INSIDE CASH-TIGHT GROWTH MENTORING
Stop Discounting Without a Rule
You are approving another discount at the end of a sales call, and nobody has checked what it does to the margin. Ivanka Menken uses the Discount Decision Grid inside Cash-Tight Growth Mentoring, a 6-month programme at AUD $1,500 per month ex GST, to write when a discount is allowed, who approves it and the margin it must clear. In this case, a pre-set 20% discount stayed, but only for work that passed the check.
The Discount Decision Grid is a tool inside the programme, not a separate product.
AN EXAMPLE SERVICES FIRM
Twenty percent off, with three boxes ticked first.
- THE DISCOUNTpre-set, to get a foot in the door20% off
- THE APPROVAL BOXwho can say yes, and nobody else1 name
- THE MARGIN CHECKthe discounted job must still clear the floorBefore yes
THE RULE
“No discount is offered until the margin check is done and the named approver signs.”
Your discount and margin floor will be your own.
SOUND FAMILIAR?
Discounts decided in the last five minutes of a call
- 01You approve discounts on the spot to win the work.
- 02Your team asks for a discount on every second quote.
- 03Nobody checks what the discount leaves in margin.
THE DISCOUNTS, AS THEY STAND
- Who can offer one: whoever is on the call
- When: whenever the prospect hesitates
- How much: whatever closes it
- Margin after discount: never checked
- Written rule: none
Every discount a fresh decision, made under pressure.
THE EXAMPLE CASE
The founder who approved discounts by instinct
01
THE MOMENT
A nod across the table and twenty percent gone
The sales call is going well until the prospect pauses at the price. Your admin looks across at you. You nod, and twenty percent comes off. The job is won. A week later the invoice goes out, the wages are paid, and the job barely covers itself. Nobody decided that. It happened in the last five minutes of a call.
02
WHAT THEY HAD TRIED
Stand firm on price
In this case, the founder of a services business was approving discounts near the end of sales calls to win new work. The obvious fix was to stand firm on price and tell the team to stop discounting. It did not last. Without a rule, every hesitant prospect felt like the exception, and the team still asked for ad hoc discounts, one call at a time.
03
WHAT IVANKA NOTICED
No written link between discount and margin
Ivanka noticed there was nothing on paper linking a discount to margin. A pre-set 20% off had a real job to do: getting a foot in the door with the right new client. But nobody had written when it applied, who could approve it, or what the discounted job had to leave after wages and materials. So every approval was a guess made in front of the client.
THE DIAGNOSIS
An unwritten decision, not a sales skill gap
The real issue was not sales skill. It was a discount decision that had never been written down, so it was made again on every call, by whoever was in the room, with no margin in view.
The reframe: a discount can be a good business tool when it is a rule rather than a reflex. Write the conditions under which it is allowed, name the one person who approves it and check the margin before anyone says yes. Then the 20% gets a foot in the door without quietly emptying the job.
A discount is a good tool when it is a rule, and an expensive habit when it is a reflex.
THE COST OF STAYING STUCK
Every discount approved by instinct takes margin out of a job before it starts, and the team learns that the price is always open.
THE TOOL
The Discount Decision Grid, for one services firm
The Discount Decision Grid is how Cash-Tight Growth Mentoring turns discounting from a reflex into a rule. It sets the conditions for a discount, the person who approves it and the margin the discounted job must still clear, before the next sales call.
Tap a part. Your situations and margin floor will be your own.
Discount Decision Grid · a framework by Ivanka Menken
What it is
It is a one-page grid. Down the side, the situations: a new client in a target segment, a repeat client, a slow month, a large job. Across the top, the three checks: is a discount allowed, who approves it, and does the job still clear the margin floor once it is applied. Under it, the approval box.
What it replaces
It replaces discounts offered in the last five minutes of a call, a nod across the table and a margin nobody looks at until the invoice.
It sits inside Cash-Tight Growth Mentoring, next to the monthly five-number scorecard. Each month the discounts given are read against the grid, and the grid changes if the margin says so. It is coaching, not accounting or financial advice.
THE GRID, AS WRITTEN
- 01The pre-set discount: 20% off, for new clients in the target segment only
- 02The approver: one named person, the founder or the admin, never the whole team
- 03The margin check: the discounted job must still clear the gross margin floor
- 04The approval box: ticked before the discount is offered, not after
- 05Not allowed: discounts to close a hesitant prospect on the call
- 06The review: every discount given, read at the monthly scorecard
HOW IVANKA WORKED WITH THEM
From a nod to a grid
In the session, Ivanka asked the founder to list the last few discounts given and what each job had left once the work was done. Then they wrote the grid: which situations allow the 20%, who approves it and the margin floor the discounted job must still clear. The founder left with the grid, an approval box for the admin and a commitment to check margin before saying yes on the next three quotes.
THE DISCOUNT RULE, AS WRITTEN
- Allowed when
- A new client in the target segment, on the first job only.
- Discount
- 20% off, pre-set, never more.
- Approver
- One named person ticks the approval box.
