When was the last time you asked for a discount?
Last week I lead a 4-day Big Shift Retreat with 70 of my most amazing clients. These are the business owners who decided to step up in a big way to invest in themselves and their businesses. A few of them literally did not have the money to join my program. Yet they said ‘yes’ and did whatever it took to come up with the investment.
…not one person asked for a discount.
I want to break down why no one ever asks me for a discount and what I recommend you do when someone does.
The first thing you do happens way before a potential client asks you if you would be willing to discount your services.
It actually starts with you not asking for discounts yourself when you are paying for stuff.
I used to be a master haggler. In fact, friends would take me shopping with them because I could always get a discount. I loved the process of paying less than what people were asking for in a product or service. I was playing a zero sum game. When I got the discount, I was literally taking $ out of someone else’s pocket and putting it into mine. And I loved it.
As I became more committed to living a conscious life, it became harder and harder for me to ask for discounts. And then, one day, I consciously decided that haggling was no
longer going to be part of my life.
My new path was to only buy and hire people that I thought were a great investment at the price level they set. I am a free man and I have the power of choice. And I will decide if it’s a YES for me. I will respect the people and companies which I am investing in.
And with this new respect I found for service-providers and artisan product makers, a magical thing happened – I began to respect myself more as a service provider and the value I provide.
I began to stand in the power of my prices – knowing that I feel good about the exchange of services for money and knowing that it is simply an even exchange of energy between two consenting parties.
I began to see that the ‘discount mindset’ is one of scarcity, fear and contraction. It discounts the value you place on things. And it discounts the talents of the people and products you are investing into.
When you believe in the value of what you are getting, it is your belief that sets in motion your access to that value.
So when someone asked me for a discount, I tell them that I believe in the service I provide. I believe in the results they will get from working with me. And I invite them to invest in themselves in a way that honors them and honors me.
One time, someone told me that another coach they spoke to offered them a discount and asked me to match it. And I said, “Whose service would you trust more – one that gives you a discount because you asked or one that knows its value and will stand firm on their prices? Who would you like to stand in your corner?”
Who do you think got that client?
So next time you want to ask for a discount – think again.
And the next time, someone asks you for a discount – stand firm and resist the urge, knowing that you are not helping anyone in discounting your value and the value of their investment.
I’d love to hear your thoughts on this here.
Warmly,
~Bill
Yes! That’s brilliant. I’m willing to step up to the plate and practice this.
Thank you for sharing.
Love & Light,
Gianna Rosewood
gianna@rosewoodwisdom.com
http://www.areyoustillkissingfrogs.com
Co-Author of the book
soon to be published
Are You Still Kisssing Frogs?
Leap Into Real Solutions to Attract Your Genuinely Committed Relationship.
Amen to that! Totally agree that if you ask for discounts or look for the cheapest option then your clients will do the same with you.
What a great stand! I’m English living in Israel, where the culture is to haggle – and I’ve struggled with it all my life. I’ve always felt uneasy about it, even though I’m told to regard it as a kind of “national sport”. But you’ve hit the nail on the head and helped me to see the wrongs of discount-demanding in sharper perspective. I’ve never been able to see the point of quoting an inflated price to take into account the discount you need to give! It so foreign to English ways! It’s time for us to ask for and pay a fair honest price for mutual respect and appreciation of value. Thanks! Vanessa
Love it! Love it! Love it! Will share it in our newsletter of Nspiration & Nformation.
After being in media for so many years, I too had developed the mindset of “If its not free, it’s not for me”! (same as a discounted consciousnessness) Society has enabled us with this mindset but it’s up to each of us individually to uplift our thinking beyond lack and limitation. Thank you for the great reminder!
Stay on purpose,
Stay empowered,
Stay tuned to higher learning!
Shelomith Yisrael
Producer HLN-TV Show
I love what you write… and this particular one is tricky for me… As a therapist, in the countryside, hard times for some, I’ve been allowing the odd discount… However, there’s someone I’ve been seeing every week for a year and who ‘depends’ on our weekly chat … and I don’t know how to change the agreement of giving her half price…. How do we change an agreement when we are dealing with sensitive issues? or maybe I stick with it and don’t do it in future.
Thank you.
Oh, Bill, I so agree with you. Everything comes from our consciousness, emanates from our consciousness. Whether it is in asking for a discount or in discounting another person, it is all the same mindset and intention.
As I work with couples primarily, I so often see where one partner can clearly justify his/her actions, while making the other partner wrong for the same thing. Life, love and livelihood cannot be separated into compartments. They are all of a piece.
