“I Didn’t Get The Job Because I Asked For Too Little”
Your customers are actually a lot less price sensitive than you might think. In fact, the ones who are price sensitive are likely not the ones you want as clients, so bidding low will actually get you crappy clients.
“I didn’t get the job because I asked for too little.”
Traditional thinking leads new business owners to believe they will “get the job” if they are the lowest bidder. Heck, it even happens to experienced business owners in the throes of a weak moment.
Here’s the truth: the only time a lowest bidder wins is in a sealed bid government contract for paving roads. Even then…
Your customers are actually a lot less price sensitive than you might think. In fact, the ones who are price sensitive are likely not the ones you want as clients, so bidding low will actually get you crappy clients.
They are ALL, however, worried about what they are going to get for their money. They want assurance that you can give them what they need. They want a reason to believe they will be thrilled with your services.
Bidding low does not give them that. What it does give them is a reason to believe that you’re anxious for the sale. That you don’t value your own work. That you’re a beginner or inexperienced and who wants that headache?
There are strategies for making it through the early phase without competing on price. Price wars do not result in a victory for anyone.
Think about your favourite brand of electronics that is named after a red fruit. Do you ever see them competing on price? Nope. Because they are known for quality and they create demand based on an assurance that their products will always work. If something is in high demand, it does not need to be cheap.
Customer asking for discounts? Think first whether this is a customer you want. If so, and they truly are struggling, create a “Co-investment” scenario, or a scholarship or offer a trade if that works. Just, for heavens sake, don’t discount your offers. It’s a position from which you will never recover.⠀
So when my client told me their unfortunate story about this lost opportunity, we talked about what she thinks of her services and discovered that her problem is not price sensitive customers but her own perception of the value of what she offers.⠀
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Tell me in the comments…
Have you ever lowballed and lost? Tell me what you learned!
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