What to say when a prospect says "too expensive"

"We love your proposal, but it's just too expensive."

Your immediate reaction might be to offer a 10% discount. Don't. When you immediately drop your price, you signal that your original price was inflated, destroying trust.

The Principle: Value Framing

Price is always relative to value. When a prospect says it's too expensive, they are actually saying, "I don't believe the ROI justifies this investment." You need to shift the conversation from the cost of action to the cost of inaction.

The Script

I understand it's a significant investment. Let me ask you this — if you don't solve [Problem X] in the next 3 months, how much revenue are you losing every month by keeping the status quo?

If they are losing $10,000 a month to inefficiencies, a $5,000 project fee is suddenly a bargain. Frame your price against their pain, not against your competitors.

If they genuinely don't have the budget, you can negotiate the scope, not the price.

I can't change the pricing for this scope, but what we can do is remove Phase 3 and Phase 4 for now. That brings the total down to $X and still solves your immediate problem. How does that sound?