offers, which is going to be what I'm going to focus on on today's podcast episode, there's some things that we need to get really clear on so that you feel really confident that you're creating something that is not just priced right, but it's what your customer needs, your future customer.

Terra (10:37): Right? And I always think of Chanel like I love Chanel. One of my things is I have a collection of Chanel broaches. I can't have enough of them in my life. And it's just one of those things that I collect. I see them as art. Some people collect art, some people collect, you know, whatever. My thing is Chanel broaches, they're timeless, they're classic, they change all the time. They're fun, they go with everything. I've just always had this obsession with broaches. And so when I think of a signature offer, I often think of Chanel because it's such a classic company and I so resonate with the brand. And when you think of a signature offer, you think of the black dress, right? No one ever feels overdressed or underdressed when they're wearing the little black dress that Coco Chanel made so famous, and then you can dress it up, you can throw the Chanel broach on it, a nice necklace or some earrings you could throw on, you know, it's so versatile and that becomes the signature offer that you want to create as like, what's your little black dress?

Terra (11:43): What's the thing you are known for? The same way that Chanel was known for, you know, they came out with the perfume, Chanel number five, which is still sells like crazy. Then we've got the black dress because you know, they understand very clearly who their perfect customer is, right? And then they come down the line a few years later, almost like 20 years later, 2025 years later with the black purse, with the gold chain, right? That every woman wanted the coveted handbag from Chanel. So if you think of Chanel, you think of, okay, we started with the perfume, right? They're known very well for the black dress. But when they started, they just focused on creating the best perfume for their perfect customer, right? For creating that experience and that lifestyle that she desired and whatnot. So I want you to think of what's your first thing that feels easy to sell?

Terra (12:40): It feels expansive. It feels like if you could launch and create this one thing that other things will, it will get legs, other places. And trust me, your customers will always tell you what else they want. So we don't have to have this huge suite of offers with all these different price points because, and I'm a hundred percent transparent at one time in my business, probably like eight years ago, I think I was selling like 22 things, including all these eBooks and I mean just all kinds of courses and you know, all kinds of crazy things cause content production has never been an issue for me. Like I can very easily create products. The issue was every time you have something to sell, you need to have a sales funnel and a process for how to sell it, move it through without confusing, who you want to work with, right?

Terra (13:30): So that's why I say when all else fails and you feel overwhelmed in your business, pull it back and get really simple. And in this case, from an offer standpoint, let's focus on the one to get started and the price point. So your signature offer, just like the little black dresses, that one thing you brand that you sell, you market, you name it, you deliver it over and over and over again. So you become quickly known in your industry. That's what's really cool with small businesses is you can become known pretty quickly, which is awesome when you have the one thing and mind for years, you know, for three years was just the Concorde mastermind. It was the mastermind, the mastermind and as time has grown on, you know, well first it was the coaching, you know, coaching one on one coaching, one on one coaching and I won.

Terra (14:16): And then there was like this burning desire. I had to get really smart women in a room together and you know, so I launched the first mastermind and then the second and now we're going, we're in our third year of it. And then from that, you know, the business map method came about and all kinds of great things. So we don't have to boil the ocean cause that's completely overwhelming and it takes forever. Right. I think in terms of what's the one thing you can do right now, I give you permission to be very simple here because if you're like me and like so many of the clients I work with, we can overcomplicate things because we overanalyze and I just think about all the different things and when we just need to stay simple. And then you have, you create an offer overview. So you have your one thing and then I want you to spend time not creating a sales page because in reality a lot of things that you sell are going to be from referrals because 85% of small businesses get their new leads from referrals, which is amazing.

Terra (15:20): So you want to have like your, an overview. It could be a Google doc, it could be a PDF, it could be a brochure, it could be what ever it is, which needs to describe what the offer is and how it works. Give some background information. If you're in the services industry and you know you want to give a little bio about you, if you're selling a product, it could be that signature product you're known for. And if the price points too low, bundle it, bundle your products into what is like the perfect first step for your perfect customer, right? And you want to then give them the cost on your offer overview and then give them those next steps that they need to say yes to you. It's called the call to action. What do you want them to do to take that next step?

Terra (16:06): Right? And so why does having a signature offer matter? Well, you'll make a lot more money. I can promise you that selling becomes a lot easier because you're selling in one sales funnel. You have one real way that you're getting people to buy from you. You don't have 20 ways because you have 20 products, right? And you can get really good and comfortable with selling the one thing. And again, it provides that perfect solution to your perfect customer profile, which is super important. That way it's, you know, you've teed it up. You even may have your framework that you teach about or if you speak or if you're on a podcast or you're doing content online or writing a blog, teach about your process, your signature framework, like your step by steps. I know it's scary to say like, really, Terry, you want me to just put it all out there?