Thank you for sharing your learning so generously.
I wish you well.
Rhoberta
So true about discounts Bill. Also, I once heard that to bargain is to bar gain–same energy–someone thinks they win when really, both lose.
This piece couldn’t have come through my in-box at a better time.
Today is a critical day for me when it comes to doing things in a new way.
For years I have behaved like an amateur when it comes to my business. I have neglected the ‘boring stuff’ – ignoring my accounts and how it is managed. Inevitably my business has not grown much over the last couple of years, because this one important foundation was in disarray.
I just had a friend, who is an accountant, help me out with a bit of tax advise here and there. It saved me a lot of money – or so I thought!
Basically, it meant that neither of us treated my finances as anything more than a hobby. Time slipped away and I ended up missing tax deadlines and having to pay hefty fines.
But it all changed today. I met ad took on a new accountant. I admit, I slightly balked at the quoted price but then I quickly got over it. It is not the cheapest, but it is not excessive. I chose him because I know he is the right man for the job. In fact I did not base my decision on price at all because there were more important considerations: I want someone who can help me successfully get the results I want in a way that works for me, so I can get on with growing the rest of the business, concentrating on the parts I do best, so that it can grow.
And of course, I would like to attract clients who feel the same way about me. They come to me, not because I am the cheapest – because I am not, but because I am naturally the right person to help them get the results they want in a way that works for them. And they will happily pay me for it.
Bill, I really needed to hear this! Somehow, even though I have heard it before and wouldn’t offend someone by asking for a discount, valuing my product has been difficult. Why? Because I need approval. Today, reading what you said, I had an AHA moment. Some will resonate with me and it will be the person(s) I want to work with because they appreciate what I can offer. Thanks so much!
Bill: The timing of this advice couldn’t have been better. I realize that I sometime value the services I pay for more than my own. I never ask for a discount but do dance a bit when someone asks me for one. I know what I have to offer is powerful and life changing – so your wisdom was much appreciated. Thanks.
Hi Bill,
My friend sent me this article because we were both considering reducing our prices for some clients. What you wrote is so true about the value and the mind set of scarcity and fear.
It takes just as much work to get a full paying client and it does to get discount clients. I may feel resentful about the discount clients. That would be terrible for the service I provide.
Another thing I have noticed is that the students I teach for free or trade do not value what I taught them. They stop practicing after a short time. It saddens me when that happens.
Thank you for the article.
Hi Bill: I am always amazed at the power of grace to give you what you need at just the right time. This am i was asked a similar question by a very large client. I spent hours searching the web on how to say gently say no. And…..delivered to my desk came your email today! Thank you!
I’ve been teaching private dance lessons for 32 years. I decided (coming out of the feminist sliding scale mentality of the 70′s) that I would not use a sliding scale but would offer discounts if moved to do so. When one client told me he found a cheaper rate elsewhere, I told him “There are lots of people who charge less than I do. If you can’t afford me, I’d be happy to help you find a less experienced teacher who would be more affordable.” He chose to stay. But when another student who needed to learn a first dance with his fiance asked if I offered a military discount, I said yes. I didn’t support the war, but I do support the people in it, and felt right about giving him a break.
Bill,
Please compare and contrast this with the concept of, “incentives” and how they are best applied. Also, where something such as alternate payment plans that pay the same amount that one would charge (or even more, for the additional convenience to the client and inconvenience to the provider). I believe I do see the difference in concepts, but would learn alot from your presentation on the subject.
Thanks for sharing your Awesomeness!!
James Stevenson
Bill, Do you buy cars and houses at sticker price, too?
I needed to hear that. thanks so much.
Blessings, Norma
Wealth consciousness at its best! Thank you for this reminder Bill to raise our paradigm and live in a higher vibration. We can attract so much more than money when we choose to recognize our value as well as others! Thank you for this reminder!!!! You rock!
RIGHT ON!!!!! Every point you
made is absolutely correct
and I am shifting as we ‘speak’!
Thank you so very much for
your words,
Hil
Great insight, Bill, thanks for sharing.
One time, I negotiated, and then didn’t land the client anyway. He was focused on what the rate/hour came out at. Now, I’m focusing on building more value into my offerings, so that the hourly rate doesn’t factor in.
I loved this email. Thank you Bill. You rock and I couldn’t agree more. Thanks for always sending out such great info and content. I can tell you really care about people.
One of those “inconvenient truths” again, Bill!
