I stumbled across a very interesting video from Dan Ariely about the perception of how much we should pay someone for their services:
Dan discusses in the video that he spoke with a locksmith who indicated that he was compensated more, with less complaining, when it took him longer to complete his job. When the locksmith was an apprentice it took him a long time to break into a locked door and he would often break the lock and have to charge to replace it. People would not only be grateful, they would also tip more and complain less. However, as he got better at his job he would crack the locks very quickly and never broke them. Today, he no longer receives tips and people complain about his fees.
The issue is perception of value. Since the job now seems easier for him to accomplish his services are not worth as much.
Just because something appears easy to do, doesn't mean it is. It's easy for us to have a "curse of knowledge" or to lose sight of the value of what we know. We start to think it's all about the end result with a client when in fact, a premium is placed on the journey to get there too. A large part of an individual's experience with a service professional is how they are handled and the perceived value you build into your services, not just the end result.
I'm not suggesting you take a long time to complete tasks or "break" things to make them seem hard. However, it's important that you consider how the value of your time, experience, knowledge, and services are perceived by clients beyond just winning or losing a case.
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