Terra (16:54): Yeah, because we want to position you as the expert that you are so that people will say, Oh, she's my girl. Like that's who I want to work with. She gets it. A lot of people, they want to know the information, but they don't necessarily have the time or have the real desire to actually put into action. That's why they'll buy your offer. So it also, when you have your signature offer, it also is so much easier and less expensive to get the visibility that you want. Right. You become known for your thing. And this is what I love about having a mastermind is it really does feel like a shortcut because you become known for that thing and then other people know how to also promote you within the group. Right. That's something that's really cool about being in a mastermind is you have like this instant group of friends that are all like minded cause I've done all the hard work for you and curated the group, right?

Terra (17:48): So should have a lot in common. And it's like having an invisible Salesforce for you. And then it also, when you have your one thing, it also lets other refer you easier because they're not confused. You're not confused because it's so dang simple. And then they know how to repeat it, which is really cool. And remember, we know referrals are a huge part of having a small business. You're starting out, you know like give yourself permission to like you've go through this period of un-clarity and that is completely normal. You may not know exactly what to sell or you may have a million ideas for what to sell. And remember as you scale and grow, you want to get more and more clarity on what you sell. And then so you're going from my soul, 20 things to three things and eventually to scale, you do one thing really well.

Terra (18:43): Remember when you're creating and designing your signature offer and the pricing for it, you want to make sure that you actually enjoy the work, right? And I say this because of even my own experience. I love business coaching women, but it's not something I could have done for the rest of my life one-on-one over and over, right? I had to scale in order to serve more women in order to not burn myself out and that kind of stuff. So if I would have went through this checklist that I'm about to give you before I created my signature offer, which was the one on one coaching back then, I would have been like, Oh, well maybe I loved it at first. But after doing it a few years, I was like, yeah, something's got to change here, right? So you gotta make sure you love and you're super passionate about that signature offer.

Terra (19:31): And if you are awesome, it checks the mark that move forward. If not, if you don't love it, you're not super excited to talk about it. Your, you know, whatever. If you have any bad vibes about it, think of a different signature offer. That's kind of a step one. The second thing is does it tie into what you teach, what your framework is, what you're known for, does it give that perfect solution to the perfect customer that you want to work with? Right? And then think in terms of who you want to work with. Does he or she have the ability to pay your value? And so we're going to get into a little bit around pricing and pricing to me is an art and a science and we get really caught up in it. I continue to, I work with such heartfelt women entrepreneurs and I'm also this way, so I'm not saying I'm perfect at it, but what I've found works for me is like you can start with a price that is, feels like a great value.

Terra (20:27): So, you know, say you sell some sort of service and you know you do websites and logos and you want to do your signature offer as a, as a package, a brand package, what the website included and you feel like no brainer for $3,500 I'm just throwing that price out there and, but you know it's really worth 5,000 eventually you want to get to be 10,000 and then beyond, right? So what you can do is say, okay, I'm going to test this out and I'm gonna do like a beta basically for 3,500 for the first five people that I work with. But I know mentally once I get through with those five, when that six person comes, it's price, it's going to go up and then it can go up and then it can go up from there as you get more results, testimonials and that kind of stuff.

Terra (21:13): So to me, you can stair step your way into things as you get more confident with what you're doing, you refine your process, you have glowing reviews, all that kind of stuff. And then you can go up in price. So sometimes pricing literally is putting that stake in the ground and going from there. It's something I've done when I first started the Concorde, I'm sure people were like, man, I would have loved to gotten in at that price. Right. But then it increases in value it, I added more, you know, it's just, it's changed and it's evolved over time as well. Your signature offer and then the value goes up. So then the price can come up. And another thing that you can do is just say every January, January one your prices go up and you, or you could do it where twice a year you have a price increase.

Terra (22:00): Just like we have inflation, you know, we, my husband and I have rental houses as well as we, that we do for investments. And I always used to be like, really whenever he would have, we'd have a great tenant and he would raise the rent on them, you know? And I was like, they're so good, you know, in my hearts, you know, all there. And he's like, honey, it's just a little increase. And I would rather inch it up a little bit every year. Then, you know, three years later when they're in the house have to raise it $200 right? Instead like a $25, you know, $50 increase isn't, it's easier for people to manage. And I was like, Oh, okay. So it's the same thing for your business too, right? We can just kind of ratchet it up over time and that way you don't get 10 years down the road and be like, I'm still selling my signature offer for X.

