Wedding Business Solutions

When should you lower your rate?

• Alan Berg, CSP, Global Speaking Fellow

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When should you lower your rate?

Are you giving away your profit just because a client asked for a discount? What are you really getting in return when you lower your price? In this episode, I dig deep into the difference between discounting and negotiating, explain why price integrity matters, and share how to determine if and when it's truly okay to come off your rate. I’ll challenge you to ask yourself: Is it ever smart to say yes to a price cut if you’re not getting something valuable back?

Listen to this new 9-minute episode for a clear framework on when to say yes, when to hold your ground, and how to protect your profits while still serving your clients.

Episode Summary: 
In this episode of the Wedding Business Solutions podcast, I tackle the question: "When should you lower your rate?" I break down the important differences between discounting and negotiating, and explain why I believe you should only offer a discount if you’re getting something of value in return—like a higher guest guarantee, cash flow benefits, or contracted future work. I share why I prefer to add value instead of just cutting prices, as every dollar discounted comes straight out of your profit. I also discuss how cultural expectations might affect your approach to pricing and discounts. Ultimately, I encourage you to protect your pricing integrity, make thoughtful business decisions, and never feel pressured to lower your rate unless there’s a clear and valuable reason to do so.

If you have any questions about anything in this, or any of my podcasts, or have a suggestion for a topic or guest, please reach out directly to me at Alan@WeddingBusinessSolutions.com or visit my website Podcast.AlanBerg.com 

Please be sure to subscribe to this podcast and leave a review (thanks, it really does make a difference). If you want to get notifications of new episodes and upcoming workshops and webinars, you can sign up at www.ConnectWithAlanBerg.com  

View the full transcript on Alan’s site: https://alanberg.com/blog/


Want to see how I can come and speak for your local association... for free? Reach out to me at Alan@WeddingBusinessSolutions.com or text or call +1.732.422.6362

I'm Alan Berg. Thanks for listening. If you have any questions about this or if you'd like to suggest other topics for "The Wedding Business Solutions Podcast" please let me know. My email is Alan@WeddingBusinessSolutions.com. Look forward to seeing you on the next episode. Thanks.

Listen to this and all episodes on Apple Podcast, YouTube or your favorite app/site:

©2025 Wedding Business Solutions LLC & AlanBerg.com

When should you lower your rate? Hmm, good question. Listen to this episode. Find out. Hey, it's Alan Berg. Welcome back to another episode of the Wedding Business Solutions podcast. This is another Ask me Anything this time from Rami, who said, when is it okay to lower your rate? And in this case, the further description was talking about discounting. So when is it okay to come off of your rate? In other words, give them the same thing for a lower price. Right? Now that's not the same as lowering your price and taking something away, which is what I advocate.

But when is it okay to actually lower your price? I'm not, not permanently lower your prices, but to say I'm going to take less for the same service because of something. So what are those somethings that might do that? Well, if you've read any of my books where I talk about discounting, or if you've heard me speak about it here or heard me speak live about this, discounting and negotiating are different things. In my mind, discounting, I prefer if it had a structure, right? So certain things, the discount kicks in, right? So if you offer a discount to first responders or active military, that's a yes or no. You either qualify or you don't. So you can explain to the next person why somebody got it lower price than they did. Negotiating is when two people buy the same thing and all the qualifying things are the same. So there's like, let's say it's the first Saturday in October, the second Saturday in October, and two people got exactly the same service from you and one paid less than the other. That's negotiating.

Now, I'm not saying don't do it, this is a business decision. But the only reason to lower your price without getting something back in return. Well, actually, the only reason to lower your price is because you are getting something back in return of value. And value comes in many different ways. So if you charge per person and somebody wants a lower price and you say, okay, well, if you raise the guarantee to 200 person instead of 150 people, so you guarantee me 200 people, I can do this for you on the price, you're still going to end up with more money on that. But they're getting a discount, right? That you can explain to somebody else that maybe it's still negotiating but you're getting something back in value. For some people, cash flow is tough. And if you get paid in full now helps your cash flow, that could be a benefit to you to take a little discount on that.

Personally, I don't like That I want to get paid closer to when I do the work. So it feels like I got paid for the work. I hate to get paid months in advance or even further than that. And then I have to go do the work and then you feel like you didn't get paid. I had a client came to me at the end of the end of the year and wanted to pay me at the end of the year to get it into that year. I wasn't going to get do the work for, gosh, what was it, seven or eight months? So what I did is I said, sure, me the money, that's fine. I took the money and then I put it into a different bank account. I put it into a savings account, not into my regular operating expense account.

And that way I won't spend it. And then when it comes, that time comes, then I'll move that money over. I do the same thing when people buy tickets to my workshops and masterminds, I take that money and if they Pay me via PayPal or Stripe, I leave the money there. When the event comes, then I take the money. This way, if there's any refunds to give, the money is there. It's not coming out of regular cash flow. And I also feel like I got paid when I do the event. So if you need the cash flow, that's a benefit to you.

