We’re talking money.

The kind that grows on trees.

The kind that pays bills.

The kind that’s in his pocket and not in your wallet.

At least, many dancers are. They’ll talk about money as soon as a customer brings it up. And the first thing they’ll do is try to keep as much of it in their customer’s pocket as possible. They’ll talk about all the ways that they should make less money off him:

“Well, we can do a half hour, that costs less.”

“Then let’s just do a floor dance.”

“I sell fifteen minutes because I just feel like the rooms are too expensive.”

You know who else is talking money?

The big companies that are selling your customer on luxury goods, high-end housing, his brand-new car, and his $2,000 suit. 

And you know why those companies are getting your customer’s money? Because their entire business model is built around making big transactions normal. Big transactions aren’t a rare occasion, or a “big deal.” They’re just the cost of doing business with their brand. They’re not embarrassed to ask for more. They’re not mumbling when your customer says, “that’s too expensive!”

And you know what?  Your customer isn’t telling Rolex or his HOA or his tailor that it’s “way too expensive.” Because he knows that behavior would get him laughed out of the room. His entire life is built with status symbols that let him know where he sits in the social pecking order. He notices if his neighbor has a new car and will buy a newer one to look more impressive- even if he can’t afford it. He notices if his work peer has a new suit, and buys an even newer, nicer one so that the boss will notice him. This is powerful stuff at work- so powerful, that the neighbors of lottery winners will often go bankrupt just trying to show status symbols around the neighborhood.[1]

It’s childish, but it’s how most people buy. You may even be in that group.  Where did you buy the device you’re reading this on? If you’re reading on a computer or phone, the odds are that you didn’t go for the cheapest functional model out there. Someone sold you on paying more for a better product. For better features, or customer service, or just so it has a little apple on the back. To get the upgrade, or the new design. To pay a little extra for a little more quality.

By the way, they sold me too. I’m writing this on a Macbook Pro. It’s all tricked out. It has the best features and the fastest processor, and it even looks sleek and cool. I could have probably written this book on a computer that was 10 years older, five pounds heavier and much slower. But I was sold.  

Sold on the difference in quality, value, and user experience. Sold on paying more for extra quality because I knew that it made a difference for me.   Sold on the Apple store “geniuses” that will help me if this thing ever goes Kaputt. Sold on their constant advertising campaigns targeted towards mid-twenties buyers. Mac is smooth.  Mac is user friendly. Mac is understated.  Mac is laughing all the way to the bank.

By the way, if you’re reading this in a book—you’re sold too. What made you want to do business with Racks to Riches?

Because, let’s be honest. You might have gotten someone at your club or in your city to give you all this information over time. Hey, you could have collected it all on your own. All you’d have to do is put in a decade or so of work and trial and error, plus thousands of hours of obsessive research, endless practice, costly errors, and missed opportunities, and you’d get there all by yourself.

So why didn’t you?

Because you were sold. Not sold on reading through a list of 101 Lines. You could list 101 Lines on the back of a napkin in twenty minutes. You could ask 101 dancers for a line and go from there. You likely bought this because you were sold by:

-      Branding: you’ve likely seen Racks to Riches pop up on your feed dozens if not hundreds of times with a singular, consistent theme: sales training helps adult entertainers make more money, and our products will help you get better at selling more, more often.  

-      Marketing: everyone can say that they’ll give you results. That part is easy. You’re a smart consumer, so you probably waited to buy for a while (much like your customer going “I just got here”). Maybe you’ve been interacting with our brand for a year or two before purchasing—because you want to see how it “really is.” Our website, our book designs, who we do business with, our interviews and dozens of hours of free content all sent you a clear message- Racks to Riches means business—I can trust them. Why should your customers trust you?

-      Quality: you could have bought a $30 product or a $40 product. Maybe you have already. If you’re here, and you paid 7 or 8 or 10 times more for a product, why did you? Because you wanted high quality from start to finish. In any area of life, you get what you pay for.  Maybe you’ve found one or two great bargain deals out there, but you know that someone can only put so much energy into a low-cost product- and you know that you deserve high-value service, support, and information. What quality do your customers deserve?

-       Convenience: you could have gone out there and bought hundreds of books on marketing, sales, sales psychology, negotiation, and on-the-ground tactics to deal with customers. Listened to hundreds of hours of podcasts and audiobooks. Lost thousands of sales while mastering new skills without the right information. But your time is really valuable to you. You’re glad to pay because they went out there and did all of that work so that you didn’t have to.  So that you can make your own mistakes and get your own big wins without reinventing the wheel. What makes a strip club a better option for your customers than getting rejected at a bar or late-night browsing on Tinder?

-      You want to get something out of it. And you should! When we buy, we’re looking for value. Whether you’re buying a meal or a course you want to see returns. You may pay more for organic or healthy meals, because you want the results to show in your long-term health. You may pay more for a course because you want to see results in your earnings and attitude. You will never pay for anything if you believe that your money is better kept in your pocket than spent on yourself. Why is the money your customers give you giving them value?

-      Emotions: let’s get real. Maybe you thought about this product for a while or you were sold right away. Either way, your emotions were leading the charge. You weren’t thinking “I want 101 Lines.” You were probably excited to grow your income or frustrated by how your interactions at the club were going or scared that you were letting the amazing opportunity dancing can be slide through your hands. Maybe you were feeling really relieved that you wouldn’t have to navigate this industry all on your own. And no matter how you felt leading up to it, I can almost guarantee what it felt like to purchase. Excitement, mixed in with doubt.

