I did an industry presentation last fall.  One of the questions I was asked was something along the lines of “how much information should I put on my website?”.  My answer was “all of it”. Afterwards the guy who asked the question approached during the cocktail hour and said something like, “But don’t I want them to call me to get all the important information and then I can sell them on my business?”  I asked him if his phone was ringing off the hook?  He said “no”.  I then suggested that he make a list of the top 3 questions he gets asked when someone does call and then go look at the websites of his top 3 competitors (2 of which were in the same room during the presentation).  “Can you find the answers to these questions on their websites?”, I asked. Two weeks later he called me, asked if I could help with his marketing.  First two things I asked was for him:

1. to get me the answers to the top 3 questions (from above)
2. and then the login for his website, but only after #1

He said, “I just want people to call me, I’m a really good salesman”. So we never did any business together.  I looked at his website some time ago and he was offering huge discounts.  My takeaway from the story is that if you have nothing else to offer, dropping your price is your only and your last resort.