Totally agree with you and Janet’s comment, that knowing the value we provide and the results people get has to be at top of mind awareness or we start to “dance a bit” when prospects balk at our rates. Standing firm requires a lot of faith and trust that the “right” prospect will come along,
This highlights the real issue: our own sense of faith and trust in something as abstract as “the nature of things.” One of those 70 people told me recently that my rates are ridiculously low, and I could double them. Alas, my mind was filled with a recent prospect saying she “couldn’t make the financial commitment right now” at my current rates.
Rather than dancing and discounting, I left her with some questions for herself around investing in herself, reacting to stress with inaction, and letting herself arise when she’s ready. I stood firm, and feel far better about it, and know that when the time is right, she’ll be back.
simple is not easy,
ian
Bill, Thank you for so precisely putting into words exactly what I know, but had never verbalized. I rarely get asked to discount my services, but when I do, it’s a rather awkward exchange, and I do sometimes knock a tiny bit off, just because it’s easier.
Now I have a way to respond that respects everyone’s integrity. And this way there won’t be resentment lurking underneath, only to rise to awareness when the patient or client with the discount complains about the expense, or attempts to control the situation in an unhelpful way.
Ironically, those who ask for the discount are the same people who unconsciously sabotage our work together in one way or another. It’s as if they are merely behaving in a way that is congruous with this unconsciously devaluing of the whole process.
Wow, thanks Bill for such insightful and helpful words.
Melanie Wilson, PsyD
Bill: What are your thoughts on gifting a special price to clients that are celebrating a special occasion like a birthday?
Wonderful the way you developed your case; beginning with the actual haggling yourself…. and allowing the transition to live and grow inside you. That’s a profound truth, Bill, and a marvelous example. Thanks for the honesty…. and the share!
I so strongly agree with this, Bill. I make a delicious, healthful food that doesn’t exist anywhere else yet, and I sell to 24 stores. The grocery industry (and their customers) so frequently want sales discounts.
*** But if I could afford to make it for 30% less, I would make it every day for 30% less.
*** If I offer occasional sales to the stores, customers learn to “wait for the sale”. (I ran natural food coops for 12 years, saw this beyond a shadow of a doubt.) *** Yet, people love sales.
Wasn’t it JCPenney that recently got rid of all sales and reduced prices across the board, and had to reinstate them because customers bought so much less without sales? People love those sale flyers.
Happily, once people taste my food, no one haggles about the price. (for now, til there are a bunch of cheaper knock-offs…)
Fantastic, Bill. Best thing I’ve ever read or heard on the subject of discounting for clients. I don’t ask for discounts myself, but I do give them way too often. That ends today. Thank you.
If only the playing field was that level. I agree with Cathy…..no one pays sticker price for a car. Nor do we pay the full asking price on real estate. In some cultures, it would almost be offensive to not haggle And in some industries pricing is expected to be based on a discount structure.I respect your position but find it unrealistic.
Bill,
I just love the truth in this post. I used to haggle all the time until I realized that I was really taking the means for others to provide for their household. In my business, when I get approached for a discount, I jokingly ask if they would walk into Nordstrom and ask for a discounted price. I have been standing firm on my pricing and the value I bring since I launched my business. It feels like I am in integrity and teaching others to respect the value I bring.
Thanks for sharing this bit of wisdom.
Bill, this is a wonderful article that came at a great time. After 20 years of working for myself, I am struggling with transition from one type of service to another. I shouldn’t be surprised at how hard it has been because I have not been as focused as I need to be. I also seem to have under-valued myself, which is something I never did years ago. Thank you for this email, your great work and caring attitude.
Well said Bill! I totally agree.
I love the way you expressed your thoughts on this subject. Thank you
I have never felt comfortable asking for a discount. In certain places (countries, or resort areas) the prices are raised because a request for a discount is expected. This always bothered me.
I have been criticized for “not” haggling (or, as some people put it – “negotiating”) — now I am “redeemed.”
I much prefer to buy “on sale” in stores that have the quality goods I want. I don’t expect people to discount services, anymore than I want to discount mine.
I completely agree! Thanks for putting it into words that are positive and self-valuing.
Bill… you hit the mark with this one… great perspective and a great way to present ourselves to our prospective clients/customers, etc. Thanks for lending your insights and support to an issue that seems like a big one for so many of us practitioners out here…
Absolutely in agreement. I stopped giving discounts for my services a long time ago. I found people respected my work less if I was willing to back down. I now ask people – would you rather get to work to start feeling better or stand here and haggle with me?
