How to Respond to "How Much Do You Charge?"

A business owner asked, “Often, when I’m meeting with a client the first word out of their mouth is ‘Well, how much do you charge for your services?’” She also stated, “I do different things. I don’t just do one thing and I feel that I don’t get the chance to share the real value of what I do. What’s the best way to respond?”

That’s a great question as not enough business owners actually stop to think about how they would respond to the question of “How much do you charge?” or “What’s the price of your services?” And it’s critical that you pay attention to how you respond to that because the way in which you respond to that can actually reduce your sales, sometimes significantly so.

The price really depends

For example, if you walk into the department store and you ask the salesperso “How much do you charge for your items?” They would most likely say, “Well, what are you looking for?”

Even if you were more specific and went to the shoe department then went straight to the sales person and asked, “How much do you charge for your shoes?” They would say, “Well, what are you looking for? Are you looking for dress shoes, flat shoes, sandals, etc.?”

They would ask you questions first and once they understand what you’re looking for, they’d show you appropriate options and their prices.

Price is a premature questio

Here’s a good example of how price can become a premature question. I recently spoke with a prospect asking quite a bit about what they were looking to solve in their business. After that conversation, he said, “Well, can you tell me what kind of things you offer in your coaching services?” In response I said, “Based on just what you told me about the focus you have in your business right now, quite honestly nothing that I offer would be the right fit.

It’s really important to realize that the answer to “What you charge for your services?” will be premature before you are able to understand what the person’s needs are.

Shift to asking questions

If someone asks “How much do you charge?” The answer is “It depends. I offer a few different things. May I ask you a few different questions?” In my experience, everyone responds “Yes” to that question.

At this point, you simply shift to discovering what your prospect is trying to address or solve. After you fully understand what their challenges or burning desires are, AND you also discover that you can indeed help, only then would price enter the conversation. So remember, you don’t ever have to answer the question right off the bat because, frankly, it’s premature.

Which offer and prices to share

Often we make the mistake of sharing our entire price list and offerings with prospects. However, when you ask the right questions you then know which offer to present to your prospect. The questions conversation allows you the opportunity to present the best offer. You offer comes from really understanding what it is the person wants, what their challenges are, what they are hoping to resolve as a result of investing in your services.

When you become aware of what they’re trying to address, you then know which specific offers, programs, services, or products would be the right fit to address the needs they identified. The prices you share depend on their answers to the questions.

So in short, when you’re asked, “How much do you charge?” You answer should be, “Well, I charge a few different prices. Would you mind if I ask you a few questions first?”