We all are selling something.
Some of us sell products that appear to be easy to value. For example, there is a Kelly Blue Book or similar service for cars, boats, and campers.
Others of us sell products and services that aren’t so easy to value. There is no Kelly Blue Book for social media services, or sales training, or plumbers, or electricians, or what a restaurant should charge for its food.
There may be others offering a similar service, and some think that sets a price.
Why should it? Do you deliver value that others don’t? What makes you different? Why are your services worth more or less than someone else’s?
If you take the time to communicate with your potential customers as to why your services are worth the price you’re asking, you have a good chance of getting the price you want.
What will encourage others to pay you more than another business offering a similar service?
• Your experience
• Your results
• Customer testimonials
• How fast you can get to a person
• How fast you get results
• The results you get
• Your guarantee
• Extra services you offer
• Your credibility (i.e., Does your prospect trust you to do what you say?)
• The materials you use to create your product
All of the above will affect the price you charge and what people will be willing to pay for your product or service.
The last item, which is not mentioned above, is that you need to communicate what makes you worth what you charge in such a way that no matter how much you charge, it looks like a great deal to the customer.
What other offers can you add that will make you stand apart from all the others?
• Services that aren’t normally associated with your service that you have expertise in?
• A better experience?
• Ease of use?
• Payment terms?
• Resources that your clients can use to get even better results, such as access to your rolodex of trusted vendors?
• Personal coaching to improve their skills?
• Personal access?
• Faster response to questions?
Not everyone can or should offer all of the above items. I brought them up to show you that no matter what you sell, there is a way to make it different from what everyone else is selling. You just have to communicate the differences.
There are many ways to communicate these differences, and here is a list of some options:
The first tool you can use is your positioning:
• Have you written a book?
• Studied under a famous person?
• Been on TV?
• Been on the radio?
• Published in a magazine?
• Spoken on stage about this subject?
• Worked with a famous person?
Any of the above items will set you apart from your competitors.
The next tool you can use is your credibility:
• Do you have results-oriented case studies or testimonials from customers?
• Are these on video?
• Have you won any awards? (Awards are worth $$ to you.)
• Earned any credentials?
• Have you worked with celebrities?
Again, any of the above will separate you from your competitors.
A final and very important ingredient in your pricing mix is your story and the story of your product.
If you can tell a story about your product in a way that engages your prospects and stirs their imagination, you will have another ingredient in your price positioning.
All of these together make you and your company what it is.
After you’ve identified which of these you can use, start developing a plan.
Tell your story everywhere you can:
• Your website
• Your social media, LinkedIn profile, and Facebook page
• Sales letters
• Brochures
• Paid ads
• Your blog posts
There are many ways to communicate the benefits of working with you. Make sure you’re looking for chances to tell your story in as many places as you can.
Tell it over and over. Just because people have heard it once doesn’t mean they remember it.
If you want help identifying your story and what you can offer that is different from what everyone else is offering, I can help.
I offer 45-minute coaching sessions in which we can work together on any subject you choose. In this amount of time the two of us can develop quite a list of reasons that you’re different from your competitors and create a plan to implement it.
The fee for this service is $147.
Click here to choose the time for your appointment.
Have a great week!