Latest / Sales Leadership with Fexingo: Quota Carriers, Sales Managers, and Revenue Teams / How Sales Reps Can Use the Contrast Principle to Close More Deals
Transcript
- Lucas: There's a used-car salesman cliché that actually has solid neuroscience behind it — show the lemon first, then the cherry. The contrast makes the cherry look even better. Luna: Right, the contrast principle. It's not just about cars — it works in SaaS, consulting, pretty much any B2B sale. Lucas: Exactly. And today I want to drill into how top reps deliberately structure their proposals to use contrast — not as a trick, but as a way to help buyers see value they'd otherwise miss. Luna: So what's the mechanism? Why does contrast work so reliably? Lucas: It goes back to something called the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex — the part of the brain that handles comparative evaluation. When you ask someone to judge a single option in isolation, they have no baseline. But present two options side by side, and the brain can't help comparing. The problem is, that comparison is rarely absolute — it's relative to whatever you put next to it. Luna: So it's a cognitive shortcut. The brain doesn't compute intrinsic value — it computes relative difference. Lucas: Exactly. And the sales rep controls the context. So the key is: what do you put next to what? Let's take a concrete case. A B2B SaaS company I know — let's call them DataSync — used to offer two pricing tiers: Standard at $1,000 a month and Enterprise at $4,000. About 70 percent of new customers picked Standard. Then they added a third tier: Professional at $2,500. Luna: The classic decoy effect — wait, we covered that in episode 66. But this is different. They added a middle option. Lucas: Right. The decoy is a dominated option — something no one would pick but that makes another look better. Here they added a genuine middle tier. But the contrast principle still kicked in. With just two options, the jump from $1,000 to $4,000 felt huge. So most people anchored on the cheap option. With three, the $2,500 option became the new reference point. Suddenly $4,000 didn't look so extreme — and $1,000 looked almost too cheap. Luna: What happened to the mix? Lucas: Within three months, their average deal size went up about 30 percent. Enterprise went from 15 percent of new deals to 25. Professional became the most popular tier at 45 percent. Standard dropped to 30. So they didn't lose the price-sensitive buyers entirely, but they pulled a significant portion up. Luna: That's a huge shift. And it's not manipulation — you're just giving people context they didn't have before. Lucas: That's the line, right? There's a difference between framing and deceiving. I think about this a lot — where does ethical persuasion end and manipulation begin? In this case, DataSync genuinely offered different levels of service. The Professional tier was a real product. They didn't create a fake option just to push people to the top. Luna: Yeah, that's the key. If you add a decoy that nobody would ever buy — like a $10,000 tier with the same features as the $4,000 one — that's when it feels shady. Lucas: Agreed. And by the way, the research backs this up. Harvard Business Review did a study on B2B buying behavior a couple of years ago — they found that when buyers are presented with three options instead of two, they're 15 to 20 percent more likely to choose the middle or high option. And they report higher satisfaction with their choice. Because they feel like they made an informed comparison. Luna: So contrast actually helps the buyer feel more confident. They're not just picking the cheapest because they're afraid of overpaying. Lucas: Exactly. That fear of overpaying is a huge deal killer in B2B. The contrast principle gives them a reference that makes the middle option feel reasonable. Now, let's talk about a different application: the sequencing of a sales presentation. Luna: You mean showing the most expensive option first? Lucas: Yes. I know this sounds like a cliché, but it works. I talked to a sales director at a luxury automotive dealership — not the cliché used-car lot, but a high-end European brand. He said their training is explicit: always show the highest-trim model first. Let the customer sit in it, feel the leather, see the upgraded sound system. Then walk them over to the mid-tier. The mid-tier suddenly feels like a bargain. Luna: But isn't that a bit transparent? Customers know you're doing that. Lucas: Some do. But the physiological response is still there. The brain doesn't turn off the contrast reflex just because you know about it. It's like the Muller-Lyer illusion — you know the lines are the same length, but you still see one as longer. Same with contrast. Luna: So you're saying even if the buyer is aware of the tactic, it still influences them? Lucas: Not as strongly, but yes. The key is that the higher-priced option has to be genuinely superior in some way. If you show a stripped-down base model as the first frame, then a loaded one, the contrast works the opposite way — the base model looks too bare. So you want to anchor high, then