Offering a defined price range (e.g., '$149-$299') instead of an open-ended 'pick your price' model leverages social pressure. Most customers will pay more than the minimum to avoid appearing cheap, anchoring the average transaction value significantly higher.
Related Insights
Introduce a significantly more expensive, highly customized version of your service alongside your main offering. This price anchor makes the actual product you want to sell appear like a fantastic deal, even if it has a high price point, thereby increasing conversion rates.
To sell more of a $300 package instead of a $200 one, introduce a $500 option. Most won't buy the decoy, but its presence shifts the customer's reference point, making the $300 package appear more reasonable and valuable by comparison.
The business creates two offers: a high-ticket annual prepay ("anchor") and a standard quarterly payment ("core"). Even if only 20% of customers take the anchor, it significantly increases the average cash collected per sale across all customers. This strategy makes the entire acquisition model more profitable without changing the core product.
To increase average deal size, introduce a new, much higher-priced package (e.g., $100k) and pitch it as your primary offer. Commit to selling it hard. For clients who object, you can then downsell to your original core offer (now priced at $35k), which appears incredibly reasonable by comparison. This captures whales and boosts conversions on your main offer.
Proposing an outcome-based pricing model next to a high fixed-fee option forces the negotiation to focus on value, not cost. Even if the customer chooses the fixed fee, they're anchored on a much higher number and are less likely to negotiate it down significantly.
To make a high price seem reasonable, anchor it against a different, more expensive component of the customer's total budget that delivers less long-term value. For example, compare a $100k entertainment package to a $300k flower budget, arguing budget should align with memorability.
Even if rarely purchased, a premium one-on-one offer serves as a powerful value anchor. Its high price tag transfers a degree of perceived value to your more accessible, scalable products. To work, you must confront the high price directly with prospects before offering a downsell.
Price sensitivity decreases when customers have absolute clarity on what they're buying, when technicians present options with confidence, and when the business consistently provides multiple choices. These three "C's" build perceived value, allowing for higher prices.
A decoy offer is a strategically priced option designed to be ignored. Its purpose is to make your primary, more expensive offer seem more attractive and reasonably priced in comparison. This psychological trick shifts customer preference towards higher-ticket items, increasing average order value.
Instead of hiding price until the end of the sales cycle, be transparent from the start. Acknowledge if your solution is at the high end of the market and provide a realistic price range based on their environment. This allows you to quickly qualify out buyers with misaligned budgets, saving your most valuable asset: time.
