If the customer wants your offer for a reduced price

Anyone who has worked as a self-employed person or entrepreneur for several years will be familiar with it.

A customer contacts you with a request. After a detailed discussion - sometimes several are necessary - you figure out what the customer needs, what the customer wants and what is appropriate for his/her project.

Based on these findings, a suitable offer is worked out, the effort for the individual steps is quantified and this offer is sent to the customer.

[Picture credits: CC0-Picture, Pixabay]

"Why does it cost so much?"

Sometimes it can happen that the customer asks why it costs so much? If you have calculated realistically and fairly, then you can justify your price without problems and explain this confidently to the customer.

You should take the customer's objection professionally and if possible not personally, but point out your experience, possible complications during the process, buffer times, etc. to him.

"For a few lines of code, that much money?"

Then the following question may arise:

For a few lines of code / for a banner graphic... so much money?

Also in this case one should remain objective and point out to the customer's objection that it took many weeks/months or longer of learning to create a banner graphic within a relatively short period of time. The same applies to code fragments that look simple to the customer and of course the same applies to other services.

Just answer it in a friendly but self-confident way:

It also took me many months of intensive learning to write this code within an hour.

Many self-employed people also forget this aspect. One forgets very quickly the long evenings, the test series, the rolled books etc. until one was at some point ready to master the process so reliably.

"What can you do about the price?"

There can be many reasons why the customer wants a lower price. For some it can also be that the budget does not give any more. This is often the case with associations, private individuals and sometimes even smaller companies.

Then there are others who try to reduce the price and increase their profit wherever possible. This can happen to you with larger companies or with people who place orders.

Both objections or reasons are legitimate. Just as it is legitimate for you to make your point. Personally, in either case, I wouldn't advise you to go down with the price. Why and what are the alternatives?

To the question why not?: your work has a value and takes up your resources. I also count your time and nerves as resources. In addition, you usually work to make a living.

And in both cases the situation doesn't get any better, no matter if you went down with the price at a club or a company, for example:

The time will not be less if you work for a club below your usual price and neither your landlord, nor the bank, nor the supermarket cashier will give you a discount just because you worked for a school support association for half of your usual fee.

Moreover, if you go down with your hourly rate, it can happen to you that the customer assumes that this is your regular hourly rate and you will have trouble arguing in the future if you want to have your usual price.

"What part of the offer can you do without?"

Now we come to the alternatives and they don't mean you should be totally inflexible. You can stay at your hourly rate and still meet the customer.

If he asks you if it can be a little cheaper, then you take the question seriously and objectively and then ask which part of the services he can or would like to do without most?

Alternatively, you can recommend which modules you could most likely do without, so that the service package remains coherent and target-oriented and you can go down with the total price.

Here one can see quite well whether the customer only wanted to reduce the price or whether he can no longer afford it. The first will then agree to the price and for the others you can work out a leaner offer.

Another option that can be offered alone or together with the reduction of the service is payment by instalments. So that after conclusion of the contract not the complete sum is paid off directly but in 3-4 monthly rates.

With these two measures you are able to meet the customer constructively and still not have to reduce your hourly rate.

Where I originally come from it is said: the wolf is full and the sheep are complete.