Pricing when the client won’t give you a number
“We have a limited budget.”
Sound familiar?
If you’re a creative, especially a videographer or photographer, you’ve probably heard this:
“We have a limited budget.”
“Cool—what’s the budget range?”
“Just give us some options.”
It’s a guessing game.
You’re supposed to throw out numbers and hope you land somewhere close.
It’s frustrating… and risky.
Because if you aim too high, you scare them off.
If you aim too low, you underprice yourself before the conversation even starts.
Here’s how I handle it:
1. I provide three strategic pricing options
The biggest mistake I made early in my career was only quoting one price. It was always a gamble.
Now, I propose three options.
I quote a basic tier to get the job done at a budget that’s still healthy for me but the most basic I’m willing to do.
Then I quote a medium tier, where I want the client to really land. This option is exactly how I’d quote the job, including everything I feel they need and a margin that is great for me.
Then I quote a home run tier that includes a max budget for going top tier on everything. More coverage. More deliverables. And often more crew.
The home run tier is important because it gives them a huge option, in case they do have the money … you don’t know… and it anchors the other two prices.
2. Price anchoring
My top tier is intentionally beyond what they asked for—something more robust, custom, or premium. It reframes how they see the lower options.
This is called “price anchoring” and it’s really beneficial from a psychological standpoint.
Let me explain…
If you only provide one quote, one number, then there’s nothing to judge the rest against.
By providing multiple tiers, and a top tier that is a home run, you give context to all of the tiers. Now they can judge each tier against the others.
This amount of options gives the prospect a level of control that is crucial in sales (without giving too many options).
If the prospect feels ‘out of control’ then they will try to negotiate even further.
So give them some control by presenting options that they can choose. You’re not forcing them into a specific tier.
3. Don’t overwhelm
Have you ever gone to grocery store to look for cereal? Or cheese? How many options are there?
A whole aisle of options… too many…
Don’t do that with your proposals.
Don’t give a client too many options because it becomes overwhelming and then they lose a sense of control.
The goal is to keep them in control of their decision making.
And they will feel safest when they have a few options (three is often best) and can make a decision from those.
4. Build consistent packages
One of the best ways to streamline this is to pre-build these options (or packages).
Review some of your latest projects and discover which ones yielded the best margins for you.
What was the price? What were the deliverables?
Use that as your benchmark. You want more of those bookings.
So build your packages based on that.
For example…
If we had a great project at $5,000 and we did the following:
3 hours of pre-production
half day of filming
1x 60 sec edit and 2x 30 sec edits
And we walked away knowing our margin was $4,000, then that’s a great place to start.
Build packages up from that:
Basic - $5,000
Medium - $9,500
Home run - $17,000
And keep those dialed in so you can easily propose them to any new prospect.
If pricing conversations keep stressing you out, well… You’re not alone.
On my Creator Clarity Calls, I walk through real-world pricing strategy for creative entrepreneurs.
I’ll help you build packages that sell and protect your value.
[Book a Creator Clarity Call here]
Stop guessing. Start leading the conversation.
—Trent
Hear from someone who recently booked a call:
