Opportunity, Pause, Position, State your price and shut up.
Taught in accountancy advisory sales training; no single originator. The closing line is a long-standing sales maxim.
A four-step structure for the moment a conversation turns into a quote. The last step is the one everybody gets wrong.
Opportunity — identify how you can genuinely add value, and name the *cost of doing nothing*. That cost is nearly always larger than your fee, and it is the number the client is really weighing you against.
Pause — do not blurt. Scattered ideas offered instantly are hard to implement and cheapen what follows.
Position — state the value clearly, in the client's terms. Not 'we will do your tax return' but what it removes: nasty surprises, cash-flow stress, the owner's overload.
State your price and shut up. Say the number and stop talking. The silence is uncomfortable and it belongs to them.
"The greatest expense is opportunity cost." If you never name what inaction costs, your fee is being compared with zero.
Most people fill it — and what they fill it with is a discount, a caveat or an apology, offered before the client has objected to anything. You negotiate against yourself and lose margin you were never asked for.