Sometime between 2009 and 2012 a man I knew at church, who ran a catering company, gave me the best pricing lesson I have ever had, and it took him one sentence. When a customer asked him to make a job cheaper, his version was, sure we can make it cheaper. But… would you like ham or lamb? The customer gets the cheaper job, and gets told before any money moves what the cheaper job is made of, so the number comes down and the truth about what the number buys comes down with it, out loud, in the same breath. I learned this when I was a Christian - best thing I learned from 8 years at church. The dodgy version keeps the first half and drops the question, cheaper, sure, and the lamb turns into ham somewhere the customer can’t see.
