Defending Prices That Were Never Set Properly

In this episode of Live With The pricing Lady, we're talking about a pricing strategy problem, defending prices that were never set properly to begin with. Sit back, relax, and enjoy the episode. Welcome to The pricing Lady Podcast, where smart business owners price with purpose and profit with clarity. I'm Janene your hostess. I'm excited to be bringing you the first episode of the New Year. Let me start by wishing you a very happy New Year. Today we are going to be talking about defending prices that were never set properly in the first place. And I chose this because it was actually the last post I made on LinkedIn last year, and I thought, what a great episode to kick off the new year. Often clients when they come to me, they say, Janene alls I need are the right argument, arguments to defend my prices. And I have two big issues with this request. It's not that I don't wanna help you, but you're looking for the wrong answers. And here's my issues. First of all, you're talking about arguments, and second of all, you're talking about defending. We're gonna get into more why I have issues with that in a moment. But this type of going on the defensive shows up in sales discussions, in proposals, in your written offers, and even landing pages. Or can even be a simple conversation where someone asked an innocent question about what you charge and you go into defensive mode. Most clients are trying to defend their prices that they themselves don't actually believe in, and that's why they go into defense and argumentation mode. The prices were not set on a foundation, so they don't have the belief that those are, or the knowing that those are the right prices. So there's no solid foundation upon which to have a good, value led pricing conversation, and that is one of the main reasons why they end up in defense and argumentation mode. So why do people get in this position? There are many reasons and the main one is being, they lack a clear way to set prices they actually believe in. They don't know how to set them and they're skipping that entire decision process around how they're finding the right prices in their business. And of course, if you don't believe in it, then you don't feel confident in it, and you feel more of that urge to defend or to argue why those are the right price. Some people simply copy what others are doing, and again, just copying what someone else is doing doesn't mean that it's right for your business. Maybe it's right for their business. Maybe they're losing money, you don't know, but just copying what someone else does isn't gonna give you the confidence to say, "Hey, I know this is the right price and this is why I know that." Oftentimes people will throw at a price before they actually understand the offer or the needs of the customer, and that again, leads to feeling uncertain. You're just trying to throw argumentation at the wall and see what sticks with the client rather than having done the work upfront and knowing it. Maybe they've haven't got a plan yet for actually navigating such conversations. It could also be a preparation. So maybe they put some, logic behind the prices that they have, but then they didn't pull that into having a plan for how to have the discussion. So that's another what reason why people end up in this defense and argumentation mode. It can also be that they don't understand, aren't clear or don't believe in the value that their offer, whether it be a product service or a software actually delivers, or that it's not aligned with what the customer wants. And that leads me to the last reason that I'm gonna mention here, and that's that they're unclear on the customer. And what often happens is people try to create offers that are great for anyone because they think that if they cast a wide net, it means they'll have the opportunity to have more sales. But often what they're. They're doing what I call for selling. So they're trying to, you know, put a square peg in a round hole in a, in, in this context, they're selling something to a lot of people, a lot of customers or clients who actually it's not suitable or fit for. And then when they get pushback, they feel they need to defend, and they're defending with arguments, if you will, that aren't actually fit for purpose. So it feels really uncomfortable. So now we're moving a little bit from why they are in there to what they're doing, but I wanted to bring these six reasons up because maybe you see some of that in what you are doing, and it's important to reflect on that. So why does going on the defensive feel necessary and at the same time, so difficult? It's a symptom, of what's going on. If you're going into a conversation and you don't feel confident because you're not sure about your price or the customer, or the value or the scope of the project or whatever it is, you're trying to fix it with argumentation. Argumentation, or defending what your price is isn't necessarily the right thing to do. 'cause it's just a symptom of not having done some aspect of the work upfront. It feels necessary because you've set a price and by setting it, you've made a statement that this is the right price, but you don't feel so certain about it. And so you try to argue to then defend it. You're tossing out arguments. Or let's say, let's put it this way, why does it feel so hard? So you're tossing out arguments that don't really fix what you're feeling. So that's one of the reasons that it feels so difficult because deep down you know that it's not actually gonna solve the problem. You're just kind of hoping that somebody will take your word for it in a sense. And things like scripts and hacks can be useful when you have the confidence, but they will not replace the clarity on the price and the value that you deliver. So these are two reasons, these last two are reasons why it feels so hard is, you know, those arguments might feel hard putting out there because you not really in a solid position to be able to defend. And then of course it feels that much harder. Here's my point. Clarity earlier in the process makes everything easier going forward. And that is a really big point. I want you to write down or type into your, your calendar or note somewhere for yourself because especially when it comes to having sales conversations and leading those conversations with the value, which is where I want you to get to, you need to have that clarity upfront otherwise it gets difficult very quickly. Just like knowing the customer makes finding the right price easier. Having a clear pricing process means that you've done the work upfront to help you build that foundation upon which you can feel confident about what you charge. And then the beauty is you don't need to argue and you don't need to go on the defensive. I saw this last year with plenty of clients looking for arguments. Once we rooted the discussion and their prices in value, it shifted and made things much easier. Now, it's not gonna solve all your problems. There will always be customers and clients and situations that come up that take you outside that comfort zone, but. Over the long run, you're going to build that repertoire of skills to be able to handle those situ situations with much more ease. So what do I mean by earlier? Definitely before getting to selling and before communicating prices, you need that base level of clarity before you're going to market. Now, I'm not saying you have to have all the answers and we are definitely not looking for perfection, but if you understand the value of what you deliver in relation to the customer you're targeting, and you've looked at all the right aspects that build up and make a good price, then you're in a better position to be able to handle those conversations when they do come up. The clarity here that matters the most is you understanding why that price is fair to both you and to your clients. Now, if you follow me, you know I talk a lot about finding a fair price. 'cause I hear that from a lot of my clients, "janene, I just wanna find a fair price." There are three components of a fair price, a fair price reflects the value that is delivered, enough people are willing to pay for it, and it brings a reasonable profit. So if the price is fair, it meets those requirements. So we're talking about anchoring things in value. That's where willingness to pay, and of course, the value piece come from. And understanding what is profitable and gonna help you be there to build and grow your business and be there for your clients defense and arguments, then transform into anchors of pricing. Yeah, so if you are anchors of value, let me be more clear about actually anchors of value. So when you understand the value, those become the anchors. You don't need arguments anymore. You don't need to defend your prices because you're leading all of your conversations, whether they are in written or spoken form. You're leading those conversations from a position of value. So there's no defensing defensiveness, there's no argumentation needed per se, because you are talking about things from a perspective of value. So you end up leading the conversation from a much more stable place, and you don't feel that same level of pressure that you do when you don't have that foundation there. That's what makes it ultimately possible to communicate calmly because you know deep in your heart, because you've done the work, that you set prices that are fair to all. As we kick off this new year 2026, I'd encourage you to reflect on the following. If you find yourself defending price as often, it's worth asking yourself, where is that effort coming from? Is it about the conversation in front of you or is it about the decisions that were never anchored earlier on? That's all I have for you for today's episode. I hope that you enjoyed this conversation arguing. We're talking about leading, understanding, and leading with value. That is your path to path to pricing success in 2026. And for those of you who are interested, you know that I offer a group program called the Fair Price Formula and the next cohort starts at the end of February. If you'd like to know more about it, head on over to The pricing Lady dot com back slash set my prices. I wish you all the best. Have a great day, and as always, enjoy pricing.