29. Stop the Discounting Trap: How to Book More Without Lowering Prices

In today’s challenging economy, it’s easy to feel like the only way to keep your calendar full is by lowering your prices. But before you start slashing rates, consider the long-term impact this could have on your business.

Lower prices might attract more bookings in the short term, but they also bring in clients who are more focused on getting a deal than on valuing your work. This can lead to burnout, resentment, and a never-ending cycle of working harder for less.

What if there's a more effective strategy that not only fills your calendar but also allows you to raise your prices?

In this week’s podcast episode, I break down this market-proof strategy in detail. 

Successful Creatives make the world brighter. Follow @theewingsstudio on instagram for weekly tips and tricks to uplevel your bookings and increase profits so that you can accomplish all of the goals on your heart.

Transcript

Welcome back to the Successful Creatives Podcast. I'm so glad that you're here today. We're talking about something that is very timely in a market that's not exactly positive. What we're going to be covering today is, do you need to lower your prices in order to fill up your calendar in a slow economy? Or might there be another strategy that's even more effective that will actually help you raise your prices? Let's face it, most of us would rather be creating art than running a successful business, but we can 100% do both. My name is Erica Ewing. I'm a wedding photographer in sales and marketing expert for creative entrepreneurs. I'm here to help you define the life of your dreams and create a business that supports just that. Welcome to the Successful Creatives podcast. Okay, let's talk about the state of the economy at this moment. Right now, it feels like any time I open up any sort of media outlet, whether it be social media or the news or anything and there's messages about the economy being down with that in mind. Then there is the logical assumption that budgets are down if you're in the wedding industry. We know that weddings are down from where they were in 2022 and 2023. And so when we're thinking about how we can increase bookings, we often come back to the fact that pricing is a major factor. And so when bookings are up, you've got the flexibility to raise prices.

So the logic would stand that when bookings are down, it would make sense to lower prices in order to increase your bookings. Totally logical if you're doing this in your business, I see you, I've been there. But there is another strategy that I'm going to talk to you about today. I want to cover a couple of things. I want to cover the impact on your business of lowering prices in order to get those bookings Today. And I also want to talk about this other powerful strategy that will actually allow you to increase your prices and increase your bookings in regardless of the account of the economy, whether it's down, whether it's up. This is like a market proof strategy that will help you make more money. Now, there was a long time in my business where I felt like I had to. I had this belief that I had to lower my prices in order to book weddings, and I would add extra incentives and and like valuable things that would cost a significant amount of money. And I was just giving it away in order to get bookings. And if you're doing this right now, there is no shade, because like I said, I've been there, but it's it's I just want to kind of talk about before we get into the strategy, that that can be really powerful for your business.

I want to talk about the the results of reducing your prices, of lowering prices and giving really giving away the farm, because that's what I'm hearing so many of you are doing, just giving away so much value in order to get bookings. I want to talk about what the results are of that approach over the long term, because what you're doing is you're really undercutting yourself. And simultaneously, in addition to hearing that people are lowering their prices in a tight economy where there is still a lot of inflation, where groceries are still insanely expensive, um, it's going to cause your money situation to be so tight. And if you're there right now, you're like, preach, Erica. Yeah, I hear you. What that does is that creates resentment, and that resentment can cause you to be resentful towards your business, towards your clients. That is something that will start to fester and it'll cause burnout. It will eventually cause you maybe to even throw in the towel to say it's not worth it. Like shooting. If you're in the wedding industry, shooting weddings for this price is just no longer worth it. I'd rather have my Saturdays back. I'd rather go back to a 9 to 5. Now, the other thing that lowering your prices does is it attracts clients who are price shoppers. It attracts clients who are lower budget and who don't value you. And sure, they might be excited about the discount.

