How to present your price to a client on a call

To present pricing to clients on a call, recap their problem, walk through the approach, then show the option you recommend and say its price in one sentence. Then stop talking. If the number is too high, trade scope, timing or payment terms; do not cut your rate. Below: a half-hour call plan, a script to copy, and a worked example that gets under the client's budget without a discount.

Why present the price live

A proposal sent by email gets read in whatever order the client likes, and nothing stops them scrolling straight to the price. On a call you control the order. The client hears the problem, agrees with it, sees how you will solve it, and only then sees the number. You also hear the reaction, which an email never gives you.

Presenting live does not replace the written proposal. It is the same proposal, shared on screen, so what the client agrees to on the call is exactly what they sign later. If you have not planned how you will follow up after the call, the proposal follow-up schedule with emails to copy picks up where this guide ends.

The order: problem, approach, options, price

Open with the client's problem, not with your company. I never open with a company presentation: the first minutes are about the client's situation, and who you are comes later. Describe their problem back to them before you say anything about yourself.

Then go section by section:

1. The problem, in their words. Use the phrases from the discovery call notes that feed each proposal section. Ask: "Did I get that right?" Wait for a yes.
2. The approach and scope. What you will do, in what order, and what is not included. Ask if anything is missing.
3. The options. Show the recommended option first, then the smaller and the bigger one beside it.
4. The price of the recommended option. One sentence, then a pause.
5. Questions and trades. Answer what they ask; trade, do not discount.
6. The next step. A date for the decision, and the link to the proposal.

Each "yes" before the price matters. If the client disagrees with the scope, you find out before the number is on the table, and the price conversation is about the right project.

Lead with the option you recommend

When the proposal has three options, do not walk through them from the cheapest up. Start with the one you recommend, explain why it fits the problem you just agreed on, and then show the other two as the alternatives: less if they want to start small, more if they want everything done at once.

Keep the premium option in, even if you suspect it is out of reach. I don't guess the client's budget: I put the premium option in the proposal and let them opt in. How to build the three levels is in the guide to tiered options and extras.

Say the number, then stop

The sentence that states the price is the shortest part of the call, and the easiest to ruin. Say what the option includes and what it costs, once, in plain words. Then stop.

The common mistake is talking after the number: "but of course we can look at it", "I know that sounds like a lot", "we're flexible". Each one tells the client the price is soft before they have said a word. Silence gives them time to work out whether it fits. Let them speak first, even if it takes a few seconds that feel long.

When they do speak, listen for what kind of answer it is:

• A question about the work ("Does that include the booking form?") means they are weighing it. Answer it and point to where it sits in the scope.
• A question about payment ("Can we spread it?") often means the total could work, and the timing is the issue.
• A reaction to the size ("That's more than we thought") is the moment to offer a trade.

A worked example: €14,200 against a €12,000 budget

The studio and client below are fictional, and the prices are examples to replace with your own. Prices exclude tax.

Example

A small studio presents a website proposal to a physiotherapy practice with two clinics. On the discovery call, the client gave a budget of "around €12,000". The proposal has three options: Essential at €9,600, Recommended at €14,200 and Complete at €18,900. The studio leads with Recommended.

What Recommended contains.

Part	Price
Design and build, 8 page templates	€8,400
Online booking form linked to the clinics' calendar	€2,200
German version of the site	€1,500
Moving 60 existing blog posts	€1,100
Launch, a training session and 30 days of fixes	€1,000
Total	€14,200

The studio says: "The Recommended option is the new site with online booking, in Dutch and German, with your blog moved over, for €14,200." Then it waits.

The client says it is more than they planned. The studio asks: "Which part matters most to you right now?" The client says booking: most new patients call to book. German can wait. The practice manager could move the blog posts herself.

The trade.

Change	Price
Recommended	€14,200
German version moved to a second phase	−€1,500
Client moves the blog posts	−€1,100
Total	€11,600

The client gets the part they care about, inside their budget, and the German version is priced and waiting as phase two. The studio's rate is unchanged.

The same answer as a discount. A 15% discount on Recommended would bring it to €14,200 × 0.85 = €12,070. That is still above the budget, and the studio would do the same work for €2,130 less.

The trade works because each line has its own price. When the scope is a list of named parts, the client can see what changes the total, and the question becomes "what do we leave out?" instead of "how much will you drop?". If you are not sure your parts are priced right, pricing a website project from days to a total shows how to build them up.

Answers to the common pushbacks

If they ask for less and none of your trades fit, it is fine to say the project at that price is the smaller option. A client who chooses Essential knowingly is better than one who gets Recommended for the price of Essential. If the question comes back by email after the call, the follow-up guide's answer to "can you do it for less?" picks it up.

When a client asks for extra work on the call, say what it costs before you agree. Your rate for work outside the proposal belongs in the proposal itself, so that question has an answer already. The guide on handling scope creep covers what to do once the project runs.

End with a date and the link

Do not end the call with "let me know". Before you hang up:

1. Agree when they will decide, and put a reminder in your calendar for that day.
2. Ask who else will read the proposal, and what they will look at first.
3. Send the link while you are still talking, so they can open it and check it arrived.

If something changed on the call, such as a part moved to phase two, send the new version soon after. Send the new version quickly: the fastest proposal often wins.

A call plan and script you can copy

Template

Before the call

• The proposal is ready, with three options and every part priced on its own line.
• You know the budget range from discovery, and which parts could move to a second phase.
• You have one sentence for the recommended option: what it includes and what it costs.

Minutes 0–3: the problem. "Before we look at the proposal, let me check I understood the problem. [Their problem, in their words.] Did I get that right?"

Minutes 3–10: the approach and scope. "Here is how we would solve it: [steps]. This is what's included, and this is what isn't: [out of scope]. Is anything missing?"

Minutes 10–13: the options and the price. "There are three ways to do this. The one I recommend is [option], because [reason tied to their problem]. It's [what it includes], for [price]." Stop. Wait.

Minutes 13–25: questions and trades.

• Too high: "Which part matters most to you right now?" Then: "Without [part], the total is [new total]."
• Lower quote elsewhere: "What does their quote include? Let's compare it line by line."
• Cash flow: "We can spread it over [number] payments; the total stays [price]."
• Extra work: "That's not in the scope. It would be [price], or we can add it as an option."

Minutes 25–30: the next step. "When will you decide? Who else will look at it? I'm sending the link now, can you check it's arrived?"

After the call

• Send the updated version soon if anything changed.
• Put the decision date in your calendar and follow up on that day.

How Propozit helps

In Propozit, the deck you share on the call is the one the client signs. With plan choices and optional extras in it, the client can pick a plan or tick and untick an extra, and the totals update live, with one-off, monthly and yearly amounts apart. A comparison slide puts the plans side by side and highlights the client's choice. See how options and live totals work for the client.

You can also offer payment plans the client picks, which answers "can we pay in parts?" in the same deck. After the call, opens and read time per slide show whether the proposal has been opened and how long each slide, the pricing slide included, has been read. If the client wants a change, they can ask for one beside Sign, and you get an email.

Propozit is in early access and free to start.