Are You Creating Value for Your Price?
October 12, 2010
I just had a great lesson in pricing psychology that I thought worth sharing.
I went into Sleep Train in Fairfield, CA to buy a new mattress. I told them up front, I’m on a budget. I had in mind how much I wanted to spend and headed over to the bargain mattress corner.
The sales guy showed me several options within my price range. I found one that had the quality I was looking for but it was a couple hundred dollars over what I wa
nted to pay. I headed over to the cheap mattress section and even considered waiting.
Sales guys hate to hear “maybe I’ll just wait”.
“Let me check to see if we have that on clearance . We may be able to get that mattress for a few hundred less – would that be more within your budget?” – Well yeah!!
So he walked away, plugged away at the computer for a few minutes and said, “No, none of those on clearance. But see the one 3 beds over – what do you think of that one? “ I glanced at the price tag as I bounced on the nice firm mattress – more than double what I wanted to pay. But I laid down on it anyway – and I fell in love!
Budget? What budget?
“I have that one for half off,” which still made it about $200 over my budget. However, suddenly and without warning, my budget flew out of my brain… All I heard was”FIFTY PERCENT OFF” this beautiful bed. A bed that was way out of my price range could be mine!!! WHAT A DEAL!! And before I knew it the words, “I’ll take it!” few out of my mouth and within minutes I walked out of Sleep Train, the proud owner of a brand new more-expensive-than-I-could-afford bed! I was happy!
As I drove home it dawned on me – the sales guy was an absolute genius! The first bed at full price – the one I would have walked away without – was the SAME price as the second bed at 50% off. He got me to spend more than I had budgeted by changing the perceived value of the product. He got me spend more than I wanted– AND made me feel like I got a phenomenal deal in the process! Brilliant.
As a small business owner I wondered, am I doing this effectively in my own business? Am I making prospects and customers feel like they are getting great value for their money? I help other small business owners do this all day long – but have I really created a Sleep Train-like experience for my own clients? And my mind started instantly thinking about how I might re-package and reprice some of my offerings to create even more perceived value to leave my customers feeling the way I felt as I walked out of that store.
We don’t buy on price!
I’ll say it again – we do NOT buy on price, we buy on perceived value.
Part of an effective marketing system is developing a pricing and packaging strategy that gives you the profit margins you deserve AND makes your customers feel that they got great value for their dollar at the same time. Not an easy thing to accomplish. What pricing strategies do you use to achieve this?
For more information about Marketing and how to make it most effective visit: http://FortuneMarketingCompany.com
Is Your Website Driving Customers Away?
October 4, 2010
Your website is the single most important marketing tool you have these days. With more than 77% of adults going to the web to do research before making buying decisions, your website could mean the difference between winning a customer and losing one.
Recently, a Facebook friend asked her followers their opinions about 2 companies she was considering. She didn’t say what she was considering them for, she just asked, “what is your opinion of Company A vs. Company B?” I’d never heard of either company. But I was curious so I checked them both out.
Is Your Landing Page Clear?
I Googled Company A. The landing page featured a big popup box that said “New product video click here”. I clicked ‘here’ and the box vanished, leaving the background screen with some fancy schmancy flash animations, the company logo, a tagline, “Bringing the world closer together”, and a list of all 7 continents. So, after choosing “North America”… and then a country, I’m finally brought to a page featuring 4 large boxes labeled with what I can only guess are products/services. But the names are vague and I STILL don’t get what the heck they do exactly.
Don’t Make Your Visitors Feel Stupid!
At this point I’m feeling really stupid. I clicked “Company” hoping to learn a little bit more about what the company does and who they serve. NOPE. I learned when they were founded, I learned that they are multi-national (yeah, the landing page making me choose a continent already told me that), they are privately held, and they are “internet focused”. Useless. Ok, back to the home page. Here I am more than a minute (which is centuries in internet search time) and 4 clicks into the site, I still have no idea what they do and how or why I might use them. So I click on one of the 4 products/services boxes. Nothing happens. I click on box #2. Nothing happens. I click on boxes 3 and 4. Nothing. Omg I am getting so frustrated. What the heck does this company do???
Below the boxes is another box about 1/5 the size that’s labeled “new products”. I click on it and alas! I learn that one of their services is the “most dynamic, comprehensive and state-of-the-art video communication platform available anywhere”. Ok, now we’re getting somewhere…
TEN clicks. It took me well over a couple of minutes and TEN clicks to figure out what these guys do. – And actually, the first time I visited the site, I gave up in frustration. I only revisited the site and went through all these steps so I could write this blog.
What’s the moral of this story?
- Your site should quickly, clearly, and concisely tell the viewer what you can do for them. Yes, it should be geared primarily to your target market, but it should also tell anyone who visits (who may be a future customer, a referral source, or a strategic partner) exactly what you do, who you serve, and what problem you solve.
- Visit your site. Pretend you have no idea what you do. (Or better yet, have a few friends/family members do it) Read your content; navigate through the site as a new visitor would. Does it flow well? Do all the boxes and links work? Does the content tell the viewer how you will solve their problem? Or is it all about you? I care more about how you can solve my problem and make my life easier than how long you’ve been in business or whether or not you conduct business in Africa.
- The fewer clicks the better. We’re busy – and there are tons of businesses out there that do what you do. If it takes me too long to figure you out, I won’t; I’ll move on to the next one in a heartbeat. The purpose of your site should be to engage and draw people in – not to drive them away.
Do you have a few to add to this list?
For more information about Marketing and how to make it most effective visit: http://FortuneMarketingCompany.com
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+Carolyn Higgins, President of Fortune Marketing Company
- Carolyn Higgins, President of Fortune Marketing Company specializes in helping small to medium sized businesses get the customers they need to sell more, increase profits and achieve all of their business and personal goals. We do this by implementing and managing marketing systems based on data and strategy - there is no guess work. For more information visit us at: FortuneMarketingCompany.com. We'd be glad to help!
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