Almost every tradesperson gets asked to reduce a price at some point. How you respond shapes not just this job, but how the customer treats you going forward.
Understand what's actually being asked
"Can you do better on price" sometimes means "convince me this is fair," not "I want a discount." Ask what specifically feels high. It often gets a more useful answer than immediately offering a lower number.
Trade scope for price, not just cut the number
If you do reduce the price, reduce the job to match: fewer materials, a simpler finish, or splitting the work into phases. A bare discount with no change to scope trains customers, and yourself, to treat your first quote as inflated.
Know your walk-away point before the conversation happens
Decide in advance the lowest price you would actually do the job for. Negotiate without that number settled, and you tend to end up with a price set by the conversation instead of by the actual cost of the work.
It is fine to simply say no. "That's the price for this scope of work" is a complete answer, and often earns more respect than an immediate discount.
Watch for repeat negotiators
A customer who negotiates hard on every job, every time, is telling you something about how the relationship will go. It is reasonable to factor that into whether you take on repeat work from them.
Never negotiate against yourself
If a customer goes quiet after receiving a quote, resist the urge to follow up with a lower number before they have even objected to the original one. Answer questions, explain the price if asked, and let silence be silence. Dropping your own price unprompted teaches a customer that your quotes have built-in slack, which turns every future quote to them into a negotiation before it has even started.
Put your reasoning in writing when you decline to move
A one-line note on the quote, such as "price reflects [specific material/labour reason]," does more to hold a price than a verbal explanation the customer may not fully absorb in the moment. It gives them something concrete to refer back to if they compare your number against a cheaper quote later and start to waver.
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