Selling at a Loss

When would you deliberately sell your product or service at a loss?

Loss Leader

Do you offer a product or a service which you can sell at a loss in order to get customers to try out your product or service?

The example in my business is the first time free deal. I will talk to anyone for half an hour for free. I do this for two reasons, one is to relax the prospective client who might be worried that it is going to cost a lot of money to talk to an accountant. If I tell them the first time is free they are more likely to show up for their appointment.

The second reason is so I can see if I am interested in having this person be a client. One of the perks of working for yourself is working with people you enjoy. If I think that the prospective client is not a good fit, then at the end of the initial meeting I can say so and move on.

Perhaps you offer free quotes for the same reason. This is a loss leader, you don’t make any money on the quote but you will get some of the work you quote on.

Market Won’t Pay Full Price

Every business owner eventually prices a product or service wrong. They find out the market will not pay the price they have chosen and have to offer a discount.