The Truth About Discounts - And How They Kill Your Credibility
Never discount the best. Never trust the cheapest.
Would you trust a discount defense attorney, heart surgeon, fighter pilot, or structural engineer? If you charge premium rates, your actions, branding, and messaging must be consistent with that price. If you are the low-cost leader, you can act any way you want - but you need to be crystal clear about whether you’re selling on price, value, or uniqueness. Discounts can expose weaknesses in positioning, dilute perceived value, and signal desperation. If your calendar is full, if you have more demand than supply, discounting undermines your message. Worse, it tells the world your positioning isn’t real. When behavior contradicts marketing, credibility evaporates - fast. Let’s break down how an Advantage Player® would navigate pricing and discounting to create a true Winning Hand™.
1. Press to Test: High Limit Questions
Before even thinking about discounts, ask the High Limit Question: Why would a client choose you over a competitor at full price? If the answer is unclear, your positioning is weak. Discounts won’t fix that - they’ll expose it. The second question: Is the discount a strategic move, or is it reactionary? If it's a knee-jerk reaction to slow sales, you’re already losing. The right move is to clarify your value proposition, not slash prices. A high-level professional knows their worth and structures pricing accordingly.
2. Read the Deck: Predictive Logic
Discounting is a tell - it reveals what’s really going on in your business. If demand is high and supply is low, why would you cut prices? If you do, the market assumes there’s a problem. Clients with money don’t chase cheap. If your competitors discount aggressively, don’t follow their lead blindly. Read the deck - what’s their real position? Are they struggling to stay afloat? Are they offloading excess capacity? Smart businesses don’t match their competition’s discounts - they differentiate in ways that eliminate the need to discount in the first place.
3. Eyes Everywhere: Situational Intelligence
If you're considering a discount, the first step is stepping back. Situational Intelligence means understanding where your company truly stands. Are you overestimating your value? Are you actually in a price war without realizing it? Are you attracting the wrong customers - the ones who will haggle you into oblivion and never pay full price? The best companies maintain price integrity because they curate their client base. They don’t try to please everyone - they attract the right people and repel the wrong ones.
4. Beat the Bust: Emotion Mastery & Self Awareness
Discounting is often driven by emotion - fear of losing a sale, anxiety over slow periods, or the urge to ‘do something.’ But an Advantage Player® knows emotion leads to bad bets. Self-awareness is key: are you panicking or strategizing? The best move isn’t cutting price, but increasing perceived value. A price cut is an admission that your service isn’t worth what you were charging. Instead, bundle extra value, offer priority access, or give a bonus that costs you little but is highly valuable to the client.
5. Hold or Fold, Stay or Play: Self-Control Strategies
The best move isn’t always the obvious one. Sometimes, patience is the strongest play. If demand is down, the worst reaction is dropping price too soon. Instead, consider holding position - reinforcing the value of what you provide and finding ways to make your offer more compelling without reducing price. On the flip side, if discounting is necessary (such as clearing unsold inventory), do it with control: limited time, limited scope, and structured in a way that doesn’t dilute your brand.
6. Doubling Down: Maximizing Opportunities
When you’re in high demand, raise prices instead of discounting. Most companies get this wrong - they wait until things slow down to adjust pricing. But the Advantage Player® move is to push pricing boundaries when demand is highest. If prospects push back, don’t defend the price - double down on exclusivity and results. The best brands turn price objections into moments of reinforcement: “We don’t discount because the best never does.” That line alone has closed more premium deals than any discount ever could.
7. Fast 5: Critical Moves to Lock In Value and Ditch Discounts
Audit Your Positioning - If you feel the need to discount, it’s a sign your messaging isn’t strong enough. Refine your value proposition.
Make Premium the Standard - If you are the best, act like it. Everything from branding to client experience must reinforce that you are worth full price.
Use Strategic Incentives Instead of Discounts - Bonus add-ons, priority service, or exclusive access - anything but price cuts.
Train Clients Not to Expect Discounts - When you set a precedent for full price, you attract the right clientele. The wrong ones walk away (which is a good thing).
Only Discount If It’s Part of a Larger Strategy - If a discount makes sense, make sure it serves a bigger business goal - not just a reaction to slow sales.
Conclusion
Your pricing strategy defines how the market perceives you. Discounting when demand is high is a credibility killer. Discounting when demand is low is often a sign of panic. The Advantage Player® move is to control the pricing game, maintaining strategic discipline and reinforcing value at every step. Your brand’s price tag should reflect your positioning, not a variable dictated by temporary market shifts. When your message and behavior align, your credibility - and profitability - stay intact.
Move the Needle
Our Winning Hands™ series exposes killer strategies - Advantage Plays® - that elite performers use to get ahead and stay ahead. Drawn from the worlds of card counting and Wall Street, these calculated moves leverage approaches such as predictive logic, situational intelligence, and the nerve to press when the odds are in our favor. Straight from the Advantage Player® Institute's Red Chip program where our members learn to harness controlled aggression, adaptability, sustained growth, risk management, and more. Are we right for one another? Find out by setting a time to speak with us: https://my.timetrade.com/book/FGJGQ