MOVE 26 · POSITIONING & VALUE · FREE
Show the Cost of the Problem
Quantify what the unsolved problem is already costing them, so your proposal is weighed against that cost instead of against zero.
A price looks high only when it stands alone; next to the cost of doing nothing it often looks small.
WHY IT WORKS
Decision-makers compare your fee to an imagined baseline of no spending. Making the current cost visible — lost hours, missed sales, churn, rework — changes that baseline. The conversation becomes whether the problem is worth solving, which is the right question.
WHEN TO USE IT
- The client agrees the problem is real but balks at the price.
- Leadership is deprioritising an issue that is quietly expensive.
WHEN NOT TO USE IT
- You lack reasonable data and would have to invent figures.
- The cost is emotional for the counterpart and quantifying it would seem callous.
SIGNALS IT FITS
- They say 'it's not that bad' while describing recurring issues.
- Budget conversations ignore the cost of the status quo.
PREPARATION
- Estimate the monthly cost conservatively, showing your assumptions.
- Ask them to correct your numbers rather than defending them.
STEP BY STEP
- Describe the problem in their words.
- Show a conservative cost estimate with assumptions visible.
- Invite them to adjust the numbers.
- Place your proposal next to the agreed cost.
OPENING LINE
“Before we talk about the fee, can we put a rough number on what this is costing now?”
SCRIPT
If each delayed invoice takes about two hours to chase and you have forty a month, that's eighty hours monthly. Does that match your sense of it?
LIKELY RESPONSES & COUNTERS
- If they dispute the estimate
- Invite their number and recalculate together; shared figures persuade better than yours.
- If they agree but still delay
- Ask what would need to be true to start, then use Name the Decision.
SECOND MOVE
Once the cost is agreed, use Lead with the Outcome, Not the Hours to present your proposal.
FOLLOW-UP
Send the agreed cost figure in writing so it anchors later budget discussions.
COMMON MISTAKES
- Inflating the cost to make your price look small.
- Presenting the number as an accusation of poor management.
WALK-AWAY CONDITIONS
- They agree on the cost and still refuse to address it, signalling it is not a real priority.
EXAMPLE (FICTIONAL)
An IT contractor showed a dental practice that system downtime cost roughly two cancelled appointments a week. The 4,000 upgrade, first rejected as too expensive, was approved once compared with about 1,600 monthly in lost bookings.
ETHICAL BOUNDARY
Use honest, conservative assumptions and show them. Inflated cost estimates are manipulation even if the solution is good.
RELATED MOVES
Content version 1 · Drafted by Power Move IQ Editorial · Not yet human-reviewed · Educational decision support, not legal, financial or employment advice.