How do I set the low end and the high end of a ballpark range?

Both ends are real quotes you'd send, built the same way as every other quote. The low end is the simplest real version of the job, priced at your full day rate and never below your floor (the floor is your overheads divided by sellable days; adding your decided margin gives the day rate), so it keeps the prospect talking without putting you at a loss. The high end is the fuller version most clients end up with, with the extra deliverables and shoot days, so it anchors the job and you can walk them through every line of it.

What do I say when a prospect insists on a single number?

Give one number tied to a defined scope and keep a question on the end: "For one shoot day and one finished film it's A. If you want the social cuts as well it's closer to B. Which of those is nearer to what you're picturing?" A bare number with no scope next to it anchors the whole job, so the scope goes in the same sentence. If the budget they reveal is below the work, move the conversation to scope, not price.

Field Guides / Pricing

What to say when a prospect asks for a ballpark price

Give a range, make scope the variable, and end with a question: "Projects like this usually land between $X and $Y. Where it falls depends on the two or three scope drivers. Tell me a bit about the first one and I'll tighten that up for you." The low end is the simplest real version of the job, priced the way you price every quote. The high end is the fuller version most clients end up with. The question turns a price request into a scope conversation.

Why does the ballpark question make owners freeze?

The ballpark question makes owners freeze because it feels like a trap, so they protect themselves, and every form of protection costs them the lead. The prospect is trying to find out whether you're in their world at all.

A video business owner sent a prospect two of his best example videos. The prospect loved them and came straight back with the most important sentence in the whole sale: "Could you give me a rough ballpark on cost?" And he froze. Said he'd put something together, and while he did, the heat drained out of the lead.

That ten seconds, when a warm prospect asks for a number, is the highest-leverage point in the entire conversation. Most owners fumble it, in one of three ways that all feel safe at the time.

The freeze. You go quiet, promise a proposal, and take a day to write it. The lead cools while you do.
The refusal. "It depends, every project is different." Technically true, completely useless, and it reads as evasive. Now they're wondering what you're hiding.
The low number. You panic and blurt a figure, and you've anchored the whole job below your worth before you've understood what the job is.

All three come from the same place: the question feels like a trap, so you protect yourself. A number tells the prospect you've done this before and you're easy to deal with. Silence tells them nothing.

How to answer the ballpark question: the method, step by step

The method is to have the range ready before anyone asks, say it first, make scope the variable, and hand the next move back with a question.

Write the range down before anyone asks. For your three most common project types, build two versions of the job the way the pricing system builds every quote. The simplest real version is your low end. The fuller version most clients end up with is your high end. You end up with three ranges on a card by your desk, each with its scope drivers written next to it.
Say the range in the first sentence. "Projects like this usually land between $X and $Y." The low end keeps them talking. The high end does the anchoring.
Make scope the variable. Tell them what moves the number: how many deliverables they need and how much shooting is involved are the two big ones on most jobs. "Depending on scope" says the number moves with the work, not with haggling.
End with a question about driver one. That one line turns a price request into a discovery conversation. The questions to ask from there are in How to qualify a video lead before you pitch.
If the question arrives in writing, reply quickly and put the range in the reply. The email version below is the same move in writing.

Copy and paste: the ballpark script (say it out loud)

"Projects like this usually land between $[X] and $[Y]. Where it falls depends on [the two or three scope drivers]. Tell me a bit about [driver one] and I'll tighten that up for you."

Copy and paste: the ballpark reply (when the question arrives by email or message)

Hi [name],

Happy to give you a ballpark.

Projects like this usually come in between $[X] and $[Y]. Where it falls depends mainly on [driver one, for example how many finished videos you need] and [driver two, for example how many days of filming are involved].

If you can tell me roughly [driver one question, for example how many videos you're picturing and where they'll be used], I'll tighten that range into a proper number for you.

[Your name]

How to set the low end and the high end of the range

Both ends of the range are real quotes you'd send, built the same way as every other quote, so you can explain either one if asked.

The low end is the simplest real version of the job, priced the way you price every quote. One shoot day, one main deliverable, with the pre-production and the production company fee still on it. Because it's built at your day rate, with your margin in it, it's a number you'd be happy to do the work for. That's why it keeps the prospect talking: low enough to be in their world, high enough that you're still making money if that's where they land. A price below your floor means working at a loss if they take it.

