The Pricing Attribution Error: Why Most Professionals Undercharge (And How to Fix It Today)

The Problem Isn't You—It's Your Attribution

Let me tell you something that might surprise you.

If you're a consultant, coach, accountant, or any professional who charges fees for your expertise, there's a good chance you're massively undercharging. And before you protest, before you start listing all the reasons why your current fees are already stretching what clients will pay; I need you to understand something crucial.

The problem isn't your talent.

The problem isn't your experience.

The problem isn't even the marketplace.

The problem is your attribution. And that's actually brilliant news, because attribution is something you and I can fix right now, today, in this very conversation.

The Fundamental Attribution Error Explained

Psychologists have identified something called the Fundamental Attribution Error, and it's absolutely fascinating when you see how it plays out in real life.

Here's how it works: We judge other people by their actions. We judge ourselves by our intentions.

Let me give you an example.

Imagine you're meeting with me and another person, let's call him Fred.

Fred's late. Again. And when Fred finally walks through the door, what do we think? "That Fred, he's always late. He's just a late person."

We've labelled Fred at his identity level based on his actions.

Now imagine next week, I'm due to meet you and Fred, but this time I'm the one who's late. When I walk through the door, what do I say? "God, the traffic out there was terrible!"

You see the difference? I've judged myself on my intention to be there on time, not on my action of actually being late.

This might seem like a small psychological quirk. But when you understand how this applies to your pricing, everything changes.

The Pricing Attribution Error: Your Silent Income Killer

Here's where this gets absolutely critical for you and your income.

Most professionals base their pricing on time, not on transformation.

Think about that for a moment. Really think about it.

You're charging based on the hours you'll spend, the sessions you'll deliver, the days you'll work. You're making time the factor. Time becomes the thing you're selling.

But your clients? They're not buying time. They never were.

They're buying transformation. They're buying results. They're buying the change that happens because of your intervention.

And here's the thing - this is the Pricing Attribution Error, and it's costing you a fortune.

When you price on time, you're judging your value by your actions (the hours you work) instead of your impact (the transformation you create). You're committing the same error, but this time it's not about being late to a meeting. It's about being late to the wealth you deserve.

Why You've Reached Your Belief Limit (Not Your Talent Limit)

A friend of mine once told me something that changed my entire perspective on business. He said:

"Most people reach the limit of their belief well before they reach the limit of their talent."

Read that again. Because if you're like most professionals I meet, you've got talent coming out of your ears. You've got experience. You've got expertise. You've got results you've created for clients that would make anyone's jaw drop.

But you've hit a ceiling on what you believe you can charge.

That ceiling? It's not real. It's not based on your talent. It's not based on the value you deliver. It's based entirely on what you believe is possible, what you believe is acceptable, what you believe clients will pay.

And beliefs, can change. Today. Right now.

The Transformation vs Time Trap

Let me paint you a picture.

Imagine you can help someone make £100,000. And you've agreed that you'll be paid 10% of the result—£10,000 for you. Fair? Absolutely.

Now here's my question: How long does it take you to share that idea with them?

What if you could share it in five minutes? Would it still be fair that you got £10,000? Of course it would. They made £100,000, you got your agreed 10%.

But what if they made £1 million, and you got your £100,000 for that five-minute conversation? Still fair? Yes.

What about if they made £100 million, and you received £1 million for those five minutes? Still fair? Absolutely.

Here's what I need you to understand: It's not about the hours you put in. It's about what you put in the hours.

Time-based pricing does two terrible things:

1. It punishes efficiency (the faster you solve problems, the less you earn)
2. It dilutes perceived expertise (experts can do in minutes what non-experts take weeks to do)

There's an old story about a man who hates dentists. He finally goes to see his dentist friend because he's got terrible tooth pain. The dentist examines him and says, "It's going to have to come out."

"Is it going to hurt?" the man asks nervously.

"Not too much," the dentist replies.

"Well, how long is it going to take?"

"About a minute."

"And how much will it cost?"

"£200."

The man's eyes widen. "£200 for a minute's work?!"

The dentist smiles. "I can take as long as you like."

That's the trap of time-based pricing. And you and I need to get you out of it.

What Is the Real Value You Deliver?

Right now, I want you to do something. Stop reading for a moment and actually answer this question:

What is the value you deliver to your clients?

Is it a monetary value? Can you quantify the financial impact you make?

Is it an emotional value? Do you give people peace of mind, confidence, clarity?

Is it time? Do you give people their life back by solving problems that have consumed them?

Whatever your answer, I want you to think bigger. Because here's what most professionals miss entirely:

The cascading impact.

When you help a client solve a problem or capitalise on an opportunity, you're not just affecting them. You're affecting their business, their employees, their families, their suppliers, their customers, their community.

You don't drop a pebble in a pond. You throw in a boulder.

The ripples go everywhere. That's the real value you deliver. That's the cascading impact you make in our world.

And when you start to see that—really see it—everything about how you price your services needs to change.

Next Level Thinking: The Value of the Value

Here's where we go deeper.

Let's say you help someone make an extra £100,000. That's the value. But what's the value of that value?

What are they going to do with that money?

Are they going to finally get their elderly parents into a care facility where they'll be properly looked after? Are they going to send their kids to a better school? Take their family on that dream holiday they've been promising for years? Buy a home where their children will grow up?

That's the value of the value.

When we only talk about the surface-level result, the money, the time saved, the problem solved; we're missing the transformation that happens in someone's life because of that result.

And when we miss that in our thinking, we massively undercharge.

Your Five-Minute Action Plan

Right now, while this is fresh, I want you to do three things:

1. Write down the last result you created for a client. What was the outcome? What changed for them?

2. Write down what they did with that result. How did it change their life, their business, their world? What was the value of the value?

3. Write down what you would have charged if you'd truly understood the cascading impact you made. Not what you did charge - what you would charge if you could go back with this new understanding.

The gap between those two numbers? That's what the Pricing Attribution Error is costing you. And that's what changes when you stop pricing on time and start pricing on transformation.

Get Paid What You're Worth

If this article has challenged your thinking about pricing—and I hope it has—then why not read my book PAID! Reveals: The 10 Secrets for Being Richly Rewarded for the Value You Deliver and the Cascading Impact You Make in Our World.

In PAID!, you'll discover the complete framework for escaping the time-for-money trap and positioning yourself as the high-value expert you truly are. You'll learn the 7 Proven Pricing Models that allow you to charge based on value, not hours. You'll understand exactly how to have fee conversations without fear or apology.

One professional doubled their fees using the methods in this book. Another created an additional £100,000 in profit in just 18 months by implementing just one strategy from PAID!

The book comes with powerful bonuses including The Client Gathering Document (a game-changer for your client conversations), access to the "PAID! explained!" webinar, and 355 answers to the 4 Golden Questions of Business Growth.

Get your copy of PAID! here and start getting rightfully, royally, and regularly rewarded for the extraordinary value you deliver.

Because you're not a commodity. You're not selling time. You're creating transformation. And transformation deserves to be rewarded properly.