Good, better, best pricing is the practice of quoting clients three or more service levels, each with an incremental value and cost increase. It helps service businesses differentiate their services, close higher-priced jobs, and sell on value instead of cost.

And it’s not just good for businesses. Consumers now expect this kind of tiered pricing, whether they’re buying dinner, a new car, or scheduling home services.

“Good, better, best pricing is the way people buy” says Curt Kempton, founder of ResponsiBid and expert in service quoting. “We live in a research economy. With good, better, best pricing, you’re giving your client enough options to feel informed and to make a purchasing decision with your business.”

If you give a price ultimatum, says Curt, your clients will still find good, better, best pricing. “They’ll just do it with your competitors instead.”

The good news is, any service business can start using good, better, best pricing, even if they’ve never offered service packages before. Here’s why it works and how to implement it on your next home service quote.

Good, better, best pricing examples

Here’s an example of a lawn care business offering good, better, best pricing on their quote:

• A “Bronze” package (weekly mow, trimming, blowing, and biweekly edge trimming) for $110
• A “Silver” package (everything in Bronze plus fertilizing and five weed control applications) for $220
• A “Gold” package (everything in Silver, plus regular weed control in hard-to-access areas) for $300

Notice how the gradual price increases correspond to more services (value)?

Good, better, best can also apply to pricing a window cleaning job or any other home service you provide:

• A “Lite” package (outside cleaning only) for $99
• A “Plus” package (inside and outside cleaning) for $149
• A “Premium” package (inside and outside cleaning plus tracks and sills) for $199

READ MORE: Price Quotes: A short and easy explainer for business owners

Why does price bracketing work?

1. Good, better, best pricing mirrors the way we buy

“Someone who is confused does not feel empowered,” says Curt. “Especially in today’s self-curated buying world. We research until we have enough information to make a decision and then we decide.”

Consumers want to review the full spectrum of options. If you just give them one pricing ultimatum, they’ll wonder what they’re missing out on if they don’t keep looking. With the good, better, best approach to pricing, you’re giving them all of the information they need to make an informed decision.

2. Prospects focus on your packages, not the competition’s

“The only way to know if something is a good price is if you have something to compare it against,” says Curt.

With good, better, best, instead of comparing your services against the competition, clients will compare your packages against each other. That keeps their attention on you, not the other guys.

3. You can sell more without being pushy

With good, better, best pricing, you don’t need to be a great closer. You just need to provide options and ask clients to choose the most appealing one.

This pricing strategy also makes upselling easier. By showing clients add-ons and extra services, they can decide what is most important and valuable to them. “People will opt themselves into certain packages,” says Curt.

For example, let’s say you offer three gutter cleaning levels on your website:

• Good: Clean debris from inside gutter
• Better: Clean inside and outside of gutter
• Best: Clean inside, outside, and pressure test downspouts

If a client needs their downspouts to be done, they’ll immediately know which package is right for them. You’ve given them all of the options and made it an easy choice.

4. The conversation shifts from cost to value

By having incremental price increases that correspond to increases in value, customers focus less on cost and more on what they’re getting. This reveals their real budget, limits price haggling, and helps you attract the types of clients you actually want to serve.

FREE TOOL: Try our free service price calculator

5. You appeal to different clients with different budgets

Clients are able to consider what they’re willing to spend, helping you serve both the spenders and the savers. We’ll provide some examples further down.

READ MORE: How to close a sale— 10 real examples from service industry pros

How do you implement good, better, best pricing?

Follow these four steps to implement price bracketing in your service business:

Step 1: Decide which services you want to package

Make a list of services you offer and start to group them into services that go well together, optional add-ons, etc. One way to think about how to group services is how you want the customer to feel. Or, which services are more common versus more demanding?

“Don’t build out a package with the express intent of having three random options,” says Curt. “You want to curate it. You want the customer to feel a certain way when they see your packages.”

Step 2: Know who you’re targeting

Good, better, best pricing can work whether you’re trying to target a high-end spender or a budget-conscious saver. The key is to know who you want to attract so you can create service levels that appeal to them.

If you don’t know who your target market is, talk to your current clients, look at past jobs, and listen attentively on calls.

This should help you find out who your most successful clients are and what they really want.

Step 3: Price your good, better, best offerings

Now that you know what services you have to offer and who you want to attract, you can create your actual service levels.

The key here is to price your service levels so that it’s an easy choice for the buyer.

Price jumps between packages should feel more like organic progressions (not leaps) and actually reflect an increase in value. Get it right and customers will be more inclined to upgrade. Get it wrong, with price jumps that are too large, and customers will likely “cheap out” and select the most affordable option.

Here are some examples of how to use price levels to appeal to different markets:

Target high-end clients by showing your expertise
If you’re targeting a higher-end market, create packages that show the full range of your service offering. For example, say you have a basic package for $200, a standard package for $500, and a premium package for $2,000 with all the bells and whistles.

Some people will upsell themselves into the high-end package, says Curt. Even if they don’t, they’ll see your high-end offer and think ‘that’s the kind of company I want to do the $500 package. A company that can do all that.’

Target budget-conscious clients with smart price jumps
Now, let’s say you’re targeting a more price-conscious market and competing with a $99 offer from a competitor. You can still use good, better, best pricing to win the bid and come out on top.

How? Create a service level that shows incrementally more value than your competitor at an incrementally higher price. For example: your lowest price level could be a $129 package that offers a better warranty or uses better products. This way, you’re staying within your market’s budget and differentiating yourself with better value.

Step 4: Present you price brackets on professional quotes

If you put a lot of thought into your price brackets but don’t present them well, clients might be confused about what you’re offering. Remember: a confused person won’t buy.

Present your good, better, best offering on a professional quote with detailed descriptions and images to make your offering crystal clear.

One of the easiest ways to do this is to use a tool like Jobber. Jobber’s quoting features let you easily add packages to a quote and present them at different prices.

Clients can then choose their preferred option without constant back and forth emails, improving customer confidence and boosting your revenue.

Quote and win jobs with good, better, best pricing

Price bracketing helps you upsell, shift the focus from cost to value, and ultimately, win more business.

Follow our process, and let us know how it goes:

• Be clear about what services you’ll offer
• Use packages to target certain buyers
• Apply strategic price jumps
• Create professional quotes with detailed line items and images to really impress your clients