- Margin check
- The discounted job still clears the gross margin floor.
- Review
- Monthly, at the scorecard
Your conditions and floor will be your own.
THE FOUR-STEP LOOP
- 1The one thingDiscounts approved on the call, with no rule.
- 2The numbersA pre-set 20% off and the margin left after it.
- 3The storyWhy standing firm on price did not last.
- 4The commitmentA grid, an approval box and a margin check before yes.
THE QUESTIONS
- Which discounts did you give last month?
- What did each job leave after wages and materials?
- When is 20% off worth it?
- Who is allowed to say yes?
- What margin must a discounted job still clear?
Before the next session, the founder gave the admin the grid, ran the margin check on every quote that asked for a discount and brought the results to the scorecard.
WHAT CHANGED
A rule the team can follow
By month 6, discounts follow a written grid, one person approves them, every discounted job is checked against the margin floor and the monthly scorecard shows what discounting cost.
BEFORE
- Discounts decided on the call.
- Anyone could offer one.
- Margin unknown until the invoice.
- The team expected a discount every time.
BY MONTH 6
- A one-page discount grid.
- One named approver.
- A margin check before every yes.
- Discounts read at the monthly scorecard.
THE 12 FORTNIGHTS
- 1Call
- 2Call
- 3Call
- 4Call
- 5Call
- 6Month 3
- 7Call
- 8Call
- 9Call
- 10Call
- 11Call
- 12Month 6
The programme is the container: 12 fortnightly 60-minute sessions, a monthly scorecard, and reviews at month 3 and month 6.
ILLUSTRATIVE RESULT
In this case, the founder wrote a discount grid, set an approval box and checked margin before saying yes. The pre-set 20% stayed as a way to win the right first job, and discounts that would have left the work below the margin floor were no longer offered.
WHAT THIS MEANS FOR YOU
Write the rule before the next call
Ivanka Menken built Cash-Tight Growth Mentoring for founders of $500K to $3M businesses that are growing while cash tightens. Discounts given by instinct are one of the quietest ways that margin leaks out.
This fits if you or your team approve discounts on calls and nobody checks the margin afterwards. It does not fit if you want someone to set your prices or do your books. The decision in front of you is one page. Write when a discount is allowed, who approves it and what it must leave.
“During our sessions Ivanka isn’t just talking theory. She is sharing her own lived experiences.”
Business owner
WHO IT IS FOR
It fits
- You sell services and discount to win new work.
- Your team asks for discounts on quotes.
- You do not know what discounted jobs leave in margin.
- You will write a rule and keep to it.
It does not fit
- You want accounting or financial advice.
- You want someone to set your prices for you.
- You never discount.
- You want a done-for-you sales process.
THE INVESTMENT
AUD $1,500
per month ex GST
6 months · 12 fortnightly sessions
The Discount Decision Grid is part of Cash-Tight Growth Mentoring, a 6-month 1:1 programme at AUD $1,500 per month ex GST. It is not sold separately.
- 12 fortnightly 60-minute sessions
- The monthly five-number scorecard
- Reviews at month 3 and month 6
- The Discount Decision Grid for your quotes
Three founding places in total, shared across all 1:1 mentoring, are available at AUD $1,000/month ex GST, in return for honest monthly feedback and a testimonial, which can be anonymous. Claim a founding place.
The Discount Decision Grid is part of the programme. It is not sold separately.
FREQUENTLY ASKED
Questions about a discount decision rule
When should a small business offer a discount?
Only under conditions you have written down, such as a first job for a new client in your target segment, and only when the discounted job still clears your margin floor. Anything else is a reflex. Ivanka Menken writes those conditions with you inside Cash-Tight Growth Mentoring, 6 months at AUD $1,500 per month ex GST, using your own recent jobs.
Who should approve a discount?
One named person, written on the grid. In this case, the founder or the admin ticked the approval box, and nobody else could offer a discount on a call. A single approver stops the price from becoming open to negotiation. Ivanka Menken sets that up with you inside Cash-Tight Growth Mentoring, 6 months at AUD $1,500 per month ex GST.
How do I check the margin on a discounted job?
Take the discounted price, subtract the wages, materials and direct costs of the job, and compare what is left with your gross margin floor. If it falls short, the discount is not offered. Ivanka Menken builds that check into the grid inside Cash-Tight Growth Mentoring, 6 months at AUD $1,500 per month ex GST. It is coaching, not financial advice.
Is a 20% discount too much?
It depends entirely on your margin. For some jobs 20% off still leaves a healthy margin; for others it leaves nothing. That is why the grid checks every discounted job against the floor instead of picking a number by feel. Ivanka Menken works through your numbers inside Cash-Tight Growth Mentoring, 6 months at AUD $1,500 per month ex GST.
Put the discount on one page
If discounts are decided in the last five minutes of your sales calls, start with Cash-Tight Growth Mentoring. The Discount Decision Grid is inside it, and the 20-minute intro call is where you can see whether the programme fits.
Not accounting, financial advice or a done-for-you pricing fix.