By Greg Allan, tradesman and creator of Data First Coaching
Why does a customer say a tradie’s rate is too high?
In most cases, the price was never really the problem. By the time a customer raises it, they have usually already formed a feeling about the job, built from how fast the follow up came, how clear the quote looked, and whether their questions were answered along the way. A fair rate can still feel wrong sitting on top of a shaky process.
Greg teaches that this objection is a trust signal, not a negotiation over a number. A trade business with a slow phone response or a scrappy quote can send the exact right price and still hear it called too high. A business that follows up quickly and presents itself with confidence can charge the same number and rarely hear the objection at all. Treating every price pushback as a number to adjust misses what is actually happening before the price is even mentioned.
What happens when a trade business drops its price to win the job?
Discounting on the spot can win the job, but it usually costs more than the discount itself. It trains the customer to expect a lower number every time there is a conversation about price, and it trains the owner to answer every objection the same way, by shaving the rate rather than protecting it.
Gross profit margin is the number that quietly takes the hit, job after job, long after the customer has forgotten the conversation. Not every job carries the same value to the business. High demand work, or work that is already stretching the crew, can justify holding the firm price. Lower priority work, or a job that could genuinely wait, does not need the same response.
How do you know which jobs are worth protecting at full rate?
Your own job and quote data answer this far better than a gut feeling in the moment. Looking at which jobs carry strong margin, which land in your busiest season, and which ones the business could do without, tells you which price is worth holding firm and which has room to move on timing instead of rate.
Picture an electrician whose service calls for heat pumps and EV chargers pile up every spring and summer, more demand than the crew can comfortably fit in, while the rate charged for that work has not kept pace with how in demand it has become. Rather than guessing at a new number, they set a separate rate for that service work during the busy months, and explain the difference to customers on the phone as a reason to book outside the rush. They also stopped taking jobs where they were only supplying equipment without fitting it, keeping their own install and warranty on every job they price.
What can you offer instead of a straight discount?
Instead of cutting your number, you can offer the same job at a lower rate for a quieter time later, giving the customer a genuine choice rather than a reason to question every future price. That protects your margin on the slot that is in demand, while still giving a price conscious customer a real way to work with you.
This works best alongside options, not a single figure. Presenting a good, better and best way to do the job, built from what you learned on the phone or on site, gives the customer something to choose between instead of a number to argue with. A customer who feels like they chose rarely comes back to haggle.
How does faster follow up change whether price becomes the issue?
When you follow up quickly, present the quote clearly, and handle yourself well on the call or on site, price often stops being the deciding factor at all. This is where an AI agent, software that does a job the way you would, with your prices, wording and rules, can take over the parts that usually slip when the business gets busy.
An AI agent can send the follow up the moment a quote goes out, every time, instead of whenever there is a free minute between jobs. That is a data first way of working: starting from your own numbers on which jobs convert, which go quiet, and which season needs a different rate, rather than reacting to the loudest objection on the phone that week.
How does Data First Coaching approach this?
Data First Coaching starts by looking at the owner’s own quote and job data through the Trade Business Intelligence, not a script for handling objections. Greg Allan looks at how fast quotes go out, which jobs are winning at full rate and which are being discounted, and where in the process a customer’s trust starts to wobble before price is ever mentioned. As Greg puts it, “The reason they’re saying price is usually they don’t feel right about you.” Finding where that feeling starts, in the follow up, the quote, or the first phone call, shows where the real fix goes in. The how of building that fix is worked through inside the Academy, with members, because the Trade Business Intelligence is powered by every member, and the Academy is for owners who are open minded, innovative and willing to share.
