Champagne Appetites and Beer Budgets

Some of your prospective clients have champagne appetites and beer budgets. And not that fancy craft beer you drink now. I mean the cheap stuff you drank when you didn’t have any money.

These prospective clients want you to create the greatest value that you are capable of producing for them. They want the very best products you offer. The want the platinum service and the accompanying service level agreements. And they expect you to invest massively in their program so that you can produce those results. But, unfortunately, they are unable or unwilling to pay for all the things they want.

Underinvesting

Sometimes you win a deal and then discover that your new client expects champagne after they paid for beer. They work hard to make you feel as if you are cheap, when they in fact have the beer budget. They pretend that they are investing for the results they need and that you are somehow failing them for not investing enough, when they are not investing enough. This can complicate your relationship.

Let Them Eat Cake

One way to make sure your prospective clients gets what they want—and what they can pay for—is to show them a range of choices available to them. Show them the menu, and explain to them what investments are necessary to provide all the things that they say they want. Then show the other investment options that they might make, including the “just right” offering and the “too cheap” option.

If they want the platinum-plated everything solution, make sure that is what they get. If they can only afford the “just right” option, then allow them to choose that option. If they later decide they want the platinum program, they can pay the difference and have everything they want.

You can’t buy champagne with a beer budget. Champagne requires a greater investment.

• What do your clients want that they refuse to invest in and later expect?
• What options should you be showing them to help them understand the investment needed to give them what they want?
• When is the best time to present these options?
• How do you prevent beer budget clients from expecting champagne?