What a Missing Price Costs You in Wasted Calls
A missing price wasted calls long before it cost anybody a sale, although the argument for hiding prices is that it creates conversations.
It does. However, the question nobody asks is what those conversations are worth.
Count them properly and the case for publishing makes itself.
Count What a Missing Price Wasted Calls Cost You
So take last month.
Count the inquiries that arrived. Then count how many turned out to have a budget nowhere near your figure. Finally, estimate how long each of those conversations took, including the follow-up message and the quote you prepared.
Then multiply the hours by what your time is worth. That is what a missing price wasted calls cost you last month, before counting a single lost customer.
For most Kenyan service businesses the figure is larger than expected because the unqualified conversations feel like activity rather than loss.
The Two Losses Running Simultaneously
Hiding price produces both at once.
The people who leave. Somebody who cannot judge affordability rarely enquires to find out. They check a competitor who answered. You never learn they visited.
The people who arrive. Everybody else, including those whose budget was never close. They consume the time the first group would have been worth.
So the practice loses you the qualified visitor and delivers the unqualified one. That is precisely the wrong way round.
What Publishing Actually Changes
It does not reduce inquiries. It changes who sends them.
Fewer total, considerably better qualified, arriving already comfortable with the number. Your close rate rises even though your enquiry count falls, and the second figure is the one that matters.
Our post on whether a consultant should publish rates covers the objections in detail.
You Do Not Need a Fixed Figure
The usual resistance is that work varies too much to price.
Frequently true, and not a reason for silence. Four options exist below a full price list.
A starting figure. Projects from a stated amount.
A range, with the variables named.
One standardized price. A consultation, a site visit, or a diagnostic.
The basis of charging. Hourly, per project, per square meter, per head.
Any of these ends the missing price wasted calls problem without committing you to a number you cannot honor.
Where to Put It
Not on a separate pricing page, nobody reaches.
Put the figure or the basis on each service page, near the description of the work. Somebody reading about a specific service is thinking about cost at that moment rather than three clicks later.
Repeat it on the contact page, since that is where the decision happens.
The Objection About Competitors
Because competitors can already discover your prices by asking, and most have, the objection is weaker than it sounds.
Meanwhile, your prospective customer cannot, and that asymmetry costs you the qualified enquiry while protecting nothing. Publishing a starting figure rather than a full schedule keeps your position while answering the reader.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much has a missing price wasted calls cost my business? Count last month’s unqualified enquiries and the hours they consumed. That is the figure.
Will publishing lose me larger jobs? Publishing a ceiling might. Publishing a floor rarely does.
What if my prices change often? Publish with a date and update it. Dated figures are trusted.
Do I have to publish everything? No. One starting figure answers most visitors.
What about clients who negotiate? A published starting point gives you a floor to negotiate from rather than a blank page.
How quickly will I see a difference? Enquiry quality usually shifts within weeks.
Publish a Number, Save the Hours
A missing price wasted calls, staff time, and the qualified visitor who quietly went elsewhere. One figure on each service page ends all three.
At Africa Web Experts our own prices are published for exactly that reason. From KES 65,000, live in seventy-two hours.
