Sales · How-to

Good-better-best pricing for contractors: three options, done honestly

Give the customer three complete, priced versions of the job: a Good option that fully fixes the problem, a Better one with upgrades they can see or feel, and a Best one you’d put in your own home. That changes the customer’s question from whether to hire you to which version fits. It only works long term if every option is honest and you’ll recommend any of them.

By Eric Smith, founder of Outfitter AI and a former general contractor · Prices checked October 4, 2026

Outfitter AI, which sells an AI receptionist, wrote this guide; the pricing method works the same with or without it.

What good-better-best pricing is, and why it works

Good-better-best means giving the customer three complete, priced versions of the same job instead of one take-it-or-leave-it number. The question in their head changes from “should I hire this company?” to “which of these fits us?”

In a 2018 Harvard Business Review article, pricing consultant Rafi Mohammed describes the three tiers this way: a stripped-down option to win price-sensitive buyers, the standard product for most customers, and a feature-loaded premium for people who want more [1]. His examples are everyday ones like gasoline grades and cable packages [1]. Every homeowner has already bought something this way.

There’s also a known pull toward the middle. Researchers call it the compromise effect: an option tends to win more share when it sits between two others, because the middle feels like the safe choice [2]. ServiceTitan, which sells field-service software, says the same thing from field experience: most people shown low, medium and high options land somewhere in the middle [3]. Treat that as vendor observation, not a measured rate.

One finding from that research matters for honest selling. A 2012 study in Judgment and Decision Making found the middle-option pull is stronger when buyers have incomplete information [2]. In other words, confusion pushes people to the middle. Clear, complete options let them choose what they actually need. That’s the version you want: customers who picked the right job are the ones who pay on time and refer you.

How to build three options

Start with Good, and make it a real fix. The bottom option must completely solve the problem the customer called about, to code, and you must be proud to install it. ServiceTitan’s guidance says the same: the base tier fully solves the immediate problem and is sized correctly [3]. If Good is a trap, you’ll end up doing callbacks on it or lying about it.
Add upgrades the customer can see or feel. Better should add things like higher efficiency, quieter operation, a longer labor warranty, better materials, or more frequent service. Each upgrade should answer a question the customer asked during the visit.
Make Best the version you’d put in your own house. Premium equipment, extended coverage, a maintenance plan, smart controls. It should be worth the price to someone, not just a high number to make Better look cheap.
Use “fences” between tiers. Mohammed’s term for the features that keep a customer from simply buying down [1]. In the trades, fences are things like warranty length, efficiency rating, materials, and how many visits are included.
Price each tier from your costs up. Materials, labor hours, overhead and margin for each option separately. Don’t price Best by adding a percentage to Good.
Keep the same scope foundation. All three options should include the same permit, cleanup, haul-away and basic labor. Otherwise the customer is comparing apples to oranges.
Stop at three. Four or five options feel like homework. If you need a fourth, offer it as an add-on to any tier.

Write each option in the same order with the same headings, so the differences jump out. A small comparison table at the top of the estimate does most of the selling for you. Our guide to writing a contractor estimate covers the rest of the paperwork.

Examples by trade

These are illustrative structures, not price lists. Fill in your own equipment, costs and margins.

Job	Good	Better	Best
HVAC system replacement	Single-stage furnace and AC, correctly sized, standard parts warranty	Two-stage or variable-speed equipment, smart thermostat, longer labor warranty	Top-efficiency or heat pump system, air cleaner, extended labor coverage, first year of maintenance visits
Roof replacement	Tear-off, synthetic underlayment, standard architectural shingle, code-required flashing	Upgraded shingle line, ice and water shield in more areas, ridge vent	Premium shingle system with manufacturer’s enhanced warranty, all-new flashing, gutter guards
Water heater	Like-for-like tank replacement with code items	Larger or higher-efficiency tank, expansion tank, longer tank warranty	Heat pump water heater or tankless, with recirculation where it fits
Lawn care plan	Mowing and edging, every week in season	Plus fertilizer and weed control rounds	Plus aeration, overseeding, and spring and fall cleanups
House cleaning	Standard clean every other week	Weekly clean, or adds inside appliances and baseboards on rotation	Weekly clean plus a quarterly deep clean and windows

Where an upgrade has an energy claim, use the manufacturer’s or a government number, not your own. ENERGY STAR, for example, says certified heat pump water heaters can be up to four times as efficient as conventional ones and estimates about $550 a year in savings for a family of four [4]. Quote it as “ENERGY STAR estimates,” and say actual savings depend on the household. Never promise a specific bill reduction.

Not every job needs three options. A clogged drain, a tripped breaker or a single repair has one right answer. Good-better-best fits replacements, installs, plans and projects where real choices exist. Forcing three options onto a small repair looks like a sales tactic because it is one.

