How to price a B2B product or service

Your first one or two clients paid a price you made up on the spot, and now you have to quote new clients you have never met. Here is how to price a B2B product or service in one afternoon: three sums, one quote you send the same day, and a rule for when to change the price. If you guess instead, most founders guess low, and a low first price is hard to raise later.

Do these three things

About 3 hours today, then about 20 minutes a quote. Keep up your daily outreach so the quotes keep coming, and judge the price after 20 quotes, never after one lost deal.

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1. 1Today: work out the lowest price that still pays you, from your real costs. Then set your price at or above what buyers usually pay, and never below that floor.
2. 2Every day: say your price on every sales callsoon, send every quotesoon the same day with a 30-day limit, and write down whether the buyer said yes, no or "too much".
3. 3Every Sunday: count quotes and wins. After 20 quotes, raise your pricesoon 10% if 8 in 10 said yes. If fewer than 2 in 10 did, fix the offer before you cut the price.

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1. Work out the lowest price that still pays you#

Your floor price is the lowest price at which a sale still pays all its costs and your own pay. Work it out first, from real bills, so you never quote below it in a hurry on a call.

Open a Google Sheet and list every cost, with a real number from a bill, an invoice or your bank account. Do not guess. Then use the sum that fits what you sell.

• If you make or wholesale a product: add up everything one typical order costs you: materials, setup, printing or making, packing and delivery. Divide by the number of units. Then divide by 0.7. That leaves 30% of the price for your fixed costs and your pay. If you sell through a distributorsoon, ask what margin it needs first. Your price to the distributor must still be above your floor.
• If you sell a service, such as consulting or IT: add the pay you need for a year to your yearly business costs (software, insurance, travel, your accountant). Divide by 1,000. That is your floor per hour. Use 1,000 hours, about 20 a week, because selling, admin and gaps between jobs take the rest of your time. Most independent consultants bill about 1,000 to 1,400 hours a year.
• If you sell software through sales calls: each extra customer costs you little, so your floor is the cost of the setup, training and support hours in the first year. Set the real price from what it is worth (step 3). The SaaS pricing guide covers plans and trials.

Then do one more sum: your monthly fixed costs, including your pay, divided by the profit on one order or one project. That is how many sales you need each month. It tells you how much outreach and marketing money the price has to carry, and later how much you can spend to win each client (CAC and paybacksoon).

What one typical order or project costs me: $[X]
Units in it (boxes, hours, seats): [N]
Cost per unit: $[X ÷ N]
Floor per unit (product: cost ÷ 0.7; service: yearly pay + costs ÷ 1,000): $[floor]
My fixed costs a month, including my pay: $[F]
Profit on one typical order: $[P]
Sales I need a month: [F ÷ P]

• Tool: Google Sheets. Free.
• Time: 1 hour.
• You will have: one floor number per unit, and the number of sales you need a month.
• It worked if: every line has a number you could show on a bill or invoice, and your current price is above the floor. If it is below, you lose money on every sale; fix the price before you send another quote.
• Common mistake: leaving out your own pay, or the hours you spend on calls, samples and changes. A price that only covers materials pays for the work and nothing for you.

2. Collect 20 prices your buyers pay today#

Find out what your buyers pay now for the same job, from 20 real prices. This is your market range: the low price, the typical price and the high price.

Get prices from three places:

1. Buyers. At the end of every call, ask: "What did you pay last time for this, and for how much?" Buyers tell you more than you expect, because the question is about them. This is a normal customer interview question. Aim for at least 5 of your 20 prices from buyers.
2. Competitors' websites. Many small suppliers show a "from" price, a price list or an online price calculator. Note the price for the same amount and the same job as yours. Your competitor analysis sheet can hold them.
3. AI answers, as a lead only. Ask ChatGPT or Claudesoon: "What does [the job] usually cost for a [kind of company] of [size]?" Your buyers may be reading the same answersoon. In G2's March 2026 survey, 51% of software buyers said they now start their research in an AI chatbot more often than in Google. Check every number the AI gives you against a real price before you write it down.

Price | For what (amount, job) | Where it came from (buyer / website / calculator) | Date
Low: $[ ] · Typical (the middle price): $[ ] · High: $[ ]

• Tool: Google Sheets, and ChatGPT or Claude (free plans are enough).
• Time: 2 hours for the websites, then one question at the end of every call you already have.
• You will have: 20 prices, each with its source, and a low, typical and high price.
• It worked if: you have 20 prices for the same job as yours, and at least 5 came from buyers.
• Common mistake: comparing yourself only with big firms' list prices, or only with the cheapest seller online. Your buyers compare you with what they paid last time, so those prices count most.

