Whether or not to publish your prices

In The Business Oasis, our online business community, one of the members wrote: "I am unsure if it's a good idea to include my fees in my brochure and on my website."

Good question: do you or don't you include your price? If you don't include pricing, are you being coy and deceptive? Or, if you include your pricing, will someone who's interested say "No" before they even have a chance to consider?

What happens when someone sees your price.

Well, what happens when you see a price? The price brings the whole idea of whatever the offer is into concrete, grounded here-and-now-ness. You see the price and all the dreams of what it will be like to have whatever the offer is, suddenly become real.

The price represents a choice point.

When you are reading a website, brochure, or what-have-you, you may not be ready to make a choice. And so when the price pops up, it's reminding you that the choice is waiting.

Remember that the moment of purchase is a sacred moment- it's a moment of great intimacy. Someone is giving to you, and you will be giving to them. Instead of them receiving your marketing, perhaps anonymously, suddenly it becomes a two-way relationship. That's increased intimacy.

When someone is considering increased intimacy, they tend to have a lot of questions, and they want those questions answered before saying 'Yes.'

Sounds like a great argument for hiding your prices?

Except it's not. You see, if someone isn't ready to make a choice, they'll just glance at your price, take it in, and file it away for when they're ready.

But, if someone IS ready to make a choice, or even just moderately close to ready, and your prices are hiding, there is no choice point. No here-and-now-ness to your offer. Your reader will begin to wonder: "What are they hiding? Can I afford it? Are they just trying to get me to call so they can do the hard-sell on the phone?"

The price is actually a lightening rod.

So, what happens in a prospective client is they have questions pop up while they are reading about your offer. Then, if those questions aren't answered in your writing, the pressure builds. And builds.

And when the price pops up, all of that energy jumps, just like a bolt of lightening.

If it's not an offer, don't publish your prices.

If you have just your general website pages, or a general information brochure, and the action you are asking the person to take doesn't require a purchase, then you don't have to publish your prices. When signing up for an email or mailing list, subscribing to a blog, making a phone call for a general inquiry that isn't likely to end up in a purchase, then prices aren't needed.

And, in fact, prices can distract at this point. If it's not part of the action you want them to take, leave them out.

When it is an offer, collect as many questions as you can.

Get some friends or colleagues to help you get all the odd-ball and unthinkable questions about your offer out on the table.

"Will I look foolish in front of the art class?"
"Will I be the only guy who can't touch my toes in a room full of ultra-flexible women at this yoga studio?"
"Is your coaching going to just be a way to beat me up and make me feel worse about all the deadlines I'm already missing?"

Answer those questions on your webpage or brochure BEFORE you list the price. That will help to discharge the lightening bolt that's been building up.

Don't worry about scaring people off.  

The price is the price. People already know that your offer costs money, and so publishing your price is not a surprise to them. The only question they have about your price is 'How much?' Answer that question in context, and things get much easier for them.

If you put your price out there, it actually creates more trust and comfort in the person considering your offer, because it's out in the open.