Saying numbers

Do you get anxious saying numbers when a prospect asks how much you charge?

For years, YEARS, I hated talking about money.

I want to help, do good work, work with cool clients… but just wanted to skip to the part where they pay and we don’t have to talk about money.

Obviously people don’t like buying things without knowing what they’ll cost, so at some point, you have to say a number.

I used to outsource that conversation to my proposals, “I’ll send a proposal with some pricing options”, yada yada.

Then put the fact that some people never responded down to statistics.

The truth is, it’s SO much easier to talk about money at the start – like the first conversation – for at least two reasons:

1. If your prospect has some idea of price, they can get to a yes or no (or maybe) in their head now – meaning you avoid the work of more calls, proposals, and hoping-and-praying. A quick no is better for everyone than a slow no.
2. Get that monkey off your back – if you’re likely to get anxious about it, it’s a band-aid you can just rip off right now. You know the question is coming, so get ahead of it before it weighs you down.
3. Bonus reason: Clients actually like this. They might expect you to say “it depends” when they ask your price, so if you surprise them with an actual price, you’re that much more professional than the other one they asked who didn’t know and said “it depends”.

For a lot of clients who are coming to you for help… the weight of the work to be done is heavier than the price it’ll cost them.

In other words, they’re prepared to pay to make that problem go away. You’re good at design / photography / copy – they’re not. They WANT you to help.

The first step in helping them, is helping them know the price.