Every proposal I send has three options in it. And the order I list them in has changed what clients pay more than anything else I've done.
For years I led with the cheapest version. It felt polite. Show them the affordable one, let them upgrade if they want.
They almost never upgraded.
Because the first number a client sees becomes the number everything else is measured against. Lead with the small option and the middle one looks like an upsell. Lead with the full version and the middle one looks like a sensible compromise.
Same three options. Same prices. Opposite outcomes.
So now the first thing in my proposal is the complete version of the project, at the full price. What it would look like done properly, with nothing left out. Then the middle option. Then the minimum.
The client reads top to bottom. By the time they reach the smallest number, it doesn't feel safe anymore. It feels like the version with things missing.
But it is important that you do not just use it as a trick. The full version has to be real. Not padded, not decorative. Genuinely what the project needs to hit the result they told you they're after. Then the anchor isn't manipulation. It's just showing them the whole picture before the compromise.
Most clients pick the middle. Some pick the top. Almost nobody picks the bottom anymore, and the bottom was all anyone ever chose when I led with it.
Same work. I just changed what they read first.
– Moritz
Tiny tactical tip:
Take your next proposal and write the complete version first, before you think about what to cut.
Price it fully. Then build the middle and minimum by removing things from it. Proposals built upward from cheap always stay cheap.