There is this new trend in business emails, offers and promotions to start with stating the limits to what you can provide. I have actually seen email subject lines like: “This is everything I can offer you”. Or special offer announcements explaining how, if I buy enough products, I can get a discount of maximum…some percentage.

Of course your clients won’t expect you to mown their front yard if you’re a designer. Of course there are limits to the discounts you can offer. No one actually expects you to come into their life and solve all their business and personal problems in the blink of an eye. So why the big emphasis of what you cannot do? Is that really your smartest option?

I say start with what you’re offering, with what you can do. Try to take your mind and those of your audience off the limits. Use percentage ranges instead of a maximum. Besides, limits always stretch! If I want to buy everything in your store, you might want to further discuss that discount! And if a certain client pays enough, you might even hire someone to mown their lawn

If you focus on how limited your offer is, so will your customers. And they might go for a more flexible, more open-minded competitor.

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