Stop negotiating prices with SEO leads, it's not worth it.

Stop negotiating prices with SEO leads, it's not worth it.

Every time I get an SEO lead they always want to negotiate on the pricing like it's something I can do for $1 a day and still feed my family while keeping a roof over my head.  Now that I've matured to a point in my business life that I know what I'm worth, I don't negotiate much with the potential buyer because it's just not worth doing a $3,000 service for $2,000 to get them to come on board.  Yes, that's still a lot of money, but I could also invest my time and get a different client to sign up with me at $3,000+ a month and not ask 1,000+ questions after the contract is signed.

Don't get me wrong, I work with all of my customers to give them the best price, but I don't debate what my services are worth and if a potential client ever says "I can outsource it to India for 1/2 the price" I usually ask them "Ok, why are we talking then?" lol.


If they can't afford you, cut them loose
A lot of clients may want to work with you, but they likely can't afford your pricing.  This is where my heart gets a little hurt because I want to help out all the little guys because I was one of them in the past, but I can't do that because I need to make money too.

I have to remember that if they can't afford to pay for the essential services that I need to cut them loose.  This is because they will likely be investing more than they should be risking, and if something goes south on their end, they will probably cancel on me.  Breaking a contract isn't anything new and I actually let people go if they have a good reason, but sometimes people will file chargebacks and 95% of the time it's the people I thought shouldn't have been paying for an SEO service because they didn't have enough money to tie up at the time.

Remember, you should invest in serious SEO if you're willing to lose the money.  You're not going to lose the money if it's a good company you're working with, but it does take a while before you see a positive ROI come back when doing SEO.


People who haggle about your digital don't know what they're buying (usually)
A majority of the time when I come across someone who is haggling to get a lower price, it means they don't know how much time needs to be invested into the work to do it properly.  I had a guy haggle with me about his logo design, and he said it should take no longer than 10 minutes to complete and cost $5 lol.  I'm sure a lot of graphic design people are laughing right now, and that's because a detailed logo with a mascot/character takes a long time to create.  I got the logo back to him within 48 hours, and he was not happy one bit.  He wanted his money back, threatened to file a chargeback, and said he was going to report me to PayPal lol.

Fast forward two months, and he's currently using the logo we made for him.  The same logo he got a refund on, the one he didn't like, and the one that we eventually had our lawyers contact him about to take down lol.  He ultimately paid us for the logo because he had it branded on everything he possibly could, so we charged him an inconvenience fee of $500 which he gladly paid.  We also told him to never work with us again.


People don't haggle surgeons or dentists
How often have you gone in to get a root canal, a crown, or told a surgeon "I'm going to pay $150 for this new nose you put on me, thanks!" lol.

It just doesn't happen like that because those people have put years into their craft and have fine-tuned it to the point where they know everything about it.  Now, why do we allow people to do this when it comes to digital services?  I stopped letting people determine my worth, and I've realized that that professionalism of the clients that stick with me is top-notch.  Not many of them try to get a lower price, they don't argue when something goes wrong (because we fix it), and they're overall a better client that makes us happy.

Stop letting others tell you what your services are worth.  They likely can't afford you, and they're throwing out a number they're more comfortable paying, which might not be something you're interested in entertaining.


Don't fall for the old "I can outsource this to India" line.
Like I mentioned above, people will usually pull the "I can outsource the same thing to India for cheaper!" line and all you need to say to this is "Ok, then why are we talking?".  They tend to back up a step and realize, "This guy doesn't care if I'm trying to haggle," and they'll start talking to you seriously.

Now, if they keep coming back to you and wanting a lower price, be firm with them.  Ask why they need a lower price.  Tell them your pricing is very competitive and you don't budge because you offer top-notch services.  If they come back with anything other than "You're right, let's continue with this order" you should cut them loose.  They're taking up too much of your time, and you're just going to lose money in the long run.  You can use your new free time to find clients that won't bother haggling with you about your pricing lol.


Great clients won't try to negotiate if you're the real deal
If you have a bunch of examples, client testimonials, and branding around the internet, then you're likely going to get a decent amount of attention.  You'll probably get a lot of people talking to you, and the good ones will stand out because they know the quality of your work and will purchase from you right away after maybe asking a couple of questions but not trying to haggle you on pricing.

I've had plenty of clients stick with me for 2+ years because I gave them results.  I've also had some clients stick with me for 10+ years because they're much more well off now that I did great SEO campaigns on their websites lol.


In the end, you determine your pricing based on the quality of the work and how you get it done.  Don't let others decide how much something of yours costs because that's not how business works.  You don't go into a restaurant, order a steak dinner, and tell the chef you're only going to pay $15 now and pay for the rest after you're done eating.  Pay for it upfront or don't pay for it at all lol


Thanks for reading


- Tommy
https://www.seoclerks.com/user/TommyCarey