They might feel like they kind of hit the lottery because they kind of did. Because you're amazing and they know that they're getting it for a deal, but you're not valuing yourself here. And so these clients won't value you. And at some point, there will be a moment in the process where they start to doubt if you are the right person for them because it was such a good deal. Think about any time you've gotten a really good deal on something, and at first you get that dopamine hit where you're like, yes, this is amazing score. I got a huge deal on this. But then later on you think about it and you're like, shoot, wait, maybe, maybe this quality isn't going to be great. Maybe, you know, this isn't going to last long term. You start to have all of these doubts and it's based on that reduced price. If you have clients that you feel like don't necessarily trust you, they're questioning what you're doing. They're sending you shot lists. Again, if you're a photographer, they are sort of like micromanaging. It's because of this value of this like price value trust gap. One example in my own life is when we were planning our wedding, this was how. How long have I been married? Uh 17 years now, I think. Um, but when we were planning our wedding, we, uh, we paid for most of it ourselves.

Okay. And there were certain areas that I spent more on. There were certain areas I spent less on. We had a DJ, and we found this incredible DJ for $600. And even though, you know, I think I've actually been married for 15 years. Ben, don't listen to this episode. But, um, 15 years ago, $6,600 for a DJ was a freaking steal. It was like $1,000 to 1500. It was what I was sort of hearing was the average. And I'm sure it was up from there, not down. And at first, like, we connected with this guy, he was incredible. And we were like, Holy smokes, we get this incredible creative for $600. And we checked it off the list and we moved on. And then as the date got closer, I started to literally wake up in the middle of the night with, like, panic attacks, because we were relying on someone who only charged $600 for his services to provide the entertainment for my entire wedding, for the entire night. And I really started to have doubts, and I started to regret that I spent so little on my DJ. And I have to tell you, it worked out amazing. This guy 100% under charged. He undervalued his services. I can't remember if maybe he was in like business building mode. Perhaps at that end. At that point, um, somebody from my wedding ended up booking him for their own wedding.

Um, and so if that was the case, fine. Hopefully he got his objective. But from the consumer perspective, it was really nerve wracking. I got that that instant gratification, the instant like, yes, I'm going to book. And then it was the doubt. So if you are dealing with clients who are micromanaging or who don't value you, who don't feel so lucky to be working with you because they should they should feel really lucky to be working with you. You're amazing. And it's because you are undercutting yourself. You're not valuing yourself, your profitability. It just deteriorates when you get into this situation of lowering prices, of throwing in, you know, bonuses that are costing you your time, your work life balance is thrown off. So if you're in a situation where you feel like you are just working all hours of the night again, if you're a photographer, you're editing into the like the midnight hours beyond, and eventually again, you're going to get to that point where it's not worth it. When you're fixated on pricing and you believe that price is the biggest factor or the deciding factor in working with you, then your clients are going to believe that too, because that is the energy that you're putting out there, that you're saying that the final decision in choosing who you're going to work with is price, and I am going to give you a better price.

So therefore you should book with me. Let's take a look at shopping behaviors. And I'm going to use a shopping center as an example. So you and I are going to go buy a sweater. We've gone to this giant beautiful shopping center with lots of sweater stores in it. You head into a sweater store number one, and you're looking around and the sweaters are beautiful. You feel the quality, you check out the colors and the styles. You look at the price tag. You're not ready to make a decision. So you move on to store two. Store two. Same thing. There are a lot of good sweater options out there right now. You're looking through the racks. The store clerk asks if you need help with anything and you say, no, I'm just looking. You peruse onto store number three and by this point you're like, okay, all of these sweaters are really great. I actually really like all of them. Um, I am not sure how to decide. They're all beautiful. The colors are great, but one of the stores was having a 20% off sale. And so in this situation, I'm going to go for the sale. When all other things are equal, then that is when price becomes the biggest factor. And the reason is because price is the one thing that is black and white. It is the easiest way for a consumer to make a decision about a product when it comes to sweaters.

