Latest / Freelance Careers with Fexingo: Independent Work, Consulting, and Self-Employment / How a Freelance Consultant Raised Rates by Refusing Discounts
Transcript
- Lucas: A freelance brand strategist in Seattle raised her average project fee by thirty percent over two years without adding a single new skill or client. Her secret? She stopped offering discounts. Luna: Wait — she just stopped discounting? And clients still paid? That feels like a gamble, especially for freelancers worried about losing business. Lucas: That's the reaction I had when I first saw the case. Her name is Maya Chen. She runs a small consulting practice focused on brand positioning for B2B tech companies. Back in 2022, she was quoting projects around eight to twelve thousand dollars, but she was regularly negotiating down to six or seven. And she noticed the clients who pushed hardest on price were also the ones who required the most hand-holding. Luna: So the discount wasn't just costing her revenue — it was attracting the wrong kind of client. Lucas: Exactly. So she decided to test a policy: any request for a discount would be met with a polite but firm no, and then a reframe toward the value. She drafted a short script. If a client said, 'Can you do this for nine thousand?' she would say, 'I understand budget constraints. My fee is based on the outcome you're getting. If we need to adjust scope, I can suggest a smaller engagement. But I don't discount the same scope.' Luna: And what happened? Did she lose clients? Lucas: In the first three months, she lost two potential projects. One was a startup that genuinely couldn't afford her. The other was a larger company that just didn't want to pay her rate. But the surprise was that the remaining clients — the ones who accepted the no-discount policy — ended up being more profitable and easier to work with. Her close rate actually improved over the first year because she was spending less time negotiating and more time selling value. Luna: I've read a bit about the psychology of discounting. When you offer a discount, you signal that your initial price was inflated. So clients learn to wait for the discount. It trains them to negotiate. Lucas: That's exactly what was happening to Maya. She'd quote twelve, they'd counter with eight, and she'd meet at ten. Both sides felt okay-ish, but the client walked away thinking her baseline was padded. By holding firm, she reset the expectation. Over two years, her average project fee went from nine thousand to twelve thousand — a thirty percent increase. And her revenue grew because she wasn't spending weeks haggling on every deal. Luna: I want to pause on that. Thirty percent is huge. But let's talk about the emotional side. A lot of freelancers are scared to say no because they think any client is better than no client. Lucas: That's the scarcity mindset that keeps rates low. Maya told me she felt physically uncomfortable the first few times she refused to discount. But after a while, it became easier. She started framing it as a service to the client: 'I want you to get the full value of this engagement, and discounting would mean cutting corners somewhere.' That actually built trust. Luna: You know, this reminds me of something we've talked about before on the show, which is that the freelancers who do well financially are often the ones who treat their business like a real business. And part of that is having a pricing philosophy. Lucas: Exactly. And we try to keep these episodes ad-free because we think career advice should be accessible without commercial breaks. If you've found value in that approach, you can support the show at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. That's buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. It helps us stay independent and focused on the content. Luna: Yeah, and we really appreciate those who do. Now, back to Maya. She also found that by not discounting, she was able to attract clients who respected her expertise from the start. Lucas: Right. And there's a data point here. She tracked the lifetime value of clients who came through the old discount model versus the new no-discount model. The no-discount clients had a forty percent higher retention rate over eighteen months. They were also more likely to refer her because they felt they were getting premium service. Luna: So the policy wasn't just about the initial fee — it changed the whole client relationship. Lucas: Yes. And I think that's the key insight many freelancers miss. Discounting doesn't just affect the current transaction. It sets a precedent for every future interaction. If you start a relationship by negotiating price, it's hard to shift to a value conversation later. Luna: What about clients who genuinely cannot afford the full rate but are otherwise great? Shouldn't there be exceptions? Lucas: Maya's approach was to offer a smaller scope at the full rate. So instead of a full brand strategy for twelve thousand, she'd offer a brand audit for four thousand. That way the client pays her rate per unit of work, and she doesn't devalue her intellectual property. If they come back for the full strategy later, they pay the full price. Luna: That's smart. It preserves the integrity of the pricing while still giving flexibility. Lucas: Exactly. And it trains the client to think in terms of value, not hours. A brand audit is worth four thousand because of the insights it provides, not because it takes two days. Luna: I think there's a parallel here with how some other industries handle pricing. Like, luxury brands rarely discount because it would dilute the brand. Freelancers are their own brand. Lucas: That's a good comparison. But it's not just about luxury. Even service businesses like law firms or architectural firms rarely negotiate on price; they adjust scope. Freelancers often feel they can't do that because they're smaller. But Maya's case shows it actually works in their favor. Luna: So what's the first step for a freelancer listening who wants to try this? Do they just suddenly start saying no? Lucas: Maya recommends a gradual transition. First, identify the clients who are most price-sensitive and least profitable. Start with them. The next time they ask for a discount, instead of negotiating, offer to reduce scope. See what happens. You'll probably lose one or two, but you'll also find that some clients say yes to the smaller scope at the full rate. That's a win. Luna: And if you're worried about losing too many clients, you can test it on new clients first, where there's no prior expectation of discounting. Lucas: That's actually what Maya did. She implemented the policy for all new clients starting in 2023, while existing clients still had their old negotiated rates. Over six months, the new clients were paying about fifteen percent more on average than the existing ones for comparable work. And that gave her the confidence to eventually roll it out to everyone. Luna: That data is powerful. It proves the strategy works without risking the whole client base. Lucas: Right. And it really comes down to mindset. If you believe your work creates value, discounting is giving that value away for free. Maya's story is a reminder that saying no to a discount is actually saying yes to a healthier business. Luna: I think a lot of freelancers need to hear that. It's easy to fall into the trap of thinking 'I need this client' rather than 'I need the right client.' Lucas: And the right client doesn't ask for a discount — they ask for proof of value. That's a much easier conversation to have.