You don't know what to charge
On 5 sales calls lead with anchor A (high), on 5 with anchor B (low). Compare reactions, objections, and what they offer to pay. Find your real willingness-to-pay.
When to use
You're in active sales conversations and pricing has come up as a friction point — or you've never validated pricing live.
Hypothesis template
If we lead with €X on 5 calls and €Y on 5 calls (same product, same persona), the objection patterns and counter-offers will reveal real willingness-to-pay within 2x range.
Method
The problem: You're guessing pricing. Or you set it once based on competitor pages and never tested it. Customers tell you pricing is fine — then don't buy.
What works: Two anchors, far apart. The reactions teach you more than any survey.
How to do it:
- Pick anchor A (your current target — e.g. €1,500/mo) and anchor B (~2x — e.g. €3,000/mo).
- On the next 10 sales calls (alternating), state the anchor as a confident statement, not a question: "Pricing for teams like yours is €X/month."
- Shut up. Listen.
- Log: their facial reaction (if video), first words, objection raised, counter-offer if any, did they advance.
- After 10 calls, compare: did the high-anchor group push back more — or did they accept and the low-anchor group treated it as "must be a toy"?
Output: A real pricing range backed by 10 reactions, not 100 survey responses. Use the higher of the two anchors that didn't kill deals.
Success metrics
- •"That's expensive" rate per anchor
- •Counter-offers received
- •Advance-to-pilot rate per anchor
- •Median offered price
Prerequisites
- 10+ sales calls in the next 3 weeks
- A product confident enough to anchor on
- Willingness to lose a few deals to learn
Common pitfalls
- •Apologizing for the price ("I know it's a lot...")
- •Anchoring with a range — kills the test
- •Discounting the moment they push back
- •Not logging objections verbatim
Source: Patrick Campbell (ProfitWell) on willingness-to-pay. Behavioral pricing 101.
Suggested ICE scores
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