You Gotta Give A Little

Maybe it’s because of the recession, or maybe because they are better informed, but it is clear that many more consumers are unafraid to ask for a discount. In more buoyant times you could afford to stand your ground, and demand the full price, but nowadays you have to be prepared to cut a deal even on smaller jobs.

Many consumer TV programs now implore viewers to haggle and the internet has made it easy for them to shop around. For some, discount hunting has taken on the status of a consumer sport with the thrill of negotiating a reduction becoming the ultimate prize rather than the product itself.

You may be envious of online sellers or the huge multiples who do not negotiate (try making Asda or Amazon an offer at the checkout), but actually you can turn this negative into an advantage if you have the right strategy.

There is a big difference between a price that has been reduced to everyone, and negotiating a discount. It’s not about the price, it’s about winning. You personally winning a reduction, not being offered to everyone makes it special. It matters not if you negotiated down to a price that was still higher than Amazon’s – in most cases the price becomes secondary to the negotiated discount.

I’m willing to bet that there would be a much higher level of satisfaction among consumers who had negotiated the price from £700 down to £500, compared to those who had simply bought it at the regular price of £450


One of the hurdles the retailer has to overcome is to avoid being offended by a demand for discount. For many retailers setting your price is the psychological equivalent of setting the value of YOU. Your life, your work the thing you have poured your energy and soul into. It would be easy to be deeply wounded by a casual “You’re too expensive – I can get it cheaper”.

You must to resist the temptation to get annoyed with customers who ask for a lower price – in most cases they are simply playing a game. If you take umbrage and become defensive they will most likely feel they have lost this game that you’re not playing properly and just walk away.


Playing the game means it can not be all one sided, you have to make them feel as though you have looked after them as if they were part of your family. Concessions show how much you value their business, how important they are to you. They feel appreciated and happy to have won something. Even a small gesture means they can hold their head up.

Naturally you also have to know when to say no. You should be aware of how far you can go – you are not a charity. But a “no” with a smile and the wish that you only could, is completely different to humiliating them by frog marching them to the door in a full nelson.

Another prerequisite is that you do not set your prices at a level at which discounting will find you becoming a regular patron of the Salvation Army’s soup kitchen. Now I’m certainly not suggesting that you inflate your prices to the ridiculous levels of Carpetright, but if your costs are under control you should be able to be competitive yet retain some flexibility.

This flexibility gives you something the multiples find hard to compete with. Price flexibility is difficult for them to accommodate, furthering the perception of them as uncaring, arrogant, inflexible.

You have to play to your strengths.