If all of the sweaters felt like soft enough and all of the colors were were, you know, flattering colors on you and the cuts were good, then it's a hard decision, right? Except when one of them is cheaper, whether that be that the prices were just lower or whether that be that there's a sale, there's like a discount that's going on. Okay. Now let's look at another example because we haven't been into store for yet. So store for you. Open the door and you head on in to look for the sweater. By now you're a little bit exhausted for sweater shopping. Everything kind of looks the same. You're probably going to go back to the one that's 20% off, because you're going to get a deal. But you decide to look into this last sweater shop and the the store clerk meets you at the door, just like at the past store where, you know, there was a clerk who met you at the door and asked if they could help you find anything. The store clerk meets you at the door and she asks you. Are you by chance, looking for a buttery, soft sweater that you can toss in the dryer without having to worry that it will shrink, fade, or lose its shape? Why yes, I am, you say to her. And then she proceeds to walk you through the differences of their sweater line.

She points out the great benefits that she's already mentioned, plus the fact that it's cashmere, it's ethically sourced. There's a 90 day return policy. Oh, and by the way, there are 10,005 star reviews on this sweater. It's two times the price as the sweaters that you saw in the first three stores. You try it on. It's the first and only sweater that you try on, and you're super excited to get into that fitting room and try it on. It fits perfect. And she was right. It is buttery soft as you think about the price. It's two times what the other sweaters were, but you start to justify why. Well, it's cashmere and they really care about how they're sourcing their materials. And also if it doesn't work out, you can return it. You've got a full three months to try it and return it. But with all of those five star reviews, you already know that you're going to love it You walk out of that fitting room, you head straight to the checkout and you buy it and you cannot wait to get home. You're thinking about it on the ride home. You cannot wait to get home. Put it on even though it's summertime. And then you call your best friend and you tell her about the best sweater that you just got, and then you leave the 10,000 in 1 review online.

Why was this experience so different? Well, in the first three stores, you were expected to compare and see the difference in the sweaters on your own, and they all started to blend together once you got past the first two stores. By store three, they all started to blend together until price was the the primary factor. Because like I said, it was the thing that was black and white. If the quality is decent, the color and the style are decent, then hey, let's head back to the cheapest and call it a day. So Will Will if you did that, if you took the budget sweater in that case, will it be your most treasured sweater? Probably not. Will you refer or recommend it? Doubt it, but you'll be happy enough. It's like if you ever buy a piece of clothing off of Amazon and it comes in in the quality is actually decent, you're psyched. And so if anybody compliments your sweater, in that case, you're like Amazon because you're like shocked that the quality is something that's good, right? Um, you'll probably worry every time that you toss it in the dryer that it's going to shrink or fade or lose its shape. And this is the case with your potential clients. They're shopping. Right. And so what they're doing is they're requesting a bunch of price lists in. Everybody responds the same. Here's more info, aka my pretty price list that I am hoping is going to sell for me.

Want to connect? No, no they don't because nobody wants to be sold. It's like when the store clerks always ask, is there anything I can help you find today? And you always say no because you don't want to be sold. Now, on the flip side though, people love to buy. They love to buy products that are aligned with what they need. They love to buy products and services that are filled with value. And so when you look at the sales situation in store number four, what happened here? Well, when you walked in, the sales clerk knew you. She knew that you were her ideal client and exactly what you were looking for. She has a really good understanding of her right fit client. She knew the fears that you had about sweater shopping and how her product could help you. She dramatically increased the value of her sweater over the rest to where price became pretty irrelevant. You were willing to spend twice the amount of what the other sweaters cost because the value was there. She talked about the quality. She talked about the softness, how you could toss it right in the dryer and not ever have to worry about it ruining the sweater. How there was a return policy in all of the five star reviews. So she she showed up with everything that you could have wished for in a sweater.

