What do you do when you get the ballpark question? I had two today. One on the phone (never met the guy) and one from a prospect (our first meeting) that asked, “So….what would a ballpark price be for your services…”

Now, before I go on a rant, I have to say I can’t blame them. It’s a fair question and I’ve committed this same infraction many a-time myself.

But the key is this: the question doesn’t help them. The prospect wants a solution to a problem/potential. They want to solve that problem, and most could argue, at a reasonable rate of return. How much something costs is irrelevant until the size of the problem is identified. Most prospects haven’t taken the time to define that first and by telling them even a ballpark price, they’ll have little context to determine if the price is reasonable.

The prospect wants to solve a problem. They hope you can be the hero. Telling them the price too soon will most likely result in helping nobody-especially the prospect. Now, they’ll flounder until they find some low-cost provider, who’s cheaper than the price you mentioned (congratulations, you set the bar) and they’ll probably get an inferior product or service that won’t solve their problem.

Do your prospect a favor: Don’t ballpark a price for them. Go through your entire sales process and give them the price when you know what the problem is. You’ll both be happy you did.