When pricing projects, it’s in everyone’s advantage for the potential client to share their budget. Once they do, at least one option in your proposal should be above this budget.
Taking a step back for a moment, it’s a great ideal to offer three options in a proposal. This shifts the internal dialog the client has from “Should I work with this partner?” to “How should I work with this partner?”
Let’s imagine the proposal is for building a new feature in Salesforce.
- Option 1 could be just designing the feature. This would be priced under the budget.
- Option 2 could include option 1 and then implementing it. This can be priced at the client’s budget.
- Option 3 could include options 1 and 2, with some extra bonuses. This would be priced above the budget.
The idea is here a budget isn’t always a fixed ceiling. When you offer additional value to the client, don’t be surprised if they are suddenly able to open their checkbook a little more.
The 3rd option also makes option 2 a little more attractive.
The takeaway
When given three options, most people pick the middle one. Make sure that’s everything the client needs. Then think about what else they could benefit from, and add it to option 3.