She took away all of the fears of purchasing the sweater, and had you feeling so super excited because she saw she saw you. She saw exactly what you were looking for. So think about this when it comes to your own business, because this is exactly what's happening in in the market right now in your market. This is why there is so much why it feels like there's so much competition. This is why it feels like in order to stand out or not even stand out, in order to close the deal, you have to lower prices or throw in incentives. Because yes, if you're one of those first three stores where you're leaving it up to your, you know ideal client to like. See what your difference is, to compare all of the options and to make her decision. Then price is going to be the biggest factor. And so if this is the game that you want to play, then yeah, you might be stuck in in a situation where you're going to need to lower your prices or give discounts in order to close that deal, but it is never going to be the the long term right solution that's going to serve you, your clients or your business. Because like I said in the beginning, you're going to end up in those situations where you you're not valued, your clients are micromanaging.

They're not the clients that you actually want to be working with. You're not profitable. You're like, finances are really tight. You're working way too many hours. You're missing out on the time with your family, all because you're not valuing valuing yourself where what you could be doing instead. On the flip side, is focusing on really connecting with what your right fit client wants and showing how you provide that. Really, instead of lowering prices, it's increasing your value. So really focusing on the value that you bring to the table, because you know that what you do is really incredible for your clients. But do they know is it is it, you know, can can they see it as clearly as you can see it? And if they can't, then this is really exciting news because there's room for growth here. There's room for you to be able to step up, uplevel how you show your value. And that is how you can have rock solid prices. That is how even if anybody you know is asking for a discount, you can say no. For a long time, I used to get asked if you know if there was a discount for whatever XYZ or just a discount for no reason, and now I can very confidently say I don't even get asked anymore Because once you get to a certain price point, people stop asking for discounts because you've valued yourself enough.

They value you enough that they're willing to invest more. And so they're not going to even talk about discounting. But if you are getting asked for discounts, when you can start to show your value, you get unshakable in in what that value is. And so you can very easily say that you do not discount that it is of it is out of alignment of service to you and to your clients who pay full price for you to offer discounts. And you know what's funny is when I used to get asked about discounts, once I really started showing up and trusting in my value and showing my value, I would get asked about discounts and I would say no and they would still book. Sometimes it's just a part of people's buying process is just to ask for a discount. Just ask and see what happens. And if nothing happens, fine. They still want you because you've shown your value. And when you can show your value in a way that is really undeniable to those right fit clients, this is how you your business becomes market proof. And this is the the piece of the puzzle that so many people are missing, is really assuming that your ideal client can see your value as easily as you can, because the truth of the matter is, the market is down. If you're in the wedding industry.

Weddings are down because they've been they've been like the market has been insanely boosted because of the pandemic. There were those ketchup years 2021. Insane 2022. Insane. If you got used to that level of volume, then you might be like in a little bit of a whirlwind right now because that was unsustainable, right? That was like a massive, just massive catch up years from the pandemic. So now we've sort of settled back into the normal, the levels that we are at from, say 2018, 2019. And um, and then there, there obviously is that we're not in as solid of as an economy. But the truth is that people are still planning weddings. There are still I think it's like 1.3 million people who are going to be getting married and planning a wedding in 2025. So the numbers are still out there. And what this means is that for the people who are able to really show their value, you're going to be standing out above everybody else who got used to being able to just book on their pretty price list alone, because with a totally saturated market like we had in 2021, 2022, even like the the rollover into 2023, bookings were easier for a bit. Now we're settling back in to the norm and bookings are feeling hard. People are thinking that enquiries are down, but it doesn't have to be that way. If you can showcase your value, then you can overcome the the desire or the feeling like you have to cut your prices.

So let's talk about how you can do this. I want to give you three simple questions that will get you started on really creating your value proposition in how you can present yourself in a way that just positions you as the total no brainer. I need to book this person option for your right fit client. Question number one to ask yourself when you're thinking about how you can build value is very much in alignment. Let's think back to that sweater shopping experience. Okay, the the fourth shop that you ended up purchasing, the sweater that was twice the price from she. This the sales clerk, came and she greeted you at the door and she knew you. She knew what you were looking for. She knew what you valued. And she knew, you know, really like what you feared when it came to purchasing a sweater, right? Like right away she she said things in your terms. So when you went looking for a sweater, you might not have had a total clear picture of the sweater that you wanted at that moment. But she knew that you wanted something that was really soft. She knew that you wanted a sweater that was going to be easy to care for in a sweater that you know would last, wouldn't be ruined by putting it in the dryer.

