Is offering discounts a good idea?

I’ve never really liked using discounts as a sales pitch.

20% off. This week only. Limited offer. Book now and save.

It might grab attention, but it’s not how I want to price my work.

My first problem with it is pretty simple.

20% off what?

If a company says a job is £200 but you’re getting 20% off, that brings it down to £160.

But if you never saw that job advertised at £200 before the offer, how do you know £200 was ever the genuine price?

The £160 might simply be what they were prepared to charge all along.

A discount only really means something if you know what the price was before the discount appeared.

That’s one of the reasons I advertise my prices.

I’ve had a bit of flak for doing that over the years. Apparently, you shouldn’t put prices out there.

I disagree.

I’d rather somebody look at my website, see roughly what I charge and decide for themselves whether I’m within their budget.

It saves wasting their time and mine, and it gives people something real to go on before they even contact me.

The other thing I struggle with is suddenly discounting work because things have gone quiet.

If I can afford to knock 20% off this week, what does that say to the customer who booked me last month and paid full price?

They trusted my price.

They didn’t get a lesser service. I didn’t use cheaper equipment, put less effort into the job or suddenly find a way of doing exactly the same work for 20% less.

They simply happened to book at a different time.

I don’t think that sits particularly well.

If someone paid my normal price in June, why should the same job suddenly be worth 20% less in October just because my diary is quieter?

That might be good for filling a gap in the calendar, but I’d rather be consistent with people.

Of course, prices can change over time.

Fuel changes. Materials change. Equipment costs change. Running a business gets more expensive.

That’s normal.

But that’s different from moving prices up and down depending on how badly I want the phone to ring that week.

I’d rather keep my prices competitive from the start.

Put them out there.

Keep them stable where I can.

And let people make their own mind up.

Some will think I’m good value. Some will think I’m too expensive.

That’s fine.

At least they know where they stand.

No inflated figure first.

No countdown.

No sudden 20% off because things have gone quiet.

Just a fair price for the job, advertised openly.

For me, that builds more trust than a discount ever will.

You can see all DMS Driveway and Patio Cleaning prices here. Prices