There are two core areas of the sales game that the majority of its professionals do not enjoy. One is cold calling. The other is negotiating.

Cold calling is interruptive marketing. It's uncertain, and uncertainty is a bit of a crazy maker for our brains. Embracing that uncertainty with structure and process reduces its associated anxiety.

But what about pricing? We spend so much time optimizing our outbound strategies, pitches, discovery, qualification, and demonstrations. We run a fantastic sales cycle, but then the inevitable pricing conversation comes up.

"Can you do better on the price?" "It's too expensive." The uncertainty kicks in. We start defending instead of advising. Anxiety kicks in.

How can we avoid this? When it does come up, what can we do to engage and respond confidently so that, instead of having to defend your price, you hold it with ease? It's by having a structure and a process.

Imagine this. You head into a grocery store. You fill your cart, head to the cashier, then proclaim, "I have a budget issue. I'm going to need 20% off in order to move forward." What do you think the cashier might say?

"Buy 20% less, weirdo!"

It's the same situation with buying gas, riding an Uber, booking hotels, and even airline flights. We don't haggle the price when we believe that the price exists for a reason. We don't haggle the price when we believe that others are paying the same amount for the same solution and quantity.

As Thomas Herbert Russell wrote in his 1910 book, Salesmanship, Theory & Practice, "(Buyers) are no longer disposed to pay what is asked of them, unless persuaded in their minds that the sellers regulate their prices on some sound basis."

"Some sound basis." The business-to-business world has created a "some sound basis" problem, and we're all living in it. Our customers have been taught to haggle, based on the way we deliver pricing and the way we respond when asked for any sort of concession. That lack of process and confidence becomes contagious. Our customers can sense it, and until they feel the price is based on something sound, and they are paying a comparable amount for a solution and quantity similar to others, they will ask…and keep asking.

The solution is pretty simple. Your pricing, as well as that of every for-profit company in the world, is based on four fundamental levers. Once we understand and internalize these levers, conversations gain confidence. We can explain our pricing without anxiety. And, we now have the structure and process to handle any request that comes up, while maintaining the customer's confidence that our pricing is sound.

Your business model, and therefore your price, is likely (or should be) based on the following four things:

Volume: Or how much of your solution the customer is committing to. Whether it's products, services, seats, licenses, or even bowling balls, it is better for you when your customers commit to higher volume rather than lower.

Timing of Cash: Or how quickly the customer pays for said "volume." Customers who pay faster should be rewarded over those who pay more slowly.

Length of Commitment: Or how long your customer commits to your "volume." Longer commitments are better than shorter commitments.

Timing of the Deal: Or the customer's willingness to mutually align around their timing, thus aiding in predictability. Your ability to predict your business's future is highly valuable, as it allows you to allocate resources for those purchases, invest wisely, etc.

In other words, the difference between defending your price and holding it with ease comes down to making your price make sense long before the asks ever come up.

When you're first having conversations with your prospects, setting a pricing expectation aids customers in faster decision making, and for you, it helps you win faster…or lose the deals you're going to lose anyway, just faster. The greatest thing in the world of selling is winning. I'd argue that in 2nd place is losing quickly. And, if you're talking about a 5-or-6-figure solution to a 3-or-4-figure buyer, one of you is in the wrong conversation. Set a range, and lay out the first three levers.

"Before we get too far along, based on our understanding of your environment and your desired outcomes, your price is likely to be between $X and $Y. It's based primarily on (volume), and also (timing of cash), as well as a minimum (length of commitment). As we proceed through the process, we'll get much more specific for you. However, if that's way off of your expectations, can we discuss this now versus later?"

You've given your prospective customer a clear view of your price and pricing model early. You've shared the trade-offs from the beginning, which can be used for any concession the customer may ask for. They want to pay more slowly? Cool…something else will need to be adjusted in return. They want a discount? Well, you may be willing to pay for that discount in the form of faster payments, longer commitments, or better predictability. Otherwise, they should buy less. It's a structure that can be used for…well, everything a customer can ask for.

The minute your customer understands how something works and doesn't feel made-up, a "sound basis" is established. Trust is built. They'll ask for less. You'll discount less.

The best revenue creators lay the foundation early, internalize the levers, and while pricing discussions don't go away, they stop being the fight.

- Todd Caponi, Principal of Sales Melon LLC. He’s the author of two previous award-winning books, The Transparency Sale and The Transparent Sales Leader. Learn more at toddcaponi.com. 

Want to learn from more Revenue Creators like Todd? Join the RevGenius community and be part of the movement rewriting the GTM playbook.

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Revenue Creator Roundtable : The Agentic Shift in B2B Buying

Everyone says they're buyer-first, but most GTM motions still optimize for seller efficiency. Buyers don't want their company name in another subject line — they want relevance, timing, and room to move at their own pace. In this roundtable, revenue leaders dig into the tension: are we designing around buyer behavior, or just bolting AI onto old seller-first motions? When does personalization become noise? How do agentic workflows and buyer signals enable more self-directed buying? We'll get into what it takes to operationalize buyer context and strip friction from the journey.

From Hype to Impact: Revenue Optimization in 2026

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