Robin Waite discusses how to overcome emotional barriers, price with confidence, & transform your business with fearless leadership & value-driven pricing
How do you set a price that reflects the value you provide, yet doesn’t scare away potential clients? How do you reconcile your emotional attachment to your work with the objective task of deciding how much to charge? Robin Waite, a seasoned business coach and author of Take Your Shot, provides invaluable guidance on navigating these challenges, helping business owners build the confidence to charge what they are truly worth. Robin joins host Katie Stoddard in a recent episode of the the Focus Bee Podcast.
Katie Stoddard is a dynamic leader dedicated to empowering entrepreneurs, founders, and executives to achieve greater alignment, purpose, and joy in both their personal and professional lives. With a mission to help business leaders perform at their highest potential, Katie offers tailored VIP coaching that takes individuals and teams to the next level. Her work has positively impacted leaders worldwide, guiding them to thrive in their businesses while reaching new heights of success.
One of the most profound themes discussed in the conversation was the deep connection between confidence and pricing. Many business owners struggle with charging what they believe their services or products are worth. They fear they will either seem greedy or not deliver on the promised value. Robin explained that the foundation of effective pricing isn’t necessarily rooted in cold, intellectual analysis—it’s tied to how confident you feel in your offering and the value it provides to your clients.
Katie, during the session, mentioned how she felt that charging £10k for her service was already stretching her comfort zone, despite knowing her work had high value. Robin helped her explore how much of this hesitance was connected to emotions and confidence rather than the rational thought of what the service is actually worth.
Robin challenged Katie by asking her to imagine a future version of herself charging £50k for her services. The question wasn’t just hypothetical. It was designed to allow Katie to explore how she felt about such a price. She admitted that when she considered this possibility, she didn’t feel as opposed to it as she initially thought.
This exercise helped her realise that the gap between her current pricing and her potential pricing wasn’t as vast as it seemed. It also revealed how much emotional confidence plays a role in setting prices. Robin summarised: “Pricing is based on emotion. Do you feel confident in your price? Do you believe you can deliver exceptional value? If you don't, your price will reflect that.”
By embracing this emotional side of pricing, Katie was able to gain the confidence to re-evaluate her pricing strategy and recognise that her services were, in fact, worth much more than she had been charging.
A key principle Robin shared during the session was the concept of the cost of inaction. Often, business owners focus heavily on revenue growth or client acquisition but neglect to assess how much it costs the business when things go wrong. By identifying areas where the business is losing money or efficiency, entrepreneurs can make informed decisions to address these gaps.
Robin shared a powerful story about a law firm in Gloucestershire where he worked to help them understand the cost of employee turnover. The firm had a high staff turnover rate, especially among solicitors who were leaving after four to six years. When Robin asked what it cost to replace a solicitor, the leadership team was unsure. They didn’t know the real financial impact.
Robin walked them through a quick calculation by factoring in things like recruitment processes, training costs, and the value of partner hours spent on onboarding. The final figure they came up with was staggering: £225,000 per solicitor, and with 40 solicitors leaving in the past year, this amounted to a total of £6 million in losses.
This exercise shocked the firm’s leadership, as they had never realised how much employee turnover was actually costing them. Robin helped them see that addressing the root causes of turnover could not only save them a significant amount of money but also improve overall business performance.
Robin emphasises that calculating the cost of inaction is crucial for any business. Whether it’s high employee turnover, customer churn, inefficient marketing strategies, or missed opportunities, addressing these inefficiencies early on can prevent massive financial losses. Business owners often think of pricing as the only financial challenge, but often the hidden costs of not addressing these inefficiencies are far greater.
By being proactive, you can make smarter decisions, implement strategic changes, and start saving money long before you see the impact of higher pricing or new clients.
During the coaching session, Robin introduced a concept that many business owners overlook: the role of the subconscious in pricing. It’s easy to think of pricing purely from an intellectual standpoint, calculating what competitors charge and assessing the general market value. But, Robin points out that pricing decisions are almost always based on emotional responses rather than purely intellectual calculations.
