You will be able to respond to a discount request by trading something rather than simply cutting price.
Kelvin, Rachel's director, has read Hafiz's proposal. He likes it, and he says so. Then he says, "Can you do something on the price? Ten percent off and we can probably move on this." Hafiz has been waiting for this moment. He wants the deal, the night shift is coming, and ten percent feels like a small thing to give.
What happens next decides more than this one price. If Hafiz says "sure," he has learned something about Kelvin, and Kelvin has learned something about him.
When you cut the price just because the buyer asked, you send a message: the first number was padded. If one question takes off ten percent, the buyer wonders what two questions would do. The finance manager, who was already comparing vendors, now has a reason to push harder. And next year, at renewal, they will ask again.
There is a quieter cost too. The proposal said S$480 a month for a reason. If that reason was real, cutting it without getting anything back means doing the same work for less. If it was not real, the buyer was right to doubt it.
None of this means you can never move on price. It means that when you move, something else should move with it.
If you are willing to lower the price, ask for something in return that has real value to you. Three kinds of trade come up most often.
A longer term. A buyer who commits for two years instead of one gives you more certainty, which can be worth a lower monthly fee.
A faster decision. If signing by a particular date lets you plan your team's time, that has value. It has to be a genuine reason, not a pretend deadline.
A smaller scope. If the buyer needs a lower price, take something out: fewer users, a module they rarely need, one training session instead of two. The price comes down because the work does.
Here is how Hafiz responds to Kelvin, with figures that are examples for this lesson: "I can't take ten percent off the twelve-month plan. If you could commit to twenty-four months, I could bring the monthly fee from S$480 to S$440." Kelvin can now choose. Stay at S$480 with a one-year commitment, or go to S$440 a month and commit for two years. That is a saving of S$40 a month, which is S$480 a year, in return for a longer term.
Notice what Hafiz did not do. He did not lecture Kelvin about value or refuse to talk. He offered a trade and let Kelvin decide.
The same pattern works for individual buyers. Priya could offer Joel option two at a lower fee if he moved from weekly to fortnightly till checks, which is a smaller scope at a smaller price, and his choice.
Concessions made under pressure are usually bad ones. In the meeting, with the buyer looking at you, it is hard to think clearly about what a discount costs you, so decide beforehand.
Before any meeting where price might come up, write down three things. The lowest price you will accept for this work, and why. What you could ask for in return if the buyer wants to go lower. And your walk-away point, the point at which you would rather lose the deal than take it on those terms.
Hafiz's notes before meeting Kelvin: lowest monthly fee S$440, and only with a twenty-four month term. Possible trades: longer term, removing the leave module, or a decision before the end of the month so setup can start ahead of the night shift. Walk away if the firm wants the full product at S$440 on a twelve-month term.
With those limits written down, Hafiz does not have to invent anything when Kelvin asks. He knows what he can offer and what he cannot, and that calm is visible to the buyer.
This is the sales version of a bigger subject. Negotiation has its own ideas, such as BATNA, your best alternative if this deal does not happen, and anchoring, the way the first number named tends to shape what follows. Both are taught properly in the course Negotiation: salary, deals and everyday asks. Here you only need the habit: decide limits in advance, and trade rather than give.
One more check. If buyers ask for a discount in most of your deals, look again at the earlier steps. The value may not have been clear before the price, as lesson 3.1, Make the value clear before you say the price, describes. Or you may be meeting buyers whose problem is too small for what you sell.
Before the activity below, pick your main product or service and the price you usually quote for it.
List three things you could ask for in return if a buyer asks for a lower price, and decide your walk-away point for your main product.
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