Mystery Customer

Whenever I need to negotiate with a "soon to be customer" (I hope she will become a customer) and she asks for a discount or for... I don't like to give discounts. So usually, I come up with something else, but it's never the price she wanted. If this is not handled properly, she will go somewhere else. I usually present my alternative as:

I recently had a customer with the same problem and what we did was...

I never give names, that's why this is the mystery customer.

Benefits of the mystery customer

  1. This is almost a "solution" to her problem and therefore also a solution toward my sale.
  2. She is not the first one, so she is not a guinea pig.
  3. The solution of the mystery customer can either be accepted as is or tweaked to fit her specific needs.
  1. She has spent time looking at my photos.
  2. She has spent time negotiating and try to buy my photos.
  3. She has a vested interest, by spending her time, into buying my photos instead of somebody else.