What If Clients Tell You It’s About The Money—But It Isn’t?

Picture this: you’re on a sales call with a potential client. They’re looking for a big transformation—and it’s right up your alley.

But as you keep asking questions and digging deeper, you get the distinct impression they’re worried more about what the work will cost than the outcome.

You soldier on, working through the value conversation, helping them to assign a number to the potential worth of your work together.

You plan to price your high-end proposal option at less than 10% of that, and the other two significantly lower.

But you know there are plenty of newer consultants who will follow the client’s lead and price the job at far less.

Do you “compete” or stand by the process—and the fees—that you believe will get your client where they want to go?

“Lucca” was put to the test last week.

The client was a referral from one of Lucca’s best clients and right in his sweet-spot.

She also had an unusually challenging issue that would take great finesse to work with—and a corresponding amount of time.

His value-based proposal was to dramatically overhaul her functional area over several months. To dig her out of the deep hole she’d found herself in.

So even his lowest priced option required a significant investment of her time, emotional energy and money.

Lucca knew this was a gamble, because she clearly agonized over every dime despite having a healthy budget inside a successful Fortune 1000.

He knew a competitor was likely to come along, promising less upheaval and a lower upfront cost, which would be catnip to a client who was all about saving money.

But he stuck to his guns.

Because he knew what the promised transformation would require AND wanted to ensure that taking it on would also serve his business.

Yep, you guessed it: Lucca won his client over, despite being the most expensive choice by far.

Turns out, after talking to a few alternatives, she realized that no one else had thought through the challenges she was facing in the same way.

No one else instilled the same level of confidence.

And no one else got her to get off the cheapest option merry-go-round.

Because in the end, it wasn’t about the money.

It was about how confident they felt in their choice.

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