Made for Consultants
Prepare for a Client Pushback on Fees
35 min
Intermediate
Boundaries
Prepare for a Conversation
Difficult Conversation
Identify what may be driving a client's fee objection, set your non-negotiables, and prepare options that change the deal instead of discounting unchanged work.
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Use this when
Use this after a client questions your fee, asks for a discount, says the budget is lower, or requests the same work for less.
You'll need
- Client message
- Current offer
- Price floor
- Available flexibility
- Engagement context
- Response channel
You'll get
- The likely objection without treating assumptions as facts identified A protected price floor, at least two viable tradeoff options, a ready-to-send response, branch replies, and a follow-up template that records any revised deal.
By the end of this playbook
You will have:
- The likely objection without treating assumptions as facts identified A protected price floor, at least two viable tradeoff options, a ready-to-send response, branch replies, and a follow-up template that records any revised deal.
Sample
This is sample data, not your prompt. Pro unlocks this higher-stakes Playbook. On Free Playbooks you can still copy the assembled prompt into any AI.
Sample input
Client message: "Your proposal looks good, but we only have $8,000. Can you meet that price without changing the deliverables?" Current offer: $12,000 for eight interviews, analysis, a live workshop, a written strategy, two revision rounds, and four weeks of email support. Price floor: $9,500 with reduced scope. Available flexibility: Fewer interviews, recorded briefing instead of a live workshop, one revision round, slower schedule, or installment payments. Context: New client, finance approval required above $10,000, project lead wants to start quickly. Response channel: Email
Sample assembled prompt
Recommended path: Don't accept $8,000... Ask whether the constraint is total... Option A: Keep the original $12,000... Option B: Set the fee at... Option C: Start with an $8,000... Price the workshop and full strategy... Draft response: Thanks for sharing the... I can't provide the full $12,000... Before I revise the proposal, can... If the total budget is fixed,... If timing rather than total cost... Once I know which constraint applies,...