When a customer tells you, “We went with another print provider because your price was too high,” what do you do?  Too many sellers drop their chin, kick the dirt, and lose even more pricing confidence.

But here’s the truth: that moment is a goldmine of insight. Most sellers miss the chance to mine it.

Recently, a client in the inkjet printing space shared with me that they’re facing a lot more competitive pressure in the past couple of months. They’ve been hearing “no” more, and they’ve been hearing that their “price is too high” more.  When I asked him if they’ve seen a drop in their win rate, he didn’t know.  (Are they paying more attention to the “no” more or are they truly hearing “no” more?  Is this the negativity bias at work?)

If they really are hearing “no” more, we need to ask: Is price really the issue or is it just the easiest excuse?

Customers indicate price as the reason for choosing a competitor as the easy way out.  It’s more expedient and more polite than telling you that you didn’t make a compelling case for your value proposition. “Your price is too high” often means “Your price is too high for the value that you provide.”

Or more accurately:  “Your price is too high for the value I perceive that you provide.”

That’s a subtle but critical distinction.

Next time you lose a project, don’t just chalk it up to price. Get curious. Dig. Learn. Ask questions to uncover:

• If there was a different problem that you didn’t solve for them
• If you left some other boxes unchecked
• If you didn’t connect your solution to their key pain points
• If they didn’t perceive value in what your product or service provides

One question I love for opening this conversation is, “if we could have somehow erased the difference in price between our two proposals, who would you have chosen?”

If the customer still would have chosen your competitor, price was never the problem.  You have more digging to do.

If they say you, now we’re getting somewhere. Follow up with:

• “What about our solution makes you answer that way? Why would we have been your choice?”
• “What about our solution stood out to you?”
  • Maybe they loved your fast turnaround time, your ability to handle complex variable data, or your quality on uncoated stocks. Learn what they value most!
• “Besides price, where did our proposal fall short?”
  • Did they have concerns about your substrate range? Finishing capabilities? Data handling?
•  “What could we have done differently to win this job at our original pricing?”
  • This can uncover missed pain points or areas where you underplayed your inkjet strengths.
•  “Under what circumstances would you have selected our proposal?”
  • Maybe if you’d included post-print fulfillment, offered better onboarding, or built in rush job flexibility—they would have said yes.

The point isn’t to beat yourself up. It’s to tune your sales process and messaging. Losing a job isn’t just a loss; it’s a learning lab.

Use the moment to:

• Find gaps in your offering (Do you need to expand your finishing options?)
• Strengthen your value messaging (Are you highlighting inkjet’s total cost advantage over offset?)
• Adjust your positioning (Are you tailoring the proposal to the customer’s specific goals?)

So, don’t rubber stamp “price” as the reason for losses; mine for additional insights about gaps in your offering or your ability to communicate its value.

Losses, when handled right, can sharpen your edge—and help you win the next one with confidence.