The high end is the fuller version most clients end up with. The extra deliverables, the second shoot day, the social cuts. It does the anchoring, so it has to be a version of the job you can walk them through line by line.

If you haven't built your day rate and your floor yet, start with the pricing system. The Pricing Calculator does the arithmetic.

What to do when they push for a single number

When a prospect says "can you just give me one number", give them one, attached to a defined scope, and keep the question on the end. A bare number with no scope next to it is the one that anchors the job, so the scope goes in the same sentence.

Copy and paste: the line for "can you just give me one number"

"Of course. For [the simplest version, for example one shoot day and one finished film], it's $[A]. If you want [driver two, for example the social cuts as well], it's closer to $[B]. Which of those is nearer to what you're picturing?"

They asked for a number and got one, so you're not dodging. The number is tied to a scope, so it can't be lifted off and used against you later. The question at the end asks them to describe the job, which is the conversation you wanted anyway.

If the number they come back with is below what the work costs, move the conversation to scope, not price: Drop the scope, not the price.

A worked example

Here's the whole move on one job, in round numbers.

The two versions, built the same way. A scripted interview piece for a new client. The simplest real version is one shoot day and the main film: pre-production $1,000, production $2,500, post-production $1,500, contingency at 10 per cent $500, production company fee at 20 per cent of the $5,500 production cost $1,100. Call it $6,600. The fuller version is two shoot days with the interview piece and a social cut, which the pricing system guide builds to $11,880. Round it to $12,000. So the range for this project type is $6,600 to $12,000, and the two drivers are shoot days and whether the social cut is included.

Before. The prospect emails: "Loved the examples. Could you give me a rough ballpark on cost?" The owner replies: "Every project is a bit different, let me put a proposal together and get it over to you later this week." The prospect reads it as a dodge, and the lead cools while the proposal gets written.

After. The owner replies straight away: "Glad they landed. Projects like this usually come in between $6,600 and $12,000. Where it falls depends mainly on whether it's one day of filming or two, and whether you want a social cut alongside the main film. If you can tell me which of those you're picturing, I'll tighten that into a proper number for you."

The prospect replies: "One day of filming should cover it, and yes, we'd want the social cut for LinkedIn." That's a scope conversation. The owner now has the shoot days and the deliverables, and a reason to get them on a call. The quote that follows is built from those two facts.

The mistakes that undo it

Three mistakes show up once owners have the script.

Working the range out on the spot. If the two numbers aren't written down before the call, nerves set the low end and the pause does the rest. Build the ranges in advance, for the project types you actually sell.
Giving the range and stopping. Without the question on the end, you've answered a pricing question and handed the conversation back.
Sliding down the range when they hesitate. The range moves with the scope. If their number is lower than the version they described, something comes out of the job. The script for that is in Drop the scope, not the price.

The rule of thumb for answering a ballpark question

A number ends the conversation. A range starts one. The low end is a real version of the job you'd be happy to do, the high end is the fuller version you can walk through, and the sentence always ends in a question about scope.

Hold yourself accountable

Which of these have you taken on or put in place recently?

You have a written range, with its scope drivers, for each of your three most common project types.
Both ends of each range are built the way you build a quote, with your day rate and your margin in them.
The last time a prospect asked "roughly how much?", you gave a range and a question in the same breath, in person or by email.
The last time someone pushed for one number, the number you gave had its scope in the same sentence.

Your one move this week

What's the one thing you can commit to implementing this week? If you're not sure, start here.

Write your ballpark line for your three most common project types. Build the simplest real version and the fuller version of each the way the pricing system builds a quote, write the two numbers and the scope drivers on a card, and keep it by your desk. Then the range is written down before anyone asks for it.

One thing executed every week creates 50 strategic moves a year.

Questions like these come up regularly on our weekly Elite Boardroom calls. If you'd like someone to hold you to account each week, and to learn from a group of peers who run video businesses too, the Boardroom is for you.

Related tools and guides. The pricing system (the day rate and floor the range is built on), Pricing Calculator, Drop the scope, not the price, How to qualify a video lead before you pitch, Sales call authority, Anatomy of a Profitable Quote.