“Will this really help me?”

“What if this product sucks?

“What if it actually works and I make more money?”

“What if I can change my approach at work? That would be awesome!”

“I really hope this isn’t some basic product with no effort behind it. I’m tired of being sold crap.”

Why can I guarantee that? Because that’s what it’s like to purchase anything! From your latest phone to your last pair of work shoes, emotions were in the mix. It’s how we make the final call on any decision, and while our thinking and our analytical skills certainly inform how we buy, if there is more doubt than belief you will not purchase.

If there is more doubt than trust you will not purchase.

Neither will your customers.

Now, you may have scanned through that list about “reasons people buy.”

Go back and read that list as if it was about your dancer business.

This list is about your dancer business.

This is the critical difference between dancers who cut price and dancers who go on to sell even higher priced items to customers complaining about cost.

This is the difference between price and value.

Are you going to be the low-price option, or the high-value option?

It’s up to you to decide. And you get to make this decision every time your customer hits you with “that’s too much!”

Because if your customer believes it’s “too much” for a room, what he’s saying is that it’s too much for a room with you, right now. It means he doesn’t believe that the experience is worth the cash in his pocket. He’s saying that he has serious doubts that you will deliver value as high as whatever number you listed for a private room with you. Now, maybe he really can’t afford it. But I’ll let you in on something:

It is almost never the price.

It is almost always the pitch.

Your customers buy items at this price often. His hotel room probably cost more than an hour of your time. The crap he buys online late at night adds up to less than what he’d be paying you. The four designer purses he bought his wife this season probably cost more than what you earned this month. And if not- if he really does have a smaller budget:

Do you think that he hasn’t gone into debt or bought something that he liked even when it wasn’t fiscally responsible? Do you think that if a trip, or an experience, or a toy he really liked went on the market right now he wouldn’t buy it no matter what?

He would go into debt to buy sunglasses, a new car, a fancier house, or a bunch of delivery orders. But get a dancer in the same room as a “budget” customer and she suddenly becomes his accountant.

“I can’t ask him to buy that, it’s too expensive.”

“He said he can’t afford it.”

And you believed him?

Your customers may be telling the truth, or they may be lying about money. It’s not your business to go through their books and see if they can really afford your time. It’s your business to run your business. And that means offering high-value, high-price options to all your customers- not just the ones you’ve arbitrarily decided “can afford it.”

Look, you have to figure out why your time is valuable. Sit down with yourself and write out what makes the difference for you. What kind of marketing and branding are you doing? What marketing and branding is your club doing for you? What difference in value, convenience, quality, and emotional buying experience do you put forward? If you can’t figure these out for yourself the odds are slim to none that you’ll be able to convince a customer of that value. 

So, dancers take the easy way out and convince themselves that they’re overcharging or that they have to “scam” customers or present other services (“I’ll do more in the back!”) to make money. Now, if you want to sell other services, that’s your decision. But the big takeaway here is that you should still be using these selling strategies to get paid more, more often!

Cutting down the price, letting customers control the sale, or “scamming” customers by staying less time than you said you would or pretending that you did more dances than you did is doing you (and your colleagues) zero favors. You’re making your entire industry look bad because you’re that afraid of charging the prices you want. You’re ruining a potentially long-term and fruitful customer relationship on the first try by relying on dishonesty and smoke and mirrors- when you could have gotten him to pay you more without setting false expectations!

If you really believe that you should be getting paid more, ask like it—inside and outside of the club. If you don’t believe it yet, work on that first. Your relationship to the value of your time is the biggest factor affecting your income. Because just like your customers buy emotionally, you sell emotionally. Here are some lines to use that don’t rely on lowering your price:

Him: that’s way too expensive!

“It is expensive. You deserve expensive things. Do you want a Walmart or a Saks in the room with you?” (202)

“Your tie is expensive. Your suit is expensive. Your haircut was expensive. Why will you pay more for things other people see, but not pay for something that you actually get to enjoy?” (203)

“I’m expensive. And you have expensive taste.” (204)

“It will be, after we’re there for five hours. Don’t worry, you’re going to love every second of it.” (205)

“You’re right, it’s so expensive. Will that be card or cash?” (206)

“Did you say that to Rolex when you bought that watch? Don’t negotiate over quality.” (207)

“You get what you pay for. There’s a reason you want to go back there with me, don’t short yourself.” (208)

“You can pay less, but you will sacrifice on quality and privacy. You won’t get treated like a VIP in a 15-minute room.” (209)

“There’s no price tag on having a really great time with me. Don’t nickel and dime yourself.” (210)

“You’ve been waiting for a night like this for years. Are you really going to let the chance go by over what you’d spend on a pair of shoes?” (211)

Whenever the conversation turns to cost always bring it back to value.

$10 is too much for an hour of VIP with the wrong person, just like a $1 dance could be too much with someone who does a terrible job. Focus on why you’re fantastic at what you do.

And most importantly, make the value about what he gets from all of this.  You’ll never convince him that a price is “fair” or “reasonable” for buying in the abstract—give him specifics to connect his evening, his experience, and your value as the reasons why your price is justified.  He should pay for it, even if it is expensive!

[1] Coy, P. (2018, May 29). Retrieved from https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-05-29/keeping-up-with-the-joneses-neighbors-of-lottery-winners-are-more-likely-to-go-bankrupt