When prospects don’t like your price, they’ll tell you.
What happens when you don’t like your price? When you’re not confident that you’re asking for the right amount?
First, you sound defensive. In person, on the phone, in the language of your sales proposal. You may even offer to give the customer a great deal. You have now created doubt in the mind of the prospect. If you don’t think you’re worth it, why should they? (See this post on why your pricing is hurting your proposals but not how you think.)
Second, you may cut your price preemptively. I’ve heard of people giving discounts:
- Because they thought the price looked too high.
- Because they hadn’t heard back from their prospect.
- Because the prospect expressed concerns (not about price).
- Because the prospect expressed concerns about price.
Stop!
Don’t create your own price objections. If your prospect wants to do that, they can (and you should welcome it– see this post on why you’re not getting enough price objections), but don’t do it for them. (If you want to get a great look at the profit and life impact of these price cuts, check out this post, which has a link to a spreadsheet you can use to play with the numbers that apply to your business.)
(I’ll get into how to feel confident about your price and your proposal, and how to handle price objections in follow-up posts.)
(Have any good stories of preemptive discounting? Discuss further on Hacker News.)