Should you give discounts to a potential client on Fiverr?
No.
Why?
It cheapens your service
By granting a customer a discount, psychologically, you signal that the worth of the service is much less that they thought.
In their minds, you are actually revealing that the real price of this service is not as high as they thought it was.
A flicker of doubt will emerge. How much does this really cost? Would be the question on their minds.
This will then lead to the perception of overcharging. Like I have explained in another post, overcharging and even the perception of overcharging creates negative emotions within a client.
Which will then lead to a higher possibility of a client being difficult.
Attracts bad customers
While offering discounts to a customer might sour the relationship, for a bad one, this is a signal that this is the right seller to exploit. They might see discounts as a sign of weakness, which they will later exploit with negative behaviours such as
- Threatening bad reviews
- Demanding more work than job scope
- Treating you as an inferior
If you are a new seller, this might seem absurd. How can something as innocent and essential as a discount trigger these types of behaviours?
By offering a discount, you not only cheapen your gig, but you signal that you are desperate for a sale. It’s sad to say that this perceived desperation can later on be exploited as a weakness.
Although this doesn’t happen all the time, I would advise against discounts because these things do happen sometimes and it’ll be catastrophic and extremely stressful when they do.
Once someone orders your gig you’re almost at their mercy under Fiverr’s system. One bad review can lead to disastrous consequences. The customer might cancel an order at their own whim.
Preventing bad customers is absolutely important to your gig as you only need one to severely damage your future income.
A missed sale today is better than no sales forever.
Bargaining mood
By offering a discount, it triggers a bargaining mood subconsciously in some clients.
How much value can I squeeze out of this seller?
I wonder if this seller can do this extra service for me?
I’ll make this seller do this work quickly since it’s a cheap and easy task.
Before giving a discount, the price is always fixed in a customer’s mind.
Even if they start bargaining, once you refuse their advances, it reinforces that the price is fixed.
The minute you give them a hint that a discount is possible, it becomes a bargaining game.
The value of your gig that you have painstakingly create becomes fluid and subjective in the mind of the buyer.
In conclusion
The art of getting a sale is a psychological game. Giving a discount will be the first step to defeat. You might get the sale now, the risks involved are high and could potentially end all your income from Fiverr.
