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Another way to see the irrelevance of set budgets
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It's a way to have what you gain over your prospects and customers' proposed set budget. Think of it as the extra fund for fun (new projects, new products, more vacation, more bonuses, paid-time-to-think-bigger...). Blair Enns calls it your RAB Fund. And gives this example: Let’s say you have a client with a stated budget of $20,000 and you present a proposal with options priced at $20k, $35k and $90k. (Don’t read too much into those numbers or their relationships with each other.) If the client chooses the middle option of $35k, then your RAB score on this proposal is $15k, and you have $15k in your RAB fund for the year. If on your next proposal your RAB score is $40k, then you add that to your previous total ($15k) and you now have $55k in your RAB account. Repeat until the end of the year, watching your RAB fund grow. Wouldn't you enjoy having an extra fun fund? |
Rod Aparicio
Get one tip, question, or belief-challenge that just might change the way you market, to help your customers buy. A *daily* email for b2b founders on improving your business —without the bullshit.
Whatever your prospects come with as a budget, it's your mission to guide them and find out whether that budget is actually the one they need for the outcome they're after. You're the expert, help them out. Talking with the value-creators gets to be a different discussion from the budget keepers. And these value-creators focus on the outcome. And for that, they can make the right adjustments to have the "right" budget.
And if it is so, is that bad? Expensive (and cheap) needs context. In some contexts 200K might be expensive. In some others, it might be a bargain. Just as 2 euros could be expensive, or (feel like) free. It tends to give the impression of "expensive" when it's easily comparable (and not that different) to other things in that market, and it's focused mainly on the price. To change that, make your thing different, and focus on what's the outcome your customer gets. Selling expensive things...
If you're considering going into 2026 with an increase of prices, here are a couple of things you might want to consider: Forget inflation It has nothing to do with what you do or how this affects your business. First, it's not your customer's responsibility to make you profitable (if at all). Second, is the value of what you do 3% less with the fiscal change of the year? :) Third, everybody does it. Why not ignore it at all and zag, when everybody zigs? Make it a jump, not a step up Just...