Okay. And then on a deeper level, she also knew that your that you align with values that really support the environment and are sustainable. So when she started to talk about not only the quality of the materials and how the washing machine won't shrink or ruin the clothing, you know, shrink, stretch or forget what I said, shrink stretch or um, like, have it lose its shape or fade. She knew this was important to you, and then she got on a deeper level and started talking about how it was ethically sourced. Right. And she brought all of this to the forefront of your like you walking through the store versus where the other stores did not do that. She highlighted the value of the sweaters that they offer above and beyond what the other stores were doing. She provided a certain level of service, and she dramatically increased the value of her sweater over the rest to where price became irrelevant. Right. So here's how you can shift the focus of your attention in your ideal clients attention from price to value. Here's how you can specifically decrease the attention of price, decrease the importance of price, and increase the importance of your value. First question to ask yourself is who is your ideal client in this sweater situation? Like I said, she knew what you were looking for. She knew what you were afraid of.

Who is your ideal client? And I'm not talking about if you have ever done any client avatar work. Some of it, I just think is a lot of fluff where it's like, where do they buy their coffee? Where do they shop? These things are not what's going to get you booked. If you're writing that you love Starbucks coffee because you know your ideal client loves Starbucks coffee, sure, you want to. If you've got things like commonalities like that where you share the same interests. Yes, you want to put that on your about page, but when you're thinking about your ideal client, you want to get on a deeper level, connected to where they are when it comes to their hopes, desires, fears, goals. When it comes to the product or service that you offer, what is it that they really want? This is question number two. So when you start to dig into who your ideal client is, then you can start to get really clear on what it is that they want. And that aligns with their goals, their dreams, their desires, their fears. And then question number three is how do you provide it differently and better? And then express that value over and over. One time in your price list is not going to do it. Not in this market that we're in where it's saturated and it's competitive. Now, when I say these three questions out loud, who is your ideal client? What do they really want and how do you provide it better or differently? And you think back to the sweater examples.

It's really, really easy to see why you chose the sweater from store four versus the first three that were cheaper, even the store with a deal. Because these three questions were answered by that sales clerk. She knew who you were. She knew what you really wanted and what was important to you. And she made it so crystal clear how the how this sweater shop provided differently and provided it better in a way that made you happy to invest in. So excited about the purchase that you made. This is also how like I mentioned, do you take clients from being happy clients to being raving fans who refer you all over the place? It's really like such a win win. When you start to lean into your value, you're going to see your confidence go up. You're going to see your profitability increase your bookings, increase your connection with your clients, increase. There are so many beautiful benefits to focusing in and leaning in and owning your awesomeness, and really showcasing that in a way that just becomes such a no brainer to your right. Fit clients. Take a look at your process and see how you are showing your value. Are you stores one through three where you're really leaving it up to your client to see your value? And so maybe pricing does feel like the biggest factor here.

Or you store for where you're meeting your right fit client at the door. You're guiding her through all of the benefits of working with you, and you're showing the value in a way that has her happy to hand over her credit card and spend twice as much. This possibility is the reality for so many creatives who are focusing on value over price. This is exactly what I want to see in your own business. If you have any questions, DM me on Instagram at the Ewing Studio. It will be hugely powerful in your business when you start to flip your focus from pricing to value. If you want more help on this, I do have an extra resource that will get you started. It's all about aligning your value with your right fit clients. It's totally free. You can go to the Ewing's comm slash right fit to grab it now. It's a fun worksheet that's going to help you take the first step to create, you know, really magnetic messaging that's going to start to build that value proposition with your right fit people. So grab that. Now it's the Ewing's comm slash right fit or in the show notes I'll make sure that I link to it to get out there. Show your value, stand firm in your prices and increase that profitability. You got this.