WRITING / PRICING
The right clients do not negotiate your value.. they recognise it
Every discount you give teaches the buyer what your work is really worth. Here is what to say instead of dropping the number.
A client asked me for twenty percent off last week. I said no. He signed anyway.
Here is what a discount actually communicates. It says the first number was invented. If twenty percent can come off on a phone call, the client is right to wonder what else was padding, and every conversation after that one starts from the lower number.
I have watched good agencies train their best clients to haggle. It takes about two projects.
What to say instead
You do not defend the number. You change what is inside it. Same price, smaller scope, and let them choose which part to lose. That is not a discount, it is a decision, and it puts the two of you back on the same side of the table.
THE PRICE IS NOT THE PROBLEM. THE PROOF IS.
Nine times out of ten a price objection is an evidence objection wearing a costume. They are not saying it costs too much. They are saying they cannot see what they get, and nobody has shown them a number from somebody like them.
Fix the proof and the price stops coming up. That is most of what this site is for.
So which is it for you.. the price, or the proof?
NADER UNFILTERED
If this argued with something you believed, good. One email like it whenever there is something worth sending.. never on a schedule.
Nader alMaleh
Twenty years. Six countries. 400+ businesses.
