The Full Fee Standard (Charge What You're Worth)
We adjust to the standards we set — set the fee high and you have no choice but to rise to it.
- Difficulty
- Moderate
- Time to result
- ~months to results
- Steps
- 4
- Confidence
- 89%
Shull's single most profitable idea is that the fee decision is upstream of everything else in a service business. Because we adjust to the standards we set in life — his 'adjustment standard' — committing to a full fee forces you to become better at what you do in order to justify it. The inverse is the trap most agents fall into: they lower the fee and then adjust every part of their practice down to that lower number. The reluctance to charge full price is not a market signal, it's fear of losing business. And when you discount to convince someone, you don't just lose margin — you inherit resentment and a client who chose you under duress, ready to jump down your throat the first time anything goes wrong.
Origin
Shull built a real estate coaching practice starting in 1993 and spent years watching agents compete on commission. Working with Voss on The Full Fee Agent, he identified the fee decision as the keystone — the reason the book carries that title.
Core principles
- 01The most important decision you make is what fee you charge.
- 02The adjustment standard: we adjust to the standards we set in life.
- 03Set the fee high and everything about you must rise to meet it; discount and everything sinks to meet that.
- 04Fee reluctance is fear of losing business, not a market fact.
- 05A fee lowered to win a client plants resentment on your side from day one.
How to run it
- 1
Decide the fee before you decide anything else
Treat 'what fee am I going to charge?' as the most important decision in your business, made once, in advance, not renegotiated per prospect under pressure.
- 2
Set the standard above your current level
Because we adjust to the standards we set, choosing a full fee obligates you to adjust everything up to it — you have to become better at what you do.
Pro tip The standard is the forcing function; skill follows the number, not the other way around.
Watch out Set the fee low and you'll adjust everything down to it just as reliably.
- 3
Refuse the discount-to-convince move
Never lower the fee as part of an effort to convince a prospect. It's the most common way people buy business, and it costs more than the money.
Pro tip If you lowered the fee to win them, resentment sits on your side whether you admit it or not.
Watch out The first thing that goes wrong, they'll jump down your throat — because you convinced them, they didn't choose you.
- 4
Fill the pipeline with favorites, not discounts
The full fee only holds if you're spending your time on prospects who already want you. Combine with the favorite/fool read so you never face the choice between a discount and an empty calendar.
Pro tip There is an abundance of people who want to work with you — there is no scarcity to discount against.
In the wild
Shull's contrast case: an agent afraid of losing the listing lowers their commission, then adjusts their entire practice — effort, service, marketing spend, standard of work — down to that lower fee.
→ The agent locks in a permanently lower standard, while an agent who commits to the full fee is forced to become better at what they do to justify it.
Hala Taha, running an award-winning social media agency, looked back at her worst clients and found they were the ones she'd fought hardest to win — the ones she had to convince to join her.
→ She recognized she had started every one of those relationships from a weak position, and that it always works better when the client is excited to work with you.
Common mistakes
Reading fee reluctance as a market fact
Most people are reluctant to charge what they're worth because they're afraid of losing business. That's a fear about themselves, not information about what the market will bear.
Treating the discount as costing only the discount
A lowered fee also buys resentment, a client who was convinced rather than convicted, and a relationship that breaks at the first problem.
Is it for you?
Best for
Real estate agents, freelancers, consultants, coaches, and agency owners who negotiate their own fee.
Not ideal for
Commodity products with no differentiation, or roles where pricing is set by an employer or a market rate you don't control.
From the transcript
“The most important decision you can make and the best way to make more money is charge what you're worth.”
“There's something that I call the adjustment standard, we adjust to the standards we set in life.”
“When I make a decision to charge a full fee, I've gotta adjust everything up to that. I've gotta become better at what I do.…”
“Most likely I've lowered my fee as part of that effort to convince them. So now there's some resentment on my part, whether I want…”
From the episode
Chris Voss: Advanced Negotiation
Chris Voss