Jane
Couldn’t agree more. The last couple of times I was asked to discount my services, which are priced fairly for the service/outcome I deliver, it was such a turn-off. In both instances, the people lived in very high end houses in country club communities. I stood firm and am glad I didn’t give in, but walked away with my head held high. I’ve learned that people who want to take advantage of others are not the type of client I want to work with. Walking away leaves room/space for better opportunities that are a win-win for all concerned.
What you share in your newsletter is right for many situations but not all. I developed Life Chi, a radically new form of feng shui and overall life improvement. I’m dedicated to distributing it to everyone who connects with it and is willing to pay an honorable amount so my web site offers discounts to those who are in an economic arena which doesn’t allow them to pay $100. They write in and I intuit what is right. It relies on intuition, but the system works. I suggest, and some, both full price and discount customers, over time send additional donations because the system helps them so much. I honor them. This is the current version of variable pricing, a 13 year process of refinement.
Well said Bill…I had a patient try to haggle my fees down recently and I stood firm in my stance. I’ve been in practice 17yrs and run a successful back care clinic. She was a very unhappy woman, wealthy too but did not want to pay the posted fees for treatment. She had one session with me and did not return. I did second guess myself for a moment, but felt good about my stand as I believe she may not have responded to my care as she did not value it in the first place. So thanks for writing this…Everyday we have to put the devil on our shoulder to rest as it will test you till you give in!
Nuances…
I think under the same circumstances, I would have refused to lower my prices (without this very convincing argument – “œWhose service would you trust more – one that gives you a discount because you asked or one that knows its value
and will stand firm on their prices? Who would you like to
stand in your corner?”). I would have probably said something like “I know what my value is”, which is not as strong as your statement, Bill.
My business is in the Healing field and I have to say that when I offer a “package” of 3 sessions for a slightly reduced price, people tend to buy them rather than taking them individually (it’s a kind of incentive – and I react the same way with the same offer) – I don’t have the feeling I’m lowering my value in that case…
Thanks for launching this discussion, Bill
I sent Bill’s article out to my entire client base asking their opinion. Here is one of the best answers I received although all had interesting and thoughtful views, most were similar in their experience of a more complicated, deeper issue and concern than simply “dissing the request for a discount”. I share it with her permission.
Hello Christina,
Re your request for feedback:
I agree that practitioners should be set fees that they deem appropriate for the services they render and that being a dedicated health practitioner and earning a decent wage should not be mutually exclusive. This being said, a sliding scale policy, allowing lower income folks and those without extended care benefits to avail themselves of non BC Med covered health care – that they otherwise would not be able receive – also seems to me to be in keeping with the ethical economics of a successful healing career.
If asking about sliding scale discounts is considered to be tacky “haggling”, that to me speaks volumes about the ethical / spiritual maturity of the person making such a judgment. And blithely rigid, black-and-white notions about the correlation between overall health and someone’s financial situation strike me as naively ignorant of the gamut of interactive circumstances that can affect a person’s economic status. Life presents more variety than this, and is not that standardly formulaic.
Mr. Baren writes: “When I got the discount, I was literally taking $ out of someone else’s pocket and putting it into mine.” He then goes on to equate his no discount policy with becoming “more committed to living a conscious life.”
Granted, the word “discount” can be seen to be loaded with negative connotations, when discounting is mentally associated with the word’s usage for not considering or valuing; and in relation to this, unexamined egos can so easily lead us to feeling under-appreciated for our worth. However, I would posit that an alternative way of looking at discounted services is to see beyond the strictly personal from one pocket to someone else’s perspective that, in effect, constitutes the other side of the “scarcity, fear and contraction” coin. From my point of view, incorporating remunerative variation is a more holistic and healing perspective – one that confidently embraces the reality of an ultimately greater transcendent abundance. And for me, such holism evoke more credence in a practitioner’s professional expertise.
All the best,
Bat-Ami Hensen
Hi Bill,
Thanks! I liked your comments and they got me thinking. Having lived a lot in Asia I am used to haggling, though it is a game there as they start high, expecting you to.
I am a practitioner and only have given discounts once in the blue moon to people who do a lot of work with me, but I do ask for them myself. So I will now think about that in future, and make sure I am always honoring what the other person is offering.
Cheers,
Cassandra
I hope people grasp the brilliance of your giving up haggling with sellers as the starting point to never having to give a discount to a buyer. There is no living is a world where you have one set of rules and everyone else has another. That is the recipe for frustration. Way to drink your own Koolaid!