Play Big Faster - Scherrie L Prince

A 5% price increase lets you drop 11% of your clients while keeping the same profit. Push to 15%, and you can work with 25% fewer people. Yet most entrepreneurs stay trapped in what Robin Waite calls the "sales cycle of doom." In this episode of the Play Big Faster Podcast, host Scherrie L Prince welcomes back business coach Robin Waite for the show's 200th episode to explore the psychology behind pricing, why chasing more clients amplifies losses, and his five-step partnership framework that generated $300,000 from a single podcast appearance. This article breaks down their conversation into practical steps for coaches, consultants, and freelancers who want to escape the time-for-money trap.

What We Discussed on the Play Big Faster Podcast

1. The fearless philosophy: Show up authentically rather than how you think others want you to appear.
2. Multiple streams of leads: Build short-term, mid-term, and long-term lead generation simultaneously.
3. Pavlov's dog syndrome: Entrepreneurs chase client "dings" without checking if they're actually profitable.
4. The sales cycle of doom: Sell, deliver, sell, deliver - burning out while amplifying a loss-making business.
5. Price increase economics: Small increases create disproportionately large reductions in required clients.
6. The five-step partnership framework: A systematic approach that yielded $300,000 from one podcast.
7. Productising services: Why hourly rates punish expertise and limit earning potential.

The Three Ways to Grow a Business

1. Method 1: Cut Costs. The accountant's favourite. Strip out costs, create profit, reinvest. This has its place, but there's only so much you can remove before damaging the business.
2. Method 2: Get More Clients. This is where most people get caught. Robin describes million-dollar businesses losing $100,000 annually. If a loss-making business gets more clients, it's amplifying losses. Scaling a flawed model accelerates the problem.
3. Method 3: Fix the Model First. Robin's approach: business model first. Fix inherent problems. Focus on profitability. Turn a loss-making business into one generating 20-30% margins. Now each new client strengthens rather than weakens the business.

Pavlov's Dog Syndrome and the Sales Cycle of Doom

Robin identifies Pavlov's dog syndrome in business owners. Every new client triggers a reward receptor - "ding, got a client!" But most owners aren't savvy enough with their numbers to realise they're losing money on each one. So they keep chasing: another client, ding. Another client, ding. Exhausted, stressed, no time - but still thinking the answer is another client. This creates the sales cycle of doom: sell, deliver, sell, deliver. Constantly chasing without fixing underlying problems. Robin's watched countless business owners burn out on this treadmill. When you raise prices, your rocket ship breaks free of this gravitational field. Fewer clients means more time to deliver value. Better results make clients stick around longer. Deeper relationships make you more referable. Higher prices create a virtuous cycle rather than a doom spiral.

The Price Increase Economics Most People Miss

Many assume a 5% price increase means 5% fewer clients for the same revenue. The actual maths is far more favourable:

Robin's experience suggests most service businesses can increase prices by 20-50% without losing many clients - because they've been underselling from the start. For existing clients, give notice: "Our prices increase from 1st September." The biggest mistake is blasting out an email without warning. One exception: "love clients" - grandfather in 5-10% at existing rates without hurting profitability.

Multiple Streams of Leads

Just as wealth coaches recommend multiple income streams, Robin advocates multiple streams of leads:

1. Short-term: Social media, ads, email marketing. Heavy lift of 30+ hours weekly with unpredictable results.
2. Mid-term: Marketing assets - podcasts, books, YouTube. Requires 8-12 months but creates lasting value.
3. Long-term: Partnerships. Only 2-3 hours weekly, but when they pay off, they pay off massively. The insight: partnerships deliver least input for maximum output. You just don't know when opportunities will land.

The Five-Step Partnership Framework

Robin learned this by watching his friend Simon Alexander Wong, who kept appearing in photos with Simon Sinek and Richard Branson. When asked how, Simon said: "Watch what I do."

Step 1: Be Intentional

Write down 10 people you'd love to build partnerships with. People whose mission resonates. People you could help without draining your energy - and without expecting money. Simon chose his publisher specifically because they'd signed Simon Sinek, making collaboration more likely. That intentionality led to Sinek writing praise for his book.

