Kit Barber argues that discounts train customers to bargain and kill profit. Instead of cutting price, keep it firm and ask what part of the offering they'd remove. Serious buyers care about value, not cost, and this approach closes deals at full price.
Why are you still discounting when you could close without dropping your price? Most business owners think discounting is what gets the deal over the line, but what it actually does is teach people to negotiate with you. Many of my clients were stuck in this loop. The quote goes out, pushback comes in, discount follows, and profit disappears. Stop negotiating price and start negotiating terms. Next time they push back, say, totally fair. If we need to bring the investment down, we can reduce the scope. 'Which part would you like to remove?' Then stay quiet. Serious buyers don't want cheaper, they want worth it. When price reductions come with trade-offs, most people choose the original option. Now you get your sale and it's at full price.
