In the most recent episode of our podcast, Jen and I chat about discounts. We believe that you should probably avoid them. 

With 20+ years of business ownership, we’ve tried countless marketing strategies and can tell you from experience what works and what doesn’t.

Let’s jump into a few reasons for avoiding discounts.

First, they’re never fair. Running deals for “New Clients Only!” causes segregation within your customer base. Some pay more, and some pay less, based on nothing more than showing up late to the party. Now, I know life isn’t fair, but that doesn’t mean that you should go out of your way to create unfair scenarios. How would you feel if you supported someone for years, paying full price because you respected the person as a professional and found out others got charged less than you?

Next, come the coupon chasers. I have nothing against people who chase coupons, try to save money, or live for the challenge of finding the best deal. But they’re not my target client. 

Quick story: Back in the day, I worked with a company that drove customers into my business via deep discounts. Their approach was, “We get them in the door, and it’s your job to keep them.” It made sense at the time because I wasn’t aware of consumer behavior. The influx of new clients took away from my current clients, who were all paying full price. Then, another local business ran a discount, and almost all of those new clients jumped ship and moved on! They were never there for my business; they were there for the deal.

My final point is rampant in this industry—emotional discounting. I’m not a cold-hearted person. Quite the opposite. If I didn’t need money to solve the problems we face (housing, food, clothing, etc.), I’d be all about serving others for free. Unfortunately, we need money to solve the problems our modern lifestyle presents. Knowing that others face those same problems makes it easy to slip into emotional discounting. I know how it feels not to have money, so when someone says, “That’s not in my budget.” my initial thought is, “How can I help this person?” You need to take a step back and realize that your responsibility is to your business first. If you go out of business, then you won’t be able to help anyone.

“But, Todd, it’s only this once!” 

It’s not. You know it’s not. Once you go down that road, you’ll find reasons to discount everyone. 

Should I ever discount? 

Look, friends, there’s no right or wrong. As much as I’d love if the world operated in a strictly black-or-white fashion, it doesn’t. The intent of our podcasts, this blog, and our social presence is to open things up to have conversations. Do discounts drive business? Sure do. If you have a brand new company that you need to raise awareness for, could temporary discounts help? Sure could. 

I’d be cautious and have a solid game plan that included items like intelligent wording, expiration dates, and end game, and tangible metrics. 

If you need help or want to chat, email me here.