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Stopped over-explaining my pricing and actually closed more deals
For 2 years I'd send clients a 3 page breakdown of every cost line on a $1500 branding project. Last month I tried something different - sent a one page invoice with just the total and a short description. Lost zero clients but saved myself 4 hours of writing per proposal. Anyone else find that less information actually works better?
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garcia.cameron10d ago
Cut the fluff and watch people actually read what you send. Less explaining makes you look more confident in your price.
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martinez.paul9d ago
Right on, that's exactly it. Started sending one paragraph max for my design quotes and suddenly people were responding with "looks good, let's go" instead of asking for a third breakdown of the fonts. Had a client last month who was about to bail on a $900 logo package because my first proposal had three pages of "here's why each shade of blue matters." Trimmed it down to "logo, two revisions, final files, your color preference?" and they signed within the hour. Less really does sell itself when you stop treating every invoice like a novel.
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shane_wilson2d ago
So what do you do when a client comes back and says "I need more detail before I can sign off"? I've had that happen a few times where I kept it short and they told me straight up it felt like I was hiding something. Your mileage may vary, but in my experience trimming too much can backfire if the person is the type who reads every line of a contract. How do you tell the difference upfront, or is it just trial and error until you figure out which clients need the expanded version?
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Ha, you guys are acting like this is some big discovery. For a $1500 project, I get not sending a book, but a 3 page breakdown sounds like overkill anyway. @garcia.cameron is right that it can look more confident, but I'd push back a little on the whole "less is always more" thing. Some clients, especially if they're paying more than pocket change, actually want to see where their money goes so they feel like they're getting a deal. I think it really just depends on the client and the price point, not some one-size-fits-all rule.
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