Pricing systems
Designers are often not taught ‘business’ language.
Clients are often not taught ‘design’ language.
How do they talk to each other?
Via estimates and submissions.
The better the estimate, the more successful the relationship.
And the best estimates include options.
Developing a pricing system in a creative agency is essential to move from reactive, inconsistent pricing to a strategic, confident, and scalable approach.
- Use options that are descriptive rather than judgmental
- Options should be different approaches, not just more tasks
- Avoid implying that one option is inherently “best” for everyone
- Present all options as valid choices you’d be happy to deliver
Behavioural psychologists suggest offering three options is optimal because it provides clients with a balanced choice
without overwhelming them
Include three options in every estimate
Traditionally, designers have answered their client’s brief and supplied a costing to match the deliverables. Much better to include options, one a higher price-point, one meeting the brief, and the lowest cost delivering a minimal viable product.
Three options:
- provides context for decision-making
- changes the client’s question from “Is this worth it?” to “Which of these options works best for my situation?”
- allows clients to compare value propositions directly
- creates an anchor price that makes other options seem more reasonable.
The options should be different approaches, not based on quantity.
Three tiered option pricing is more than a sales tool—it’s a positioning tool:
- it helps clients self-select based on budget and ambition
- increases perceived value and spend
- add makes your pricing easier to explain and justify.
Option 1
The minimum viable product
Option 2
Answers the brief (common choice)
Option 3
The anchor price
Naming the options
When presenting multiple pricing options to clients, the traditional “good, better, best” framework can unintentionally create judgment and bias. It implies one option is inherently superior, when in reality each option represents different trade-offs that only the client can fully evaluate.
Instead of judgment-laden terms, consider descriptive alternatives
(see table below).
Remember that the highest expression of this approach isn’t just offering different quantities of the same thing, but presenting genuinely different ways of working together that align with different client needs and priorities.
Name the options to be descriptive, not judgemental.
| Option 1 | Option 2 | Option 3 |
|---|---|---|
| Time and materials | Deliverables | A partnership |
| Sprints | Project based | Outcome based |
| Quick start | Campaign | Retainer |
| Option 1 | Option 2 | Option 3 |
|---|---|---|
| Website UI design and development | Website + EDM campaign | Complete marketing campaign |
| Option 1 | Option 2 | Option 3 |
|---|---|---|
| Detailed scope | Deliverables | A partnership |
| Deliverables | Project based | Outcome based |
| Phase description | Campaign | Retainer |
