There are people out there who think they can always barter for your services and even your courses and products.
They may see the real value in what you have to offer, but they are cheap and don’t want to pay full price.
Or they are friends of yours and they think they should get a friend and family discount for working with you.
Or they really just don’t see the value of what you have to offer, but your message spoke to them so they think that you should charge less.
The thing is there are people who will discount their services when someone asks.
They could give this discount for a number of reasons:
- They really need the money right now, so discounting for a client helps them get money now
- They don’t know what the real value of their services are, so giving a discount feels okay to them
- They are friends or family with the person they are going to work with and feel bad charging full price
- They have their own money mindset issues and never really charge the full price
Discounts really do happen regularly, whether it’s the client asking for the discount or the business owner offering the discount.
Should you actually be offering and accepting these discounts?
There is no right or wrong answer here. What works best for you and your business is going to be the best answer. If you want to change your answer, then change it.
But I’d also urge you to look at the circumstances of the discount being offered or asked for.
Is your new potential client asking for a discount? Are they saying so and so will do it for $xxx while you are charging $xxxx? Are they just trying to get you to do more work for them for less?
This is where you are going to need to stick to your boundaries. You know you do amazing work and the price you charge is what should be paid.
If your new potential client doesn’t want to pay the price for your services, then they can work with so and so. Stick to your boundaries.
Or are you offering a discount because you don’t feel comfortable actually receiving the full amount of money that you would when your client pays you?
These are your own money mindset issues and you need to work on them. You are worthy of receiving the money. You do the work, you make the money.
Accept it, receive it, know you’re worthy.
Discounting usually brings clients who don’t hold up their end of the deal
When you offer or accept a discounted price, you usually end up with clients who don’t do their full end of the deal.
They won’t do the work.
They won’t show up on time, and sometimes not even at all.
They ask you to do more work than is included in the package.
They expect you to be available 24/7 to answer their questions and help them.
When your clients don’t show up and they don’t do the work, you get frustrated and think it’s something about you.
Step into your client’s shoes for a minute here.
If you were the client and you paid the amount of money that your client did, would you still show up? Would you do the work?
Would you stick to the boundaries that are set forth by the person you hired?
A lot of the time, what we accept from our clients is what we expect those who we work with to give back to us. Our clients are a mirror of us.
Is discounting right for your business?
Discounting may work for your business, and if it does, then all the power to you.
If it doesn’t, you already know it doesn’t. If it doesn’t work and you are doing it, then you have some mindset work you need to work on to end the discounting.
The most important thing in your business when it comes to getting new clients, is to have your boundaries in place and make sure you stick to them.
Your clients don’t get to change your boundaries just because they are paying you.
