“Should I Put Prices on My Website?” YES. But why?

Imagine this:

Your ideal client is evaluating you equally against a virtually identical competitor, ACME Consulting. (This is already a problem.)

ACME’s website displays clear pricing tiers with detailed deliverables. Your website shows only, “Contact for Pricing.”

According to Deloitte research, 39% of customers will immediately choose your more transparent competitor—even if they cost more (Deloitte, 2023).

Are you unknowingly driving away more than a third of your potential clients?

This isn’t just about ethics or following trends—it’s about tangible business results. The most successful service companies clearly highlight key differences in their service levels and offerings without forcing prospects to make contact first. This includes their rates.

Many service companies choose to hide pricing based on outdated norms.

The traditional approach of hiding pricing emerged when info was harder to come by. Service providers believed it gave them control: Use sales calls to qualify prospects , customize their solutions, and repel price shoppers.

But today’s buyers have new expectations. They research extensively before making contact. They value their time and autonomy. When faced with an info barrier, most simply move on to companies offering the transparency that lets them finish their independent research before reaching out.

Think about your own buying behavior:

When was the last time YOU eagerly filled out a “contact us” form just to learn what something costs?

Fact: We attract more loyal clients with transparent rates.

Why? Our transparency helps prove that they can trust us.

In an industry overloaded with endless (and often subpar or scammy) options … trust has become the new currency. Research shows that 94%(!) of consumers are more likely to be loyal to a brand that offers complete transparency regarding pricing (Label Insight, 2022).

Displaying your rates indicates confidence in the value of your service.

It tells prospects you have nothing to hide. It creates psychological safety by removing the fear of hidden costs or bait-and-switch tactics that many service providers use.

Also, a bonus:

When a prospect encounters clear rates, their internal convo shifts from asking, “How much will this cost?” to “Is this value worth my investment?”

And it becomes a matter of your marketing’s ability to convince them that it is.

That’s a fundamentally different—and more productive—conversation. Don’t you think?

(Pro Tip: Three-tier price anchoring helps with this “self-convincing” immensely.)

Displaying our rates means better quality leads and less work.

One benefit of transparent rates you might least expect is better lead quality. Displaying your rates helps prospects filter themselves out—or in—reducing the time your team spends with poor-fit prospects who were never going to pay anyway.

Transparency in pricing naturally filters out leads who aren’t serious about investing at your level.

Also, by the time you get on the phone, email, etc. … those leads are WAY more likely to convert because you don’t have to sell them on price.

Win.

Transparency transforms your funnel from wide and leaky to focused and efficient. You spend less time educating and convincing tire-kickers and more time serving clients who truly appreciate your unique value.

Transparent rates done right let clients upsell themselves.

Remember, too, that hidden pricing often sends an unintended message:

“If you have to ask, you can’t afford it.”

When hiding your rates, many qualified buyers simply assume you’re outside their budget and move on without ever contacting you.

Fortunately for you, research shows that clients will often pay more when pricing is transparent.

For instance, a survey from McKinsey found that 68% of B2B customers were willing to pay extra for a more straightforward pricing experience (McKinsey, 2023).

Why does this work? A few reasons:

1. As mentioned above, transparent pricing shifts their internal conversation from cost to value.
2. If done right, transparent pricing supports the natural comparison process your prospect is already following.

“Done right” means using pricing tiers with price anchoring, if that makes sense for your service model.

When prospects can clearly see what they’ll get at each service tier, they make better-informed decisions. When your prices are anchored so the more expensive option is CLEARLY the best value, more prospects will choose it.

And all without any sales pressure.

Awesome for both them and you/your team.

Again, if your price anchoring is legit, prospects “upsell” themselves. No awkward sales call required.

Addressing the common perceived issues with black and white pricing.

“Our services are too customized for standard pricing.”

If you offer complex or custom services, like website or other bespoke design, marketing, consulting, etc. … having established rates may not be practical. However, even the most customized services can at least offer ranges or sample pricing that gives prospects a realistic starting point.

Examples:

• List actual project rates for some of your real-world past projects.
• List “starting at” rate ranges for your most common services.
• List a “high and low” range many of your projects fall into.
• Create packages from your most popular services and organize them into pricing tiers.
• Etc.

Then, you might place any less-common services or offerings in an “add-ons” list, with associated prices of course. We’ve used all of these strategies with success in the past.

Don’t stress. The goal here isn’t absolute precision to the dollar. It is about offering enough transparency to help prospects determine if you’re in their budget range.

“Our competitors will undercut us.”

Well, maybe. But there will always be copycats. The key is two-fold here:

1. To stay on the cutting edge so much that your competitors can’t keep up.
2. To remember that copycats will always find someone new to copy, soon enough.

Also, competing on price is a dangerous (and business busting) game. Trying to be “the cheapest” means you’ll attract clients who prioritize rock-bottom prices over results.

Ironically, these clients are also often more likely to demand excess support. And they’re not loyal, always poised to hop to the next cheapest competitor.

The Reveal: Pricing transparency means “more ideal” clients, profit, customer loyalty … and less work.

There are rare exceptions where choosing not to disclose pricing makes sense: Government contracts with complex bidding requirements, highly regulated industries with price control mechanisms, or truly one-of-a-kind services where no meaningful comparison exists. But these are exceptions, not the rule.

Remember that prospect evaluating your competitor’s three pricing options? Each option shows the exact inclusions for the price. The prospect makes their decision in minutes and your competitor earns a new client.

Now, imagine the prospect expecting rates, but a contact form blocks pricing info on YOUR site. Don’t be that company.

In a recent survey, 62% of consumers abandoned purchases due to unexpected charges or pricing obstacles (Consumer Reports, 2021). So choose to do it differently.

Display your rates clearly and completely—in a way that makes sense for your business model—and make faster progress, and profit, with less work.