One of the most hotly debated questions in web design: Should you list your prices on your website?
This conversation is a bit different now than it was a few years ago. Even though HubSpot has been encouraging websites to list their prices since 2013, many companies were still hesitant to make their prices publicly available before the COVID-19 pandemic. But after working remotely for almost two years, we’ve changed the way we think about business and are more comfortable sharing ourselves online.
Like most web design questions, there isn’t one clear-cut answer. There are both pros and cons associated with listing your prices. Let’s dive into them and how to decide what makes the most sense for your business.
Pros of listing your prices on your website
1. Clients want the info. Give it to them!
Your potential customers are on your website to learn about you. They want to know what you offer (products and services), what they can expect from working with you (testimonials and results), and… what it’s going to cost them.
Sure, most of your customers aren’t JUST worried about the price. They want to know what you’re going to deliver. But part of getting to know you and your brand is figuring out what you charge, and users might get frustrated if you withhold this key info for no real reason.
This is especially true for anyone who is still information gathering or in the early stages of the customer lifecycle. If they’re still wrapping their heads around their problem and its potential solutions, they’re going to want the full picture.
Plus, if they easily find out pricing from your competitors, they’re not going to jump through hoops (read: sign up for a sales call) to get it from you.
2. Qualify leads faster
Most of your customers aren’t just worried about price… but some of them are. And do you really want to spend your time trying to convince someone why you’re worth what you’re charging?
If you’re selling a product or service through HubSpot, there’s a good chance you aren’t the cheapest on the market. After all, you’re great at what you do! Making prices publicly available simply weeds out the bargain shoppers you don’t want to work with anyway.
There’s nothing worse than spending ages prepping for a sales call only to realize you’re chatting with a tire kicker who has no intention of paying your listed price. When your prices are visible on your website, you can be confident that anyone signing up for a call has a comfortable budget and cares more about your value than the price tag.
3. Accelerate the “what’s your budget” question
An uncomfortable part of many sales calls: getting crickets when you ask about a client’s budget. Whether they eventually come up with a sensible answer or not, it can be easy to waste time when costs don’t even enter the conversation until halfway through.
Rather than drop the ball in the middle of a discussion and see what your clients’ response is, set expectations early by advertising your prices online.
This way, every potential buyer knows exactly what they’re getting into. You can spend the duration of your call explaining the product and its benefits, not building up to an uncomfortable and overly salesy question.
4. Build trust by being transparent
One of the most important factors in deciding to do business with someone? Whether or not you feel you can trust them.
Show you’re worthy of customers’ trust by being completely transparent on what you offer, including your pricing. This demonstrates you’re charging based on what the product or service is actually worth, not just what you think a customer will be willing to pay.
And when you’re being honest and transparent with your customers, it will be that much easier to highlight why you’re the best at what you do.
Whether you’re a premium provider or a discount dealer, pricing is a key part of your branding and positioning. It tells customers what to expect when dealing with you. When you own the price conversation, we guarantee your users will be grateful.
5. Demonstrate success
If pricing is part of your company’s positioning, then it can also be used to indicate success. Let’s say you invested in an incredible team training program and decide to slightly increase your pricing to reflect their increased experience. As long as you communicate this ethically and effectively, customers should see this as a positive benefit that adds value to them!
It can also provide an extra reason for customers to stop hesitating and get onboard before your prices go up again.
Cons of listing your prices on your website
1. Clients may use price as the driving force of their decision
Here we are again, back to the clients who only care about price. Unfortunately, there will be people on your website who consider price as one of the most (if not THE most) important factors in their buying decision.
If prices are easily available, this type of customer will likely look at them before anything else. That means rather than focusing on your awesome products or all the great testimonials that illustrate why you’re worth the price, they’ll dismiss you as too expensive almost right away and go looking for a competitor who charges less.
2. You may lose the opportunity to ‘sell’
Sticker shock is a real problem for companies that sell more expensive products or services than their competitors. Customers may not understand why they should pay more for you or get the wrong kind of impression about your business, causing them to abandon ship before the conversation even begins.
If you keep your prices to yourself, your salespeople will have the chance to overcome any price objections in real-time and illustrate why your services are worth the cost. When you post prices online, you might lose the opportunity to have these discussions.
3. You need to show value before connecting
Since posting your prices takes away some of your opportunities to convince and convert leads, you’ll need to spend more time, effort, and money on curating your online presence to show value before connecting.
If you don’t leverage strong copy, testimonials, video results, or anything else that gives justification to your prices, you’ll scare away real users who could have become your best customers.
4. Competitors can see pricing
One of the most obvious drawbacks to posting your prices on your website: any and all of your competitors can see EXACTLY what you’re doing and what you’re charging.
This might be especially troublesome if your work is focused in a local area, a competitive industry, or a niche where competitors are mostly the same and only differ on pricing.
5. It’s not always easy
Depending on what you sell, it may not be as simple as listing a price on your website and calling it a day. Maybe you work on a lot of custom projects that require their own quotes, or your prices change depending on the offer or the customer.
This can put your business in a tricky situation. On one hand, you don’t want to charge less than what you deserve for a project. But on the other, you don’t want to damage your reputation by putting one price online and then quoting a much higher one to a customer.
When in doubt, you can always land in the middle by posting a price range or stating “Prices start at $x.” This way, you can still weed out leads who aren’t willing to pay your prices without the risk of confusion or blame.
Should you publish your prices?
Like most web design questions, there’s no one right answer to this one. It really depends on your business, what you sell, and your overall marketing strategy.
Examples of businesses that might benefit from putting prices on their website:
- Marketing agencies that get a lot of unqualified leads
- SaaS providers
- Smaller organizations with less qualified sales reps
- Local photographers looking to stand out in a crowded market
- Anyone who wants to add an eCommerce feel to their website
Examples of businesses that might not want to put prices on their website:
- Coaches and consultants that charge premium prices
- Large organizations with supercharged sales teams
- SaaS providers or marketing agencies that charge custom prices depending on the services offered
Looking for answers to another tricky web design question? Check out the pros and cons of including navigation on your landing page.
When making this decision, your audience is one of the most important things to keep in mind. Ask yourself: What do they expect to see on my website? How important is pricing in the grand scheme of their decision?
You should also dive into what your competitors are doing. If all of them have published their prices, you’re probably safe to do so too.
We personally believe there isn’t much harm in listing your prices. The reality is that if competitors really want to know what you’re charging, they’ll manage to find out. And as long as you have a well-designed website, the pros of building trust and qualifying leads far outweigh the cons.
Of course, the best way to find out what works for YOUR business is to test it out! Use HubSpot to create an A/B test of two websites or landing pages, one with pricing and one without, and see which one customers respond to better.
Have more website questions?
If you’re wondering about what best practices to implement on your site or are having a hard time getting the results you want, Horseshoe & Co. can help! Our HubSpot developers and designers have created dozens of HubSpot websites that generate leads, increase sales, and simplify life for marketing and customer service teams alike.
What are you waiting for? Get in touch today!
