Hey True Blue Collar boss,
Let’s be real. Running a home service business means you’ll get asked about discounts all the time. “Can you do it cheaper?” “Any deals if I book today?” Sound familiar?
Here’s my take: Don’t discount your standard service. Ever. When you slash your normal price, two things happen. First, you devalue your work if it’s suddenly cheaper; people wonder if you were overpriced to begin with. Second, you train customers to chase deals instead of valuing your service. That’s a slippery slope.
But there’s an exception. Discounts can work if they’re special offers for first-time customers. Think of it as an incentive to try you out. Once they see your quality, many will stick around and happily pay full price next time. Another time, discounting makes sense? Repeat or volume work. If the same customer is bringing you more jobs, your cost to acquire and communicate with them is lower, so passing along part of that savings builds loyalty.
At TrueBlueCollar, we see this over and over: businesses that protect their pricing and only use discounts strategically end up with more loyal, higher-value customers. It’s not about being the cheapest. It’s about being the most trusted.
So next time you’re tempted to run a blanket discount—stop and ask: am I rewarding loyalty, bringing in a first-timer, or just undercutting myself?
True Blue Collar Team
Talk to you next week,