"Why does Report A, with 292 pages, cost less than Report B with 129 pages?"
"Why does your X service cost $997?"
"How much time do you spend on Y for $2,295?"
When you get questions like these, act like a sphinx. Smile. Change the subject.
Not every customer question deserves an answer, and these demand to peek into the sanctum of your
business, where you keep preferences, procedures and strategies. Those belong to you and you alone.
In addition, such questioner curiosity shines attention on factors that you don't want customers focusing on.
As Mike Schultz and John Doerr put it in their RainToday.com 2008 fees and pricing report for consultants: "The more the conversation focuses on the underlying components of the price and price structure, the less it
focuses on value, quality and outcomes."
You want customers to care not how efficiently you work or what you pay contractors and employees, but how they benefit from what you do for them.
Value, quality and outcomes: Keep buyers' eyes on that trio!