In their conversation, Robin asked Katie to reflect on whether there was a future version of herself where she was charging more—perhaps £50k or £100k—for her services. This exercise encouraged Katie to visualise herself at the next stage of her business journey, and surprisingly, she realised that she could see herself at this higher price point.
“Pricing should be based on how you feel about your work and the value you provide,” Robin said. “It’s less about the numbers and more about your confidence in that price. When you’re emotionally connected to your pricing, it doesn’t just feel justified—it feels natural.”
Katie’s experience shows how tapping into your subconscious can help you realise your true pricing potential. It’s not about market comparisons or intellectual calculations—it’s about internal belief in your service’s worth and the confidence to express that in your pricing.
One of the most common mistakes business owners make when increasing prices is doing so without enhancing the value they provide. Robin was clear: never raise your prices without also adding value to your offering.
Katie’s initial thought about raising her prices from £10k to £50k felt like a leap, but Robin encouraged her to think about how she could increase the value she offered to her clients alongside the price increase. This could include additional workshops, coaching sessions, consultations, or even offering extended support over a longer period.
By adding more value to your service, you can justify the price increase in a way that feels natural to both you and your clients. When clients see the extra value they’re receiving—whether it’s more personalised attention, more workshops, or added resources—they feel more comfortable with a higher price point.
In Katie’s case, Robin pointed out that by increasing the price and adding more value, she wouldn’t just be charging more; she would also be offering a comprehensive solution that better served her clients’ needs. This shift in perspective helped Katie move past the fear of increasing her price and instead focus on how much more she could deliver.
Perhaps the most profound transformation that Robin helps his clients achieve is an internal shift in self-worth. Often, business owners mistakenly place their value in external results, such as sales or client acquisition. However, Robin stresses that the real breakthrough happens internally: it’s about owning your worth and having the confidence to back that up.
Robin explained that the real breakthrough for any business owner comes when they can confidently state their price and stand behind it without hesitation. Whether it’s saying “£50k” to a client or speaking about their services in a public setting, the act of stepping into that level of confidence is transformative.
The transformation happens not just in the external results—like a high-paying client signing on—but in the internal shift. Once you embrace your worth, you start making decisions from a place of confidence rather than doubt. This shift is what ultimately drives business growth.
Katie’s journey was a great example of this transformation. By the end of the session, she wasn’t just thinking about the financial benefits of charging more; she was realising that this new price point also reflected her growing confidence in her own abilities.
Robin wrapped up the session with an important reminder: business is a journey, not a destination. In the same way that you don’t go to the gym for one or two sessions and expect immediate results, the path to growing your business and increasing your prices requires time, effort, and consistency. The internal transformation—the shift in mindset—is the most important part.
"Building muscle memory in business is like building physical muscle," he explained. "The first few weeks, you might not see a huge difference, but you’re laying the groundwork for bigger results down the road."
This mindset shift is essential in business. By focusing on the journey, and not just the end goal, business owners can continue to grow and build confidence as they raise their prices, enhance their offerings, and expand their reach.
At the core of everything Robin teaches is the idea of fearless leadership. Fearless doesn’t mean reckless; it means courageously stepping outside your comfort zone, whether that’s raising your prices, working with high-value clients, or engaging in activities that feel intimidating.
Robin’s approach to business is rooted in taking calculated risks, understanding that the path to success is about learning to handle fear, not eliminate it.
Robin Waite’s approach to pricing, self-worth, and business transformation is simple but powerful. It’s not about focusing solely on external outcomes or making calculated, intellectual decisions; it’s about embracing the emotional side of business, owning your value, and having the courage to take action.
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This Scorecard has been designed to show Coaches, Consultants and Freelancers their blind spots and provide instant, actionable steps on how to increase their prices.
