When you are in a position to show the value that you add to peoples lives they will respond.
This is why taking the time to do a value ladder exercise for your organisation can be invaluable. Richard Stutely covers this in detail in his book The Definitive Business Plan.

Showcasing the value that your people bring to your organisation internally will result in them continually aspiring to do their best work. Showcasing this value to your clients will result in them having no excuses to pay the appropriate price. This is the foundation of any strong business partnership: the relationship between value and price. As a bonus they will continue to partner with you. We ALL win when value is at the core of the partnership.

Some benefits of doing a value ladder exercise for your organisation or team:

1. It serves as a check and balance – If you are leading a team toward a specific goal, this ensures that you have a handle on your processes.

2. It helps with scoping out your prospective projects – Doing the exercise puts you in the position to, at a later stage, analyse and evaluate your cost against your customers value. This will minimise your risk on future projects and help you to make informed pricing decisions.

More importantly, in a challenging economy, clients need to clearly see the value that you add as their service provider of choice.