Has a prospect for your consulting services ever said to you, “Your price is too high and I’d like a discount"? In this article I outline three key strategies for responding to this. One of these strategies even has the potential for you to make a larger sale of your consulting services than you originally anticipated. Curious?

First, giving discounts in the right way may well be the most appropriate thing to do. Conversely, giving a discount in the wrong way can not only lose you consulting business but could lose you all possible future consulting business from a potential client. Read on to see what I mean.

Just suppose you say “yes” and immediately give a discount. What do you think this prospect now thinks?

• You seem desperate for the sale.
• I wonder how far you will lower your price. Mmmm, maybe I should have asked for an even bigger discount.
• The price you originally offered was not the real price. Are you trying to trick me? Can I really trust you?
• You don’t set a very high value on your own consulting services if you are prepared to discount so quickly.
• You agree your price is too high. This is a problem.
• Next time I come to buy anything from you, I’ll ask for a discount again - an even bigger one.

The problem with just giving a discount by itself is that you have given something away and have asked for absolutely nothing in return. You've just created a win/lose situation. The potential client has “won” a discount amount and you have “lost” it. Also because it is a win/lose, over time you may start to resent this client and may not want to go the extra mile in service for them so eventually the win/lose turns into lose/lose.

Also, by giving a discount you have trained your client to expect a discount in all future dealings with you. Why wouldn’t they?

And just because you've agreed to a discount doesn't mean you'll get the consulting business, in fact, quite the opposite. You may have damaged your credibility to the extent this person no longer trusts you or wants to do business with you.