by Jessi Burg

Whether or not to include your prices on your website is one of the most common questions we get here at Outgrow Your Garage. The answer is….well, it depends.

This week on the blog, we’re looking at the pros and cons of making your pricing public so you can decide what works best for your business.

In today’s era of instant information, potential clients often want to know as much about a company as possible before contacting them. They read reviews, peruse your website, and look for examples of your past work.

For many industries, clients may not know quite what they need or how much it will cost. This means that pricing is one of the first things they ask about during the initial conversation or estimate. 

Pricing is tricky and can fluctuate depending on your business, the season, and supply availability. Before you can even think about putting pricing on your website, you need to make sure that you have a consistent pricing structure.

Ask yourself the following questions:

-Are your prices clear and consistent across all of your jobs?

-Do you have a standard list that you refer to for pricing any given job?

-If you charge by the hour, how do you estimate how many hours a job will take?

Once you know those answers, you can decide whether or not to include pricing on your website or in your marketing materials.

Here are some pros and cons to consider when making that decision for your business.

Pros

Clients have an accurate idea of the price before calling you, which bypasses a situation where they’re shocked or angry at unexpected prices during an estimate.

Clients often don’t know how much a given service costs. Adding pricing to your website can help educate clients about your industry, as well as give them a starting point for their budget. This means that if their budget is significantly less than what you charge, clients can adjust their expectations in advance, saving you time during the estimate process.

Pricing transparency makes clients more likely to trust you. Since it is common to seek out multiple bids for a project, listing your pricing on your website ensures that clients know exactly what you’re quoting them for, creating a foundation of trust. If other companies aren’t as open, clients are more likely to choose you. 

You can set expectations about how your system operates before meeting with a client. Including pricing on your website means that you have to do some amount of explaining how you get to your price, which prepares clients to work with you. Do you charge hourly or as a flat rate? Do you have packages? What’s included in your prices?

Having a reference about your process makes onboarding new clients easier and streamlines the process for everyone. 

Cons

Pricing of materials can fluctuate. Over the last few years, we’ve seen frequent changes in the supply chain, and recently inflation is impacting many industries.

If you can’t predict what the prices will be when you do a job because your industry is being impacted by supply shortages or inflation, keeping pricing off your website will make it easier to have conversations with clients about their options. 

You have to make sure you can update your website pricing easily if something changes. One of the hardest things as a business owner can be remembering to update your website. As soon as you list pricing or talk about how you structure your fees, clients will be attached to that price. This means that when you raise your prices, it needs to be updated on your website immediately so that clients don’t expect an old rate.

If you’re on either the high or the low end of pricing in your industry, it may deter potential clients. Are you a luxury service, typically priced higher than others in your industry? Or do you price match to meet the lowest bid?

If you’re at one end of the pricing spectrum, clients looking for a mid-range option may avoid your company because they think you aren’t a good fit for their needs. If you price match, then your specific pricing is less relevant to your clients because it’s adjustable.

If you know how your pricing works, have a set system for estimates, and frequently get questions about cost from clients, then you may decide to include it on your website.

You may be in an industry experiencing rapid growth or change, making it extremely difficult to hold a steady price. Maybe your business is still learning and growing, and you’re testing out different prices to see what works. 

The decision to add pricing to your website really depends on what you’re comfortable with.

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