3. Work out what your product or service is worth to the buyer#

Ask buyers what the problem costs them each year, and turn their answers into one number: the value of your product or service to them in its first year. Your price should be no more than a third of it.

Ask 5 buyers, or your first clients, these questions. Use their numbers, not yours.

What does this problem cost you today, in money or in hours a month?
What do you use or pay for instead right now?
If it were fixed, what would you sell more of, or stop paying for?
How many times a year does this come up?

Add it up for one year: money saved, plus money brought in, plus hours saved times what an hour costs them. Then divide by your price. If the value is at least 3 times your price, you can defend it, and the value sentence becomes part of your value proposition. If it is less than 3 times, you are selling to the wrong buyer or selling too little, or the problem is not painful enough to pay for. Check your ideal customer profile before you change the price.

• Tool: your phone and a Google Sheet.
• Time: the last 5 minutes of 5 calls you already have, then 30 minutes to add it up.
• You will have: one value number for your main kind of buyer, in their own words.
• It worked if: at least 3 of the 5 buyers gave you a number, and the value is at least 3 times your price.
• Common mistake: writing the value yourself. A buyer believes their own numbers, and a price based on your guess falls apart on the first call.

4. Set your B2B price and write it as three options#

Pick your starting price with three rules, then write it as three options in one quote template and put a starting price on your website.

The three rules for your starting price:

1. Never below your floor from step 1.
2. At or above the typical price from step 2. Go under typical only if you sell less for it: a smaller amount, fewer changes, a longer wait.
3. No more than a third of the value from step 3.

Pick a price between rule 2 and rule 3. If you have two happy clients and a result you can show, pick the top of that gap. If you have nothing to show yet, pick the typical price and add proof as you get it: a case studysoon, testimonialssoon or, for a service firm, reviews on Clutchsoon.

Then write three options. The middle one is the price you want most buyers to take. The small one gives a buyer who says "too much" a way to say yes without a discount.

• If you make or wholesale a product: three amounts with a price per unit for each, such as 500, 1,000 and 2,500 units. Check each one against its own floor, because setup costs weigh more on a small order.
• If you sell a service: three fixed-price packages, such as a check, a project and a monthly retainer. Buyers compare a fixed price more easily than an hourly rate, and you keep the gain when you work fast.
• If you sell software through sales calls: three plans by number of users or sites, with a yearly contract, and setup as a separate line.

Subject: [Their company]: [what you will do], [amount]Hi [first name],Thanks for the call. Here is what we talked about: [their problem, in their words].Option 1, [small]: [what is in it], $[price]
Option 2, [standard]: [what is in it], $[price]  ← what I would pick for you, because [one reason from the call]
Option 3, [large]: [what is in it], $[price]Payment: 50% when you say yes, the rest on delivery. [For repeat clients: within 30 days of the invoice.]
This price is good for 30 days, until [date].Next step: reply "Option 2" and I will send the invoice and book [the start / the print date].[Your name], [company], [phone]

Put a 30-day limit on every quote, and check your costs again before each new one. Costs can move fast: in the US, import tariffs changed several times in 2026, starting with the Supreme Court's ruling on 20 February 2026 that struck down one set of them.

Ask for a deposit on every first order. A new client has no history with you, and a deposit also shows they are serious. If your buyers are in the UK: a bill announced in May 2026 would limit payment terms between businesses to 60 days. It is not law yet, so write your own terms into every quote.

Then put a starting price on your website, next to your headlinesoon: "From $[X]" or "Orders from [N] units at $[X] each". It lets the right buyers contact you and puts off the wrong ones. In TrustRadius' 2025 survey of 2,058 technology buyers, 49% said missing prices were the one thing they would most like vendors to change. The pricing page guidesoon shows how to lay it out, and your homepagesoon should show the "from" price near the top. For big buyers who send a formal RFPsoon, use the same three prices in their form.

If your first clients paid a friends' price: keep it for their next order, and tell them now when it will change: "From [date], the price for new orders is $[X]." Give them at least 30 days. The price rise guidesoon has the message.

• Tool: Google Docs for the quote template, and your site editor.
• Time: 1 hour for the template, 30 minutes for the website.
• You will have: a starting price, three options, a quote template, and a "from" price live on your site.
• It worked if: each option is above its own floor, and a stranger can find your starting price on your website in 5 seconds.
• Common mistake: giving a discount on the one option you have. Offer the small option instead. A discount teaches buyers that your first price is not your real price.

5. Say your price on every call and send every quote the same day#

Say a price range on the first call with every buyer, then send the written quote the same day. A buyer who hears the price first in a long proposal a week later is the one who goes quiet.