Terra (22:52): Right. And wondering why your profit is suffering. So you just want to have a system in place and you know, you can go do your research, do your competitive research to see what other people in your industry are charging. You can also, and then make sure that you know, based on how you want to position your brand, you know that you're in alignment with that. You can also, you know, send a survey out to potential clients or customers that would be a good fit for your offer and ask them to give you some feedback on some things. But at the end of the day, only you can decide and it needs to be and feel really in alignment with your heart that not in a way that you're over-giving and undercharging because then you're going to be frustrated, right? But then you also don't want to overprice and price out people who are would say yes if it were a no brainer price.

Terra (23:43): So it's one of these things that you have to test. It's always easier to start lower and work your way up rather than come out of the gate with something that is, you know, over what your perfect customer would want to pay and then come down. So always to me start lower. I know it's probably advice that not a lot of business coaches would get. They would, you know, price premium, this and that and people will pay and they can put it on their credit card. And you know, and I get that there's plenty of business coaching advice out there. But you know, for me what I found was if I didn't feel good about the pricing, I couldn't sell it. And if you can't sell it, you don't have a business. Right? So you want to make it so that it's a no brainer value.

Terra (24:25): If you want to use like a ratio, I would say make sure that you're giving at least five times the value of what you're charging and think of value in terms of not necessarily the features that you get. Like you know for my mastermind you get, should we do two virtual mastermind sessions a month with everyone you get, you know the business map method we're going to review and do your map, you're going to get an accountability coach. Like those to me are the features. Like that's what you get. You know, you get your three trips a year, this and this and that. The value and the benefits are really what you want to use to sell your signature offer. So I mean to me as a really a price you can put on, you know, shortcutting your business. Like is there a price you can put on and creating lasting friendships that you're going to have for the rest of your life.

Terra (25:12): Can you put a value on being able to, you know, having somebody cheer you on in the corner and being able to Voxer your coach and say, I'm stuck, Terra, can you help me? You know, like things that could push you through, go to the mastermind. Sometimes people get million dollar ideas, like it's hard to put a tangible value on that. You can definitely do that, but that's what you want to focus on as far as you know, selling and presenting your signature offer. Those are the kind of points you want to put into your signature offer overview. I'd love for you to create, you've got to have something for people to review. So to me, you have your signature offer and I'll briefly touch on then usually have an upsell and a downsell and a lot of cases. So if you think of your perfect customer, obviously that's perfect for your signature offer and then, but there's always going to be people who want more, right?

Terra (26:04): And then you can have your an upsell option that's usually more expensive, more value, more exclusivity, that kind of thing. And then you also will have people who aren't ready to quite step into your signature, but they want something. So they call this the down sell and this could be the one thing that starts everything else and it's usually a lower price point. It's kind of a a taste right to get and solve a problem so that they can feel comfortable to then move into your signature. That's how like a perfect offer mix would look like. So you know, your signature offer is, is that one that you want to be known for. You want it to be priced accordingly and then everything else is so much easier because you're known for that one thing. So I hope this has served you. It is my intention and my goal for this podcast that we have a million downloads.

Terra (27:01): Like that's why I'm doing this podcast is my promise to the world is to help fast-track women entrepreneurs five-year plan and just less than one year. That's what I'm super passionate about. So in order to do that, you have to be really clear on where you want to be in five years. And then break that down so that you're doing the things that move you forward towards that goal. Right? So I do that by providing business training. I create communities and connections through the masterminding and group coaching. I love it. I create, I create tools and I have templates and resources that I can give to help fast-track women. So why I do what I do. And to me this podcast was a no brainer in order to help other women get to where they need to be as well. So if you wouldn't mind sharing this podcast episode with another woman entrepreneur that you feel could really use some clarity on her signature offer and how to price it, I would be forever grateful and if you would leave a review, the more reviews we get, the more impact that we can make to help further how the world actually views us.

Terra (28:11): Women entrepreneurs, we want to change that, right? Or a force to be reckoned with. And I'm just so grateful to get to do what I do. So until next time, take care.

Outro (28:20): There you have it. Another episode packed full of strategies and motivation that you can use every day to put your business on the fast track. For a podcast recap and more resources, visit TerraBohlmann.com. Don't forget, subscribe to the podcast and get what you need to help fast track your five year business plan.