Price bracketing is one of the most effective ways to get clients to pay you what you’d typically bid, as well as what you’re worth. So how does it work?

Price bracketing is all about giving a wide range of numbers to a potential client to help them get a sense of how much you’ll charge. You want to give an anchor, and make sure that anchor is a high number.

It can be intimidating at first to negotiate your price. You don’t want to risk losing the job. But if you don’t know how to talk about price or budget in a way that gets you the client, you may want to start price bracketing.

We say you should say a price before you show a price so the client knows what to expect when you send the proposal. For example, let’s say you’re a logo designer, and you typically charge anywhere between $5,000-$10,000.

That right there is your bracket, with $10k serving as your anchor. What you want to do when saying the price to the potential client is to reverse the order of the numbers. So, in a sales conversation, always say the highest price first.

Anchor above where you’d expect the client to spend. Then, once you’ve given them a range of a possible price point, ask them, “does that work for your budget?”

Starting with the higher number first makes the lower number seem like a much better deal. The client’s reaction to the high anchor will reveal if their budget is in range of your bracket. Once you come to an agreement on an appropriate price, then offer to send a proposal.

If the client’s budget is either too low, or they won’t meet you at your desired price, refer them to another creative professional you may know. When you genuinely help the client find the right fit for what they need, they’ll either come back to you for the next project, or refer you to someone they know.