Price objections are rarely about price. They are usually about unclear value, a budget that lives somewhere else, a comparison you cannot see, or a fear of choosing wrong. Discounting immediately answers a question nobody asked.
First, find out which one it is
Ask: "Too expensive compared to what?" It sounds blunt and it works, because the answer tells you whether you are competing against a cheaper vendor, an internal hire, doing nothing, or last year’s budget. Each needs a different response.
The four responses
- Re-establish value: return to the cost of the problem and the arithmetic.
- Reduce scope: less work for less money. Protects your rate, keeps the door open.
- Restructure: same total, split across months or milestones.
- Walk away warmly: the right answer more often than most people admit.
What is not on the list is cutting the price for the same work. That teaches the client your first number was inflated, and it teaches you to inflate the next one.
If you do discount, always take something in exchange — a longer term, faster payment, a case study, a referral. A trade keeps the price meaningful; a gift does not.
Try it
Write your response to "too expensive" for each of the four situations, in your own words, before you need them. Reading them aloud once removes most of the flinch.