I don't need the cash flow, so I'd rather get paid closer to when that event happens. So discounting the Rami. The time that it's okay to discount is when you're getting something back in value, which means what is it that you're getting that would want you to give a discount? So if you have a date coming up and it's a. You would think it would be a popular date. Maybe it's a Saturday night and it's in one of the popular months and it's empty. Right. So now that's costing you because, you know, two months from now, you don't have that. Now two sides of this is if somebody needs to book you two months in advance, they're kind of in a bind also.

So why should they get a discount? That's one side. The other side is you're feeling like, I'm not going to make any money on that night, I should be working that night. I'm willing to take a little less. I prefer added value to discounts. It keeps price integrity. So if somebody says, how much did you pay for that? So let's say that you're a DJ and somebody Says, how much did you pay? And they say, I paid $2,500. They're not going to line item everything that they got. So even though you might have given them free fill in the blank, a free monogram or free dancing in the clouds or something like that to make the deal, it still is the price that you're going to tell the next person.

So I prefer added value because it keeps that price integrity. Plus it doesn't cost you dollar for dollar. Remember this, Rami and everybody else, every dollar, you lower your price without getting something back in return. Of value is profit you gave away. And profit is paying your rent or mortgage. Profit is paying your car payment. Profit is savings for retirement. Profit is your college loans or your kids college loans coming up, right? Or college education.

Profit is your vacations. I know some of you are like, what's a vacation? So don't lower your price unless you're getting something of value back. Now, if you're doing corporate work or maybe fundraising work or something, and they will guarantee you in a contract that they'll give you multiple events and you have that contracted that if they, you know, if they cancel that they're going to owe you something on top of that. Great. You got a guarantee of three events. If that's worth giving them a lower price, fantastic. There's a reason you got something of value back. But if you're not getting anything of value back, you have to think twice before giving a discount.

Them asking for a discount is their right. You don't have to give it. And many, many, many times people are going to say yes anyway, because them asking for a discount is a bigger buying signal than just them inquiring. Because who asks for a discount on something they don't want? Nobody. Nobody ever said, I'm not really interested. Can you do better? They said, I am interested. I like what you're offering, I want it. Can you do better? Because we all want to know that we got the best price.

And how many times have you bought something where there was no discount available? Whether you asked or not, no discount, then you bought and you paid full price. We do it all the time, so why shouldn't your customers. So to keep the integrity of your pricing, even if your competitors are discounting, if somebody says, yeah, but they're offering a discount, great line or some variation of it is, well, if they don't feel that their services are worth the price that they're asking, that's up to them. I do. And my, my reviews show that the results we Provide are worth every dollar we're asking and then some, and then ask for the sale. So, Rami, thank you so much for the suggestion. Before you guys go and discount, before you do that, think what am I getting back in value? And just because they asked doesn't mean I have to do it. And actually, a little side note here.

I understand culturally that if you're working in certain countries or working in certain cultures, even within the United States or Canada, that culturally expect a discount. Well, if that's the world you're working in. Right. And this is from somebody that's spoken in Dubai four times and in India three times. I understand it's just cultural. You're going to ask for discount, you're going to get it. I might have mentioned this before, but when I was in Dubai one time I went to the mall, just like a regular mall, like you go do anywhere and I bought something. I go back and somebody said, did you get a discount? I said, no, it wasn't on sale.

They said, what? You didn't ask for a discount? I said it was in the mall, just like a regular store in the mall. They said, because so many people come there from other countries where it's expected that stores in the mall can give 5 or 10% if you ask because it's culturally expected. So what you have to do is set your prices as if you're going to give that. So when you do give the discount, you're getting the number that you still want. Because sometimes it's not the price so much as they're not going to pay full price, whatever it is. That's just the cultural part of that. And then when they ask for a discount, you give it. And if they ask for more, you can say no because you already gave a discount.

So they want to know, everybody wants to know they got the best price. How do you know when you got the best price? When the person selling says no and means it. Right. And that's the thing. You have to say no and mean it. Not like when I bought a watch on the street in India and the guy gave me his very best price seven times. He kept coming down when I was walking away. So how do I believe him when he says it's his best price? I don't.

I don't. And then I finally bought it because I just got tired of playing the game. So I finally bought it at the seventh lowest price that he had. So discounting and negotiating again. You can read about this in some of my books. Wisdom in the Business of Weddings. It's in there. It's probably in some of the other books as well.

But what are you getting in value back? If you're not getting anything in value back, why are you lowering your price and giving away profits? Thanks, Rami. Keep those suggestions coming. Go to podcast allenberg. Com. Click on the Ask me Anything button. Thanks.


I’m Alan Berg. Thanks for listening. If you have any questions about this or if you’d like to suggest other topics for “The Wedding Business Solutions Podcast” please let me know. My email is Alan@WeddingBusinessSolutions.com or you can  text, use the short form on this page, or call +1.732.422.6362, international 001 732 422 6362. I look forward to seeing you on the next episode. Thanks.

Listen to this and all episodes on Apple Podcast, YouTube or your favorite app/site:

©2025 Wedding Business Solutions LLC & AlanBerg.com


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Alan Berg, CSP, Global Speaking Fellow

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