How to Make Your Price Seem Small – Price Anchoring Scripts
Price anchoring refers to the tendency people have to use the first price presented to make subsequent judgments about the size of other prices. In the example below you see three cars advertised. The Audi is $48,99, the Buick is $28,999, and the Chevy is $24,999. The Audi acts as the price anchor to make the price of the Buick and Chevy “feel” less expensive to the buyer.
Once you start paying attention to the price anchoring technique you’ll begin to see it EVERYWHERE. From restaurant menus to SaaS applications, we are being price anchored every day.
You can use this technique in creative services sales too. Here are a few different scripts you can use to price anchor your clients during the sales process. Each of these scripts could be used in response to the question, “How much do you charge for something like this?”
01 : Price Anchor with Competition
“I know that our competitors charge $5,000 for this type of project. But we have lower overhead and can be more competitive at $3,500.”
02 : Price Anchor with Industry
“I recently saw an industry survey that showed pricing for this type of work. That survey had the low-end prices for this work at $4,000, but that’s a bit higher than what we charge. We are probably in the $3,500 range.”
03 : Price Anchor with Bigger Agencies
“I know that agencies charge as much as $10k for this type of work. But as a freelancer, I can be more competitively priced at $4,000.”
04 : Price Anchor with Past Work
“We’ve had projects like this before. I think our last one was $5,500, but the scope of your project is a bit smaller so we can be less at probably around $4,000.”
05 : Price Anchor with Designer Friends
“My designer friend and I were recently talking about pricing for these types of projects. I was surprised that they were charging $1,500 for projects like this. I’m not quite as high as that. I’ll probably be in the $1,000 range.”
Once you understand price anchoring you will begin to recognize it being used all over. The restaurant menu will have the $39 steak right next to the grilled chicken for $14.99. Watch for it! They are selling the chicken all day long.