Step 2: Get in the Same Room

Shaking someone's hand and looking into their eyes equals a thousand DMs. Sit in the front row at events. When speakers finish, they often jump off stage - you can ask questions or take a selfie. Too many people sit in the back, too afraid to approach.

Step 3: Add Value First

At an Ali Abdaal event with 600 attendees, Robin noticed people looking lost. He started giving directions - coffee station, book signing, auditorium. Ali's general manager noticed and asked why a guest was helping. Robin shrugged: they looked lost. The manager turned back: "There's a pricing thing Ali and I wanted to discuss. Could we pick your brains?" That conversation led to Robin coaching their team (free, because he wanted involvement). Which led to guesting on Ali's Deep Dive podcast. That single episode generated 3,000 enquiries and approximately $300,000 in new business.

Step 4: Find Your Inside Man

Major figures are busy. Ali Abdaal has 30 team members - his responses went from long messages to one-word answers as he scaled. Build relationships with their team instead. The concept comes from Alex Banayan's book The Third Door: the exclusive nightclub has three entrances - main queue, VIP rope, and the back alley where your friend sneaks you in. When you acknowledge the team instead of just the headliner, they appreciate being seen. Those relationships compound.

Step 5: Hand Out the Silver Platter

Sometimes partnerships click but opportunities don't immediately emerge. Look for ways to create value anyway. Chris Do and Ali Abdaal hadn't done a podcast swap. Robin knew both teams, so he's working to connect them behind the scenes. When they ask "how did this happen?", they'll remember who introduced them.

Why Hourly Rates Punish Expertise

Time is finite - roughly 160 hours monthly. If you're charging $20/hour wanting $10,000/month, maximum earnings cap at $3,200. Robin illustrates with three web designers:

1. Designer 1: $50/hour, estimates 20 hours. Client agrees to $1,000. Three months later, website arrives missing features. Someone ends up resentful.
2. ‍Designer 2: Same $50/hour, but highly skilled. Delivers everything in seven days, only 10 billable hours. Gets paid $500 for superior work delivered faster. Hourly rates punish expertise.
3. Designer 3: Focuses on outcomes. "In 72 hours your website will be live. Within 30 days, 20 qualified leads. We guarantee ROI within 90 days or full refund plus $1,000." Price: $10,000. 

The third designer sells lead generation, not websites. Fixed price, fixed timeframe, guaranteed outcome. That's productising your services.

A 90-Day Blueprint for Escaping the Sales Cycle of Doom

• Days 1-14 - Audit: Calculate true profitability per client. Run the pricing maths - what price gives same profit with 25% fewer clients?
• Days 15-45 - Productise: Define the specific outcome you deliver. Create a fixed-fee package with fixed timeframe and measurable results.
• Days 46-90 - Partnership Foundation: Write your list of 10 dream partnerships. Identify events where they'll be present. Commit to showing up, sitting front row, leading with "how can I help?"

Common Objections and How to Handle Them

"I can't charge 10x what competitors charge." You're not selling the same thing. You're selling outcomes, not hours. A website generating 20 leads monthly is worth dramatically more than a website with features.

"My existing clients will leave." Give notice and frame it as a PR campaign. Most accept increases when given warning. Those who leave were often undervaluing your work anyway.

"Partnerships take too long." That's why you run multiple streams simultaneously. Short-term keeps lights on while you build partnerships. The trap is doing only short-term and wondering why you're exhausted.

Conclusion

The sales cycle of doom traps business owners in a gravitational field of their own making - constantly chasing clients, never pausing to fix the model burning them out. Robin's approach offers escape velocity. Small price increases create disproportionate workload reductions. Productising shifts conversations from hours to outcomes. Strategic partnerships - built through genuine value - can transform a business with a single opportunity. The question isn't whether you can afford to slow down. It's whether you can afford to keep spinning.

Robin Waite is offering signed copies of his book Take Your Shot. Visit fearless.biz/tys to claim yours - he'll ship anywhere in the world. Connect with Robin on YouTube or LinkedIn, or learn more at robinwaite.com.