pivot to the value option. Luna: That makes sense for a product with clear tiers. But what about services or consulting where there's no physical product? How do you create contrast? Lucas: Great question. In services, contrast often comes from scope or timeframe. I worked with a marketing consultancy that offered three packages: a six-month engagement at $120,000, a four-month at $90,000, and a two-month at $50,000. The six-month wasn't just longer — it included more strategy sessions and a dedicated account manager. The two-month was more tactical. Luna: So the contrast wasn't just price — it was depth of service. Lucas: Right. And the six-month anchored the value of the relationship. The four-month looked like a smart compromise. The two-month was for clients who truly couldn't commit more. But here's the fascinating part: they originally offered just the two-month and four-month. Average deal size was around $65,000. Adding the six-month option pushed the average to $82,000 — and the four-month became the most popular, not the two-month. Luna: That 30 percent increase we keep seeing? It seems like adding a premium option consistently lifts the middle. Lucas: It does, as long as the premium option is credible. If it's too far out of reach — say $500,000 for the same consultancy — it becomes irrelevant. The contrast only works if the buyer can imagine themselves in that option, even if they ultimately don't choose it. Luna: So the premium option has to be plausible. It can't be a fantasy price. Lucas: Exactly. Now, let me give you a tactical takeaway for the listener. Next time you're putting together a proposal, don't lead with your most popular option. Lead with a premium version that's 30 to 50 percent more expensive. Then show your standard option, then a stripped-down version. You'll see the middle option get picked far more often. Luna: And if the customer pushes back and says 'this premium option is too much,' you can always discount it. But you've already set the frame. Lucas: That's a great point. Discounting from a high anchor is much more powerful than discounting from a low anchor. If you start at $10,000 and discount to $8,000, the customer feels like they won. If you start at $8,000 and discount to $7,000, they wonder why you didn't start lower. Luna: So contrast isn't just about the options you present — it's about the order you present them in. Lucas: 100 percent. And one more thing: contrast works in written proposals too. I've seen reps structure their pricing page so the most expensive option is listed first, left to right. It's a small design choice, but it changes the way the buyer scans the page. Luna: That's interesting. I've seen studies on that — eye-tracking shows people start at the top left, so putting the premium option there sets the frame before they even read the details. Lucas: You know, if these conversations have helped you think about your sales process in a new way, it might be worth considering supporting the show. We keep it ad-free, and that's only possible because of listeners who chip in at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. Luna: Yeah, it's a small way to keep this kind of practical content coming. No pressure, but if you've gotten value from even one episode, it goes a long way. Lucas: Alright, back to contrast. There's one more application I want to cover: using contrast to handle objections about price. Luna: Right — when a prospect says 'that's too expensive,' how do you use contrast rather than just discounting? Lucas: The reflexive move is to drop the price. But contrast gives you a better move. You can say, 'I understand. Let me show you a version that covers the core features without the optional modules.' Then you present a lower-priced option. But here's the trick — you don't present it as the only alternative. You still keep the original option on the table. The contrast between the two makes the lower-priced one feel like a concession, even if it's still profitable for you. Luna: So you're not reducing price — you're reducing scope. And the buyer feels like they're getting a deal. Lucas: Exactly. And the buyer who chooses the lower scope often upgrades later, once they've experienced the value. I've seen that happen in SaaS all the time — a customer starts on the basic plan, then six months later moves to the premium because they want the features they initially passed on. Luna: That's the best outcome — you get the sale now and a bigger sale later. Lucas: Right. And it all starts with how you frame the options. So the takeaway for today is simple: don't let your buyer evaluate your offer in a vacuum. Give them a context. Show them what more looks like, so they can appreciate what you're actually proposing. Just make sure every option you present is a real option that delivers real value. Luna: That's the ethical line — and it's a good one to hold. Next episode, I want to talk about something that's been bugging me: how to handle prospects who ask for a discount right after you've given them your best price. Lucas: That's a great one — I've got some thoughts on that. Let's save it for next time.