How to avoid turning options into pressure

Three options can be the most honest way to sell, or a manipulation dressed up as choice. The difference is in a few habits:

No decoy tiers. Don’t include a Best you’d never recommend, priced only to make Better look reasonable.
No fake “regular” prices. If you show a crossed-out price, it must be one you actually charged. The FTC’s pricing guides call an inflated former price set up just to advertise a reduction “fictitious” [5].
Say which you’d choose, and why. Customers ask. Give a real answer based on their house and their plans: “If you’re moving in two years, I’d do Good.”
Let Good be a fine answer. Never make the customer feel cheap for picking it. Say out loud that it fixes the problem.
No same-day-only discounts. If the price is good today, it’s good next week until your stated expiration date.
Respect cancellation rights. For many sales made at the customer’s home, the FTC’s Cooling-Off Rule gives the buyer until midnight of the third business day to cancel [6]. Some states add more; this is a summary, not legal advice.

A simple test: would you be comfortable if the customer showed your three options to a friend who works in the trade? If yes, you’re fine.

Presenting the options

Diagnose first, price second. Show what you found (photos, readings, measurements) before any number comes out.
Ask two questions before you present. How long do they plan to stay in the home? What bothers them most about the current setup (noise, bills, breakdowns, looks)?
Present Best first, then Better, then Good. Explain what each adds over the one below it. Starting at the top lets the customer “remove” features instead of adding cost.
Point to what fits their answers. Tie your recommendation to what they told you in step two.
Show monthly payments if you offer financing. ServiceTitan suggests showing an “as low as” monthly figure for each tier [7]. Show the full price and terms right next to it. See offering financing.
Then stop talking. Let them ask questions and decide. Leave the written options behind or send them the same day.

Presentation script: I’ve put together three ways to handle this. All three fix the problem, are installed by our crew, and include the permit and haul-away. The difference is how efficient it runs, how long it’s covered, and how much maintenance is included. Let me start with the top option and work down, and you tell me what matters to you.

If they ask which you’d pick: Honestly, since you said you’re staying at least ten years and your upstairs gets hot, I’d go with the middle one. The top one is great, but you’d be paying for features you told me you don’t care about.

If they don’t decide on the spot, that’s normal. Follow up with the cadence in our estimate follow-up guide, and in the first message ask which option they’re leaning toward.

Tracking whether it’s working

Run it for a season and look at your own numbers instead of anyone’s claims:

Close rate on optioned estimates versus single-price estimates.
Which tier sold, by job type. If nobody ever picks Best, it may be priced wrong or loaded with the wrong extras.
Average ticket by tech or salesperson.
Callbacks and complaints by tier. If Good jobs come back more often, Good isn’t a real fix yet.

Adjust one thing at a time. Change the Better package on water heaters this month, roofs next month. A spreadsheet with a row per estimate is enough to see the pattern by spring. Where options fit among visits, terms and follow-up is laid out in the contractor sales guide.

Common mistakes to watch for:

Options that differ only in brand. If the customer can’t say what the extra money buys, the tiers aren’t doing their job.
Pricing gaps that are too wide. If Best costs several times Good with little visible difference, customers start to distrust all three.
Letting techs build tiers on the fly. Prebuild packages for your common jobs so every customer gets the same logic and you can compare results.
Forgetting the follow-up. Optioned estimates still need the same patient follow-up as any other. The options just give you a better reason to call.

Common questions

What is good-better-best pricing for contractors?

It means offering three complete, priced versions of the same job, such as a basic, mid-range and premium furnace replacement, so the customer chooses the level that fits instead of deciding yes or no on a single number.

Does good-better-best pricing increase sales?

Research on the compromise effect shows middle options tend to gain share when placed between two others, and software vendors report customers often land in the middle. Track your own close rate and average ticket for a season to see what it does for your shop.

Should I present the most expensive option first?

Many contractors do, because it lets the customer move down by removing features. What matters more is that every option is honest, fully fixes the problem, and that you give a real recommendation when asked.

Is good-better-best pricing manipulative?

It can be if the options are decoys, the prices are inflated, or the cheapest one doesn't really fix the problem. Built honestly, it gives customers more control than a single price does.

How many options should I give on an estimate?

Three is the usual number. Two can work for simple jobs, and more than three tends to slow decisions down. Offer extras as add-ons instead of extra tiers.

Can I use good-better-best for service plans like lawn care or cleaning?

Yes, it fits recurring plans well. Tiers can differ by visit frequency, included services such as fertilization or deep cleans, and seasonal extras.

Sources and how we compared

Pricing research comes from the Harvard Business Review and a peer-reviewed study on the compromise effect; trade advice from ServiceTitan is marked as vendor guidance; energy and pricing-rule facts come from ENERGY STAR and the FTC, all opened October 4, 2026.

Harvard Business Review: The Good-Better-Best Approach to Pricing (Rafi Mohammed) — September–October 2018; full text paywalled, summary read
Chuang, Kao, Cheng & Chou: The effect of incomplete information on the compromise effect — Judgment and Decision Making, March 2012
ServiceTitan: Good-Better-Best HVAC proposals — September 2026; vendor guidance
ENERGY STAR: Heat pump water heater fact sheet (PDF) — U.S. EPA ENERGY STAR program
eCFR: 16 CFR Part 233, Guides Against Deceptive Pricing — Federal Trade Commission guides
FTC: Buyer’s remorse and the Cooling-Off Rule — Federal Trade Commission consumer advice
ServiceTitan: Why and how to offer customer financing as an HVAC contractor — April 2024; vendor guidance

Last updated October 4, 2026. Prices change; if something here is out of date, call or text (507) 628-0400 and we’ll fix it.