On the discovery callsoon, once you know what they need, say the range out loud: "Most orders like yours are between $[low] and $[high]. Does that fit what you had in mind?" If they say no, you have saved a week. If they say yes, the quote holds no surprise.

Send the quote from step 4 the same day. AI makes that possible: paste your call notes and the template into ChatGPT or Claude and ask for a first draft. Check every number and every promise yourself, then send it. That takes about 20 minutes.

Follow upsoon on day 3, day 7 and day 14 in the same email thread, and log every quote. When a buyer says "too much", ask one question before you answer: "Too much compared with what?" Their answer tells you whether to offer the small option or to explain the value from step 3.

Quotes only come from conversations. Keep up your daily outreach: 100 personal messagessoon a day by email or LinkedInsoon to people on your lead listsoon, plus introductions from referral partnerssoon and meetings at trade showssoon. Book every call you can. At a few calls a day, 20 quotes come in weeks, not months. If your deals need a demosoon or a sales decksoon, say the range there too.

Date | Company | Buyer | Option quoted | Price | Range said on the call? (yes / no) | Follow-ups sent | Result (won / lost / no answer) | Reason, in their words

• Tool: Gmail, ChatGPT or Claude for the first draft, and your Google Sheet. A CRMsoon can wait until the sheet gets slow.
• Time: about 20 minutes a quote, plus 5 minutes a day for follow-ups.
• You will have: every quote sent within 24 hours of the call, each with a result and a reason in the log.
• It worked if: every quote went out within 24 hours, and every one has a result by day 14.
• Common mistake: hiding the price until a long proposal, then waiting for the buyer to reply. Say the range on the call, and follow up 3 times. Big companies with many people in the decision take longer, and enterprise dealssoon need the range said to each of them.

6. Count quotes and wins every Sunday and change the price after 20 quotes#

Every Sunday, count your quotes, wins and losses, with the reason for each. Change the price only after 20 quotes, using the rules below. One lost deal tells you nothing.

Count a quote as lost if there is still no answer after the day-14 follow-up, and keep those buyers in touch with an occasional useful emailsoon. Then, after every 20 quotes, divide wins by quotes and use these rules:

1. 8 or more in 10 said yes, and nobody said "too much": your price is too low. Raise it 10% for the next 20 quotes. Existing clients keep their price until you tell them, with 30 days' notice.
2. 2 to 7 in 10 said yes: keep the price. Put your time into getting more calls with the right buyers.
3. Fewer than 2 in 10 said yes: do not cut the price yet. Call 5 buyers who said no and ask: "What did you choose instead, and what did it cost?" If most chose something cheaper and smaller, add a smaller option. If most chose to wait or do nothing, the problem is the offer or the buyer, not the price. Go back to why nobody is buying. Cut the price only if 3 of the 5 name a lower price for the same thing, and never below your floor.

Week | Quotes sent | Won | Lost | No answer after day 14 | Said "too much" | Won ÷ quotes (after 20) | Decision

Add these columns to the sheet you already keep for your channels, so you can see which channel brought each dealsoon and at what price. Once a month, look at price, wins and orders together in your monthly reviewsoon.

• Tool: Google Sheets.
• Time: 20 minutes each Sunday, plus about an hour for 5 calls when rule 3 applies.
• You will have: one row a week, and a written price decision after every 20 quotes.
• It worked if: every quote has a result and a reason, and each price change points to one of the three rules.
• Common mistake: cutting the price after one or two lost deals, or raising it for clients who already agreed a price without telling them first.

Your B2B pricing checklist for your next 20 quotes

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Step 1 · Work out the lowest price that still pays you

• List every cost of one typical order or project and work out your floor price per unit.
• Work out how many sales you need a month at your current price.

Step 2 · Collect 20 prices your buyers pay today

• Collect 20 real prices from buyers, competitors' websites and price calculators.
• Every dayAsk every buyer on a call what they paid last time, and for how much.

Step 3 · Work out what it is worth to the buyer

• Ask 5 buyers the four value questions and add up the first-year value.
• Check that the value is at least 3 times your price.

Step 4 · Set your price and write three options

• Pick your starting price using the three rules.
• Write three options: small, standard and large.
• Write your quote template.
• Put a starting price on your website.
• Tell your first clients when their price changes for new orders.

Step 5 · Say your price on every call and quote the same day

• Every daySay a price range on every first call.
• Every daySend every quote the same day as the call.
• Every dayFollow up on every open quote on day 3, day 7 and day 14.

Step 6 · Count quotes and wins every Sunday

• Every SundayFill in the Sunday row: quotes, wins, losses, no answers and reasons.
• After 20 quotesRaise, keep or check the price using the three rules.

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