Certainly Premium Products Right Here!
This article I would like to dedicate to the fantastic couple Eddie & Manni Manirath. They are husband and wife enterpreneurs working on health coaching and helping business / professional women get their sexiness & sass back like they were in their 20’s!
In spending some quality time working with them, they are doing what I always love to hear:
– Delivering the Best Quality Possible and Asking a Fair Price!
That really resonates with me (and also the market) and only too often I meet small business owners doing the direct opposite. That is, many try and “go cheap” and compete on price which is incredible dangerous!
“The cheap / low pricing” strategy is often used by large companies and why? Because they comercially can! For North American readers “Wal-Mart” is an obvious one and for us Australian’s “Officeworks” is a notable other. They are massive companies, with massive supply chains and can afford to do this with relative easy and profitability!
In a very weak example, let’s say you wanted to sell pencils. As a small business owner, how much would they cost you? Say $0.30 per pencil and you sell them for $2.00? How much would it cost Wal-Mart? Probably $0.30 for 100 pencils or more.
As small business owners, we can’t compete on price and our bastion of success is quite often “high quality / personalised services & products”.
Hence this is where the problem kicks in! I see too many business owners convince themselves they are “premium” when they really suck. They have sub-standard training, products and services (sorry life coaches – you are guilty of this one all the time!) and most visibly of all have poor quality business cards and promotional materials (even home made printed on Ink-Jet’s, ewww!!!).
What ads insult to injury is that they are trying to charge “Mercedes” type of pricing for something that just doesn’t command it, but are using “hype” & “exaggerations” to try and justify pricing they are just not entitled too.
What I loved about meeting with Eddie & Manni today was that they want premium pricing, but they totally get it has to be reasonable, fair and they need a premium Image / offering to support that!
I get it all the time from great clients, how can I fairly increase my prices without losing volume? My answer is simple:
– Make sure your Product has the Image / Quality that fairly deserves it!
As a guide, things I often suggest to fantastic clients are:
1) Make sure your product / service is worth it. If not, upgrade it!
2) Make sure the market wants that and will pay for it!
3) Make sure you deep down believe that without any hype!
4) Make sure it’s ethical charging that price!
5) Make sure your Image is perfect and “Mercedes” quality!
6) Be consistent and trusted!
7) Work non-stop to build your reputation!
Really important and talking image, the first thing we often look at is ensuring things like personal presentation, business cards, flyers, promotional materials, Facebook, LinkedIn and