Pricing problems rarely look dramatic. They hide inside busy months and decent revenue. You keep delivering, you keep selling, yet profit stays thin. You only notice after payroll, tax, and supplier bills land. The leak is often the price, the offer, or the rules around it. Fixing pricing does not need a full rebrand. It requires clear numbers and tighter choices. Here are common pricing problems and fast ways to correct them.
- You price without a margin floor
Copying a competitor, or choosing a number that feels fair, is risky. Start with a margin floor for each service or product, then calculate your true delivery cost. Include labor time, tools, software, admin, and rework. Build a simple model that shows profit at different volumes.
If the margin fails at average volume, the price is wrong. A virtual CFO can help you set the floor, test assumptions, and spot costs you forgot to count. Fix it by raising the base price to the floor, then tightening scope and billing add-ons.
- Discounts become the default
Discounts can feel like the quickest way to win the customer. Over time, they become a habit, and customers expect them. If you discount often, your pricing is doing the selling instead of your value. Replace broad discounts with trade-offs. Offer a smaller package, a longer term, or a slower delivery window.
Set a discount policy with caps and approvals. Track how often each salesperson discounts, and how much they cut the price. Make sure to remove discount wording from your proposals, then coach your team to focus the pitch on the outcome.
- One price for every customer
Some clients are easy, but others need extra meetings, revisions, and hand-holding. When you price everyone the same, your best customers subsidize the hardest ones. Segment by behavior, not by industry. Look at payment speed, support load, project churn, and scope creep.
You should then create two or three tiers that match these realities. Add a premium tier for high-touch clients, with clear limits and priority support, and a streamlined tier for price-sensitive buyers.
- Packages hide free work
Scope creep is often a pricing issue. Quick extras add up, and nobody invoices them because they were never defined. Write your inclusions in plain language, and add limits on revisions, meetings, and delivery rounds. Make add-ons visible and easy to choose.
Be sure to audit your last ten jobs. List the top extras you delivered for free. Turn each into a priced add-on, and update your proposal template.
- You either never raise your prices, or you raise them randomly
Your costs move even when your price stays still. Labor, rent, and software do not get cheaper. If you wait too long to review your prices, you may be forced into a big jump, and that feels risky.
Set a simple review rhythm instead. Check margins every quarter, and test small increases with new customers first, then apply them to renewals. Pair the increase with a clear value reminder, like tighter turnaround times or better reporting.
End note
Pricing is a system, not a one-time choice. Pick one leak, fix it, and measure the change in margin and cash. Small adjustments compound because every invoice improves. Be sure to keep the rules simple and review them often.
