Friday, June 24, 2011

Are you attracting the clients you want to do business with?

If you are feeling battle-weary from trading in a recession it is easy to fall into the trap of believing price is the only thing that matters—but have you considered how your online prices might affect your reputation?

Thanks to more relevant search engines and price comparison sites (PriceMe, PriceSpy, PriceComparison), comparative price shopping has become quicker and easier. Sites like Ebay, CraigsList and TradeMe have opened accessibility to the secondhand and near-new market, also putting an additional downwards pressure on prices.

To be competitive it is natural you may feel pressured to post the cheapest online price possible but have you thought about the long-term damage you could be doing if you put all your attention on price?

If you are selling on price alone you can easily be matched, and if you have no other competitive advantage you are vulnerable to any competitor who can undercut you. Worse still, you can’t rely on your customers because it is the nature of the cut-price hunters to go where they can to get the best deal. Loyalty is not one of their endearing traits.

If you are pricing low online to attract business, take a good look at your customers: Are they the ones you want to do business with?

If not, take a look at your choices. Your business probably has a mix of customers—clients that appreciate quality items, clients that want convenience, a chat, free delivery, reliable advice, professional product support, ironclad guarantees, a business they can go back to year after year. In other words, clients that value other things you offer, besides price.

While many shoppers do go online to do their research before going in store to purchase, it may not always be price that is the deciding factor. Are you making a hero of those other attributes you do well? Have you got a strategy in place to attract these clients?

Every business should have a top tier type of client that has some, or all of the following traits: easily satisfied, joyfully profitable, nice to deal with, loyal, good for referrals and attracting other customers, an opinion leader or innovator that is in some way good for business.

There’s a joke that’s been going around the ‘net for some time where a printer thanks his client for his business: ‘Thank you, Mr Brown, for your business. I wish I had twenty customers like you.’

Mr Brown replies: ‘Gosh, it's nice to hear you say that, but I'm kind of surprised because I argue over every bill and I always pay late.’

‘That’s true,’ the printer replies, ‘but I'd still like twenty customers like you. My problem is I have two hundred.’

Is it possible you too have customers you would be better off without? Next time you look at your website check that you have catered to the aspirations of the type of customers you want to attract, not just the price hungry!

©2011 Jane Francis is the author of Price Yourself Right: A guide to charging what you are worth (ISBN: 0-595-38601-6) available at Barnes and Noble (USA), WH Smith (UK) or online at amazon.com or amazon.co.uk Her new book 'Price Talks: The Little Book of Price Psychology' is available as a kindle download from the amazon kindle store Just 99 cents!

Jane Francis is available as a Professional Speaker, Coach and Seminar Leader to help sales teams and companies pitch and present their price with creativity and confidence. Email

Price Yourself Right and Your Story

You need to tell customers your story. You need to differentiate yourself from all the other plumbers, hairdressers, gastric surgeons, whatever.

What is your story, and how is that communicated to your target audience? Remember that price is included in your story.

Do you have a story to tell around your price?

Are you midfield - the same as everyone else?

Do you stand out as being cheap - why is that?

Does your price have lots of asterisks and small print at the bottom of the advert or invoice?

Does your price include loads of disclaimers… or is your price backed up with a guarantee (lifelong, money back, 20 years etc)?

The way you communicate your price says a lot about the way you do business – work on getting your story, your product/service and your price representative of your values.

Pricing yourself right is about knowing who you are and what your values are. And if you are selling a product, it is about knowing what qualities and values your brand stands for.


©2011 Jane Francis is the author of Price Yourself Right: A guide to charging what you are worth (ISBN: 0-595-38601-6) available at Barnes and Noble (USA), WH Smith (UK) or online at amazon.com or amazon.co.uk Her new book 'Price Talks: The Little Book of Price Psychology' is available as a kindle download from the amazon kindle store Just 99 cents!

Jane Francis is available as a Professional Speaker, Coach and Seminar Leader to help sales teams and companies pitch and present their price with creativity and confidence. Email