128. Baking it Down - the Pricing Dance

💃 The Pricing DanceWhen's the perfect time to introduce price into the "cookie conversation"? Is it message one, 👋 "Hello, my name is $68 dollars a dozen?" Or is it after 50 messages when you've spent days (maybe even a week?) mocking up, designing, ordering cutters, and checking gel colors you've got, only for the client to turn "tire kicker" and say it's a bit out of their budget? 👟Yikes to both scenarios. That's the topic of today's podcast - the delicate pricing dance. You know, that perfect time when both value proposition meets budget, and the client has zero price objections as you two run off into the sunset to lead a happy, long, icing-filled life together as baker and buyer. The last thing we want is to scare the client away with sticker shock, but we also don't want the client to turn into a "convince me why I should" pen pal as you waste time trying to make a sale that was dead in the water before it even started.Imagine the sales funnel like dating - and the marriage is when the client makes a purchase. 💍 You'd call someone crazy if they were dating for 40 years hoping for a marriage proposal, right? 👰 "Maybe next year they'll propose." Or um - more likely they won't. They didn't for the last 40 years. In those 40 years, you could have been dating viable partners who did have marriage as their ultimate goal. Those were the ideal partners worth spending time on (just not 40 years).💒 It's the same concept when it comes to "dating" a potential client for too long. You could be woo-ing a client willing to give you their checkbook for the perfect set, but instead, you're trying to convince this commitment-shy Facebook lead that your half dozen, simple designs, waived rush-fee order is worth $25. 😑🤔 Okay bet, I'll go with "Hello, my name is 'out of your budget likely,' how are you?" Hilarious - but not the solution either. 1️⃣ As my therapist says, the right answer usually lies between "on and off," "black and white," and "1 and 0." 0️⃣ There's feeling out the client, understanding what their "okay I'll buy" trigger is, adding enough value, but also keeping the emergency parachute within arms reach for easy deployment to fly onto the next more likely sale. 🪂🔑 The key is adding value up-front. You can do this by:🔑 Posting completed sets consistently on social media🔑 Getting good reviews on review sites🔑 Brushing up on better photography (we buy with our eyes)🔑 Having your price per dozen easily viewable by potential clients🔑 Exceeding in customer service, packaging, and product ♟ What you want to do is move every pricing chess piece before you budget on price. The key to making sales is NOT lowering your price. Yes - there is an argument for discount strategies - but not long-term (check out the JP Penney story if you doubt me). 👂 Snag this podcast on any major podcast player (Spotify, Apple Music, Audible, Amazon Music, or your desktop) by clickin' here - Episode 128 - The Pricing Dance.