Why Your Cheapest Client Costs You the Most
The cheapest client often turns out to be the most expensive. They pay you in a different currency: your time, your nerves, and the good clients you miss. Here is why.
A little while ago a business owner told me: "I offer the lowest price so I get more clients." Three months later he was tired, frustrated, and still short on money.
Why? Because the cheapest client often turns out to be the most expensive.
In the next 3 minutes I will show you why your cheapest client costs you the most, and what to do instead.
Price is bait
Price is not just a number. Price is bait.
Imagine you are fishing. Whatever bait you drop in, that is the kind of fish you catch. If you drop in the cheapest bait, you attract exactly the kind of client who cares about nothing except the price.
The client who is only shopping on price will find an even cheaper option tomorrow and go there. He is not interested in your work, only in who asks for less.
A cheap price attracts a cheap client, not the one who understands what your work is worth.
1. What a cheap client really costs you
A cheap client does not just pay you less money. He takes your most expensive resource: your time and energy.
The one who pays the least is usually the one who complains the most, calls you most often, and asks for the most revisions.
And while you are busy serving him, that good client, the one who would have paid full price and valued your work, cannot reach you, because there is no time left.
This is money thrown away: the income you never earned while you were busy serving the cheap client.
2. What to do instead
The answer is not simply "raise your price." The answer is to show value instead of price.
When a client sees exactly what result he gets from you, price becomes secondary. He stops thinking "who is cheaper" and starts thinking "who will solve my problem."
You might ask, what if the market really does demand a low price? Here is my answer: there is always a portion of clients for whom quality matters more than price. Those are your people.
Ask yourself: does your offer stand out on price, or on result? If only on price, there will always be someone who asks for less and takes the client away from you.
So one expensive, happy client who trusts you is worth far more than ten cheap clients who always complain.
The bottom line
A cheap client is not cheap. He simply pays you in a different currency: your time, your nerves, and the good clients you miss.
So next time, before you cut your price to pull in more clients, stop and think: are you really attracting the kind of client you want to work with?
Often, a slightly higher price and a clear offer bring you more profit than a calendar full of discounts.
Talk soon,
Rati
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