Avoid The Big Discounting Mistakes

Our profession is way too cheap.

We discount our prices and we crash and burn on prices. You should never discount. You should maintain the integrity of your price. Be confident about your prices, and the value that you deliver to your clients.

Discounting can be fatal.

Here’s a story explaining why…

You can watch the video here.

For 77 consecutive years, the leading business in the car industry was General Motors. 

Then, in June 2005, sales were starting to slump a little.

They had this genius idea to do a new discounting structure. They decided to give discounts to people who bought cars in June 2005 at the same level of discounts they gave their staff.

Their sales went up by 40% in comparison to the previous year. July sales went up and they started to congratulate themselves.

Unfortunately, August sales slumped, then September sales slumped. Three years later General Motors filed for bankruptcy.

Discounting is crazy. It may bring you in more sales, but it ruins your profits.

Please don’t ever discount your price.

If you really feel like you want to give a discount, there is a right way to do it. Don’t just reduce your prices. Use behaviour rewards.

If you are talking to a new client and your price is too high for them, but you really want to win the business, don’t discount.

Swap something.

You can give them the price they want if they give you something in return. You can get creative here. You may offer them a discount if they pay upfront, or just for using a preferred payment method. You could give a discount in return for referrals. You could ask for their information in a format that makes your life easier when you do the work.

Think about what the client could do to make your life easier.

Have those things in the back of your mind when you discuss the price with the client. If your price is too high for them, you can swap something with them.

But you should NEVER give a discount for nothing.

If you found this valuable and would like to learn more about value pricing, I run a free live online training session every month with a topic chosen by you. Attend live and you can ask me any questions you have. Click here to register and I will send you an invitation to the next session.

Wishing you every success on your pricing journey

Mark Wickersham

Chartered Accountant, Public Speaker and Author of Amazon No.1 Best Seller “Effective Pricing for Accountants”