Richard Gottlieb

“It’s too expensive!”

The other day I was talking with a friend who is an interior designer. She has to work with a variety of crafts people and many times chooses to introduce them to her clients. In doing so, she always warns these crafts people in advance: “Never tell my client something is too expensive. Let them decide that for themselves.”

She is so adamant about this that she warns them right up front:  "If I ever hear you tell a client that something is too expensive I will never use your services again!" 

Why is she so adamant? She says that when someone introduces the notion that something is too expensive, it freezes the client. They go from making their own aesthetic and monetary decisions to suddenly questioning that with which they were previously comfortable.

Her comment caused me to think that many of us are guilty (particularly in times like these) of making decisions for our customers as to what is and is not “too expensive.” As a result, manufacturers decide not to produce products; retailers choose not to carry them and salespeople forgo showing them at all. If they do present them, they sometimes do so with the caveat that it may be “too expensive.”  

The notion of value and cost varies with the individual’s taste and pocketbook. When we decide for them we are introducing our own values into the conversation.

Is it too expensive? Let customers decide that for themselves. We may all be surprised.

Posted by Richard Gottlieb on March 27, 2009 | Comments (2)