How to discuss price with clients without asking ‘what’s your budget?’

There’s often a bit of a dance that goes on between a seller and buyer. The ‘what’s your budget?’ dance. Typically, it involves a buyer — your customer — asking questions about your products or services but being reticent to indicate what they are planning to spend. So, how do you price yourself when you have no idea about what their spending appetite may be? 

The budget dance

I experience the ‘what’s your budget’ dance quite often. People ask about some training, for example, but when I ask to clarify their budget, they say they don’t have one. And that’s fair enough. I’ve worked in businesses where we didn’t know what we needed to spend until we talked with potential suppliers.

While they might not have a set amount in mind, your customer will typically have a ballpark tolerance level. This is what you can say to get them to reveal it, adjusting the numbers to your industry and business, of course.

‘From what you’ve shared with me so far, there are a number of ways we could go. For example, to give you a ballpark idea, for some clients, their training program is around $80,000. For others, it’s around the $10k mark.