In 2. Pricing Strategies, 3. The Mental Game of Pricing

Quit Hiding Your Price

I don’t know about you, but my in-box right now is filled with exhortations to use these final weeks of the year wisely, to make sure to wrest every bit of value from the remaining days. Also, so many invitations to join masterminds and certifications and training programs, either in these last days of 2021 or in the very beginning of 2022. Finish this year off right! Start next year with a bang!

All of which, of course, since I love planning and goals, is music to my ears. I’m always interested in reading about what people are offering.

Except one thing that never ceases to annoy.

When the seller in question buries the price.

Just this morning, I reviewed one super-, super-long sales page from someone I greatly admire and with whom I’ve worked in the past. I freaking scrolled forEVER on my phone, past dozens of testimonials, descriptions of the course, breakdown of the curriculum, images of happy past participants — seriously, forEVER — before getting to the price waaaaaaaaay down at the bottom of what would have been, if printed, I’m guessing about 10 pages worth of content.

I get it. That’s the conventional wisdom, right: if you’re selling something “pricey,” then you have to spend the characters to lay out the value (in excruciating detail) before you name the cost. You need to get people nodding their heads, “Oh yeah, this is SO for me,” already committed, having spent 5 minutes of their time scrolling the page, before you trot out, at the very bottom of the page, before your copyright info, what it’s gonna set them back. Listen: I’ve done the online course training, so i have that same “blueprint” on my laptop somewhere.

In another case, it was a Mastermind and group training announcement in an email. You could click through for more information, which provided actually very little information to speak of, then click again to express interest in a Google Form filled with questions about the size of your business, etc. Nowhere was there a price.

Oh yeah, and then there’s the new certification program which required 30 minutes of podcast discussion, with the link to the sales page in the show notes, and that price also waaaaaay down.

What gives? I know this just may be me, but this kind of shit drives me crazy. I can’t stand it when I feel like there’s this coy game of hide-and-seek with the cost. I’m not a child. Just tell me and I can decide whether to continue reading your endless page or move on to something that’s more appropriate, more interesting, more valuable a use of my time.

It’s gotten to the point where if I don’t see a price on the first screen i view — i.e., before a bunch of scrolling and BS testimonials (I’m sure people love you, but come on, we’ve all been raised in the same online culture so we know what’s going on) — if I don’t see a price early, I’m out. I just don’t have time for games.

Many times, what I think is actually happening is a lack of confidence about the price someone is charging for something, a fundamental sense of unworthiness and a smidge of straight FEAR about just telling the number. Be proud of your price. Put it front and center for all to see. If you want to tell me all the great stuff I can expect from “investing” with you, go for it. But please don’t make me wade through endless clever sales-psychology-y copy to get there.

Front and center, people. Please don’t hide.

If I can help you feel GOOD about what you’re charging, feel confident about the price you’re assigning to your product or service, please let me know. Happy to assist. Pricing consults start at $650. See what I did there? You can, too.

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