Are You Pricing for Your Clients or for Your Business?

Are You Pricing for Your Clients or for Your Business?

From 21 Hats Podcast by 21 Hats

April 7, 2026 · 54 min · Episode 288

About this episode

The episode discusses the complexities of pricing strategies in service businesses, focusing on balancing client needs with business profitability.

Pricing a service business sounds straightforward—until you actually have to do it. How much should you charge? What’s reasonable? And what happens when “reasonable” isn’t enough to keep the business healthy? This week, Sarah Segal walks David C. Barnett and Liz Picarazzi through how she thinks about pricing her PR services—why she aims for consistency across clients and why she resists charging based on what the market will bear but insists on building in enough margin to stay profitable. It’s a balancing act between values and reality, and not always a comfortable one. The conversation gets into practical questions every business eventually faces: Do you raise prices a little every year, or wait until you’re forced to raise them more than just a little? Do you price based on your costs—or your customer’s perceived value? And how do you handle those conversations without damaging relationships you genuinely care about? Plus: Liz expects a tariff refund—but isn’t counting on it to help very much. She also explains why she’s stopped flying employees around the country for installations.

People in this episode

Host: David C. Barnett

Guests: Sarah Segal, Liz Picarazzi

Topics covered

  • pricing strategy
  • service business
  • profitability
  • client relationships
  • business values

Keywords

  • pricing
  • service business
  • profit margin
  • client relationships
  • business strategy

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