Can They Afford Us?

Understanding your ideal customer's profile is a must, as it determines who you market to and who buys your products and services and at what price. However, if you sell to small businesses and start-ups there will be more than a few prospective clients and/or customers who cannot afford to hire you but who do fit your ideal customer's profile, absent cash flow. So what do you do?

Some of your options are:

• Walk away.
• Walk away and refer them to someone who can help them on their budget.
• Lower your prices one time, take the job, and help them grow their business so they become loyal to you and in the future they might be able to afford your usual prices. In other words, bet on the future.
• Maintain your prices and set up a favorable payment schedule.

What other options are there? What would you do? What is best for your business and your brand?