Don’t price a project nobody can describe.

A client showed me a proposal they were about to send. Honestly, it was great. Clear, well designed, strong case studies.

The fixed price looked good too... until, just out of curiosity, I said, “So, tell me about the project.”

They’d had several scoping calls with this prospect, and nobody on either side could clearly say what the project was. One of the prospect’s own people described it as “a website with five tabs.” It was very obviously not a website with five tabs.

When the scope is that fuzzy, a fixed price is a trap. Either you pad it so much the client balks, or you price what you think they mean and spend the next six months finding out what they actually meant, on your own dime.

So we called an audible and changed what the meeting was for. It became an alignment check, not a pricing conversation. Walk through the proposal together. Is this what you’re picturing? What’s missing? What’s in here that you don’t need?

Then, have two paths ready.

If they confirm the scope, great. Here’s your fixed price.

If there’s still real uncertainty, offer a retainer for a dedicated team instead. They pay for capacity each month, and you figure it out together as the picture gets clearer.

Some people worry this adds friction to the sale. It does, a little. I think that’s healthy. A small amount of friction before the price protects both sides from a much bigger amount of friction later.

We love to obsess over fixed pricing. But you can’t fixed cost your way out of a bad project.