You know the moment when the prospect is engaged, interested, leaning in? Then they hear your price and hesitate. So you mention the downsell, the lower-priced option to keep the conversation alive, and something shifts. Their energy changes. The questions get sharper. Suddenly you’re having a conversation about budgets instead of solving their problem.
And this is when you lose them.
The problem is positioning. Most business owners treat their lower-priced options like backup plans, and prospects can feel that energy immediately. When your approach shifts from “here’s what you need” to “okay, here’s what you can afford,” you sabotage the sale.
For your prospect, a downsell should never feel like settling. Instead, it needs to feel like the exact solution they need right now.
The Cost of Getting This Wrong
I’m working with a client who provides healthcare services and doesn’t accept insurance. Nearly 50% of her prospects say no to working with her team because of the cost, even though her fees are fair for the work involved. People get referred to her practice by other clinicians, so they show up interested. And then they hear the investment and walk away.
She had lower-cost options she could offer. Smaller ways to start. But she wasn’t following up with them.
Her solution? Get more referrals, more leads, and let the numbers catch up.
I asked her what her actual goal was. She said she genuinely wants to help people feel better. So I asked why she was letting so many people walk away still feeling bad.
That question got her attention.
She’s now building out those lower-cost entry points and even exploring accepting one insurance plan known for actually paying providers well. We don’t have results yet, but she’s still made an important shift. She stopped thinking about her lower-priced options as the thing you offer when someone can’t afford the real service. She started seeing them as legitimate pathways to help more people.
Same options. Completely different energy.
This matters. Whether the economy is strong or uncertain, your prospects are careful with every financial commitment they make. They need to feel certain about their decision. And silence after a price objection doesn’t create certainty. It creates distance and lost revenue you’ll never recover.
What Makes a Downsell Feel Strategic Instead of Desperate?
Here’s the reframe. A consolation prize is what you settle for when you can’t have what you wanted. The best next step is strategic. It’s the right move for where you are right now.
Same offering. Completely different positioning.
Get this wrong, and you devalue both options. The premium starts to feel overpriced. Why would you offer something cheaper if the expensive one was worth it? And the lower-priced option feels inadequate. Clearly, it’s lesser, or you would have led with it.
Get it right, and you build trust. The prospect feels guided, not sold.
But here’s what makes this tricky.
Why Do Business Owners Fumble the Downsell Conversation?
You can understand everything I just explained and still lose the sale when it matters.
The problem isn’t your script. It’s what you actually believe about the offer you’re making. If you think your downsell is the lesser option, your prospect will feel that hesitation no matter what words you use. That’s because your tone shifts and your energy changes unconsciously. And they pick up on it instantly.
This is why business owners who understand downselling perfectly still struggle to execute it.
You know it works in theory, you understand the positioning, and you’ve probably practiced the conversation. But when you talk with a real prospect, your behavior still hasn’t caught up with what your head knows.
No one can see their own blind spots in the moment. You can’t hear the shift in your voice when you transition from the premium offer to the lower-priced one. You don’t notice the subtle apology creeping into your language or the way you’re telegraphing that this option is “less than.”
I work with business owners on exactly this issue. One client’s closing rate is 67%, while her peers are happy with 40-60%. The difference? She positions the same options her peers have, so they feel like the obvious next step rather than a fallback plan. But getting there required someone else to help her see what she couldn’t.
What’s Actually Possible When You Get This Right
Getting this position right is about matching the right solution to where your client is right now and presenting it so they feel smart for choosing it.
When you nail this, your downsell becomes a doorway. The client starts working with you at a level that fits their current situation. They get results. Trust builds. And when they’re ready for more, you’re the obvious choice because you’ve already proven yourself.
But it starts with how you position that first step. Not as the thing they’re settling for. As the best next move on the path they actually want to be on.
The challenge is that positioning isn’t just language. It’s belief. And changing what you believe about your offerings while you’re inside your own business is like trying to read a label from inside the bottle.
If you’re watching sales slip away after you mention lower-priced options, or if you’re avoiding that conversation entirely because it feels uncomfortable, you’ve got to ask yourself a hard question.
How much longer are you willing to underserve your market?
If you’re ready to start fully serving your market, schedule a 15-minute call to see if you’re a fit for my process.
