One of the most interesting aspect of sales is the price factor. All prices are malleable and arbitraty, and we can do pretty much whatever we want when deciding what to charge for something. Want to sell a bottle of water for $10 million? You can. If you want to reduce or double that price one week later, nothing will stop you. Any price can be set to any level with no limitations. However, there are a few aspects we need to pay attention when we price our products or services, and one of them is the story we’re telling to our customers.

Your offer as a whole plays the main role on the stage — customers won’t buy a product or a service. Customers will buy a story. The price you set for your offer will help to shape that story. Louis Moinet can charge millions in a watch that’s built with extremely rare and historic components. In the same place, Adidas can’t do the same with a regular sports watch. However, no one would buy a watch for millions without knowing why it’s price is so high. Besides having your public in mind when setting your price, you need to support your price tag with a story.

Being able to support your asking price before a real customer accept it is mandatory. Provide a reason why if you expect people to pay you good money for what you’re offering. Once you know the real value you’re delivering to your clients, it will be much easier even to adjust your sales pitch, as you can start value-based selling. You understand and reinforce the reason why that transaction will be valuable to your customer. This way you can simultaneously increase the likehood of a transaction, as well as the price the buyer will be willing to pay.

If you want to raise prices, increase your value and tell a better story. There’s nothing more dangerous than constantly reducing your price so you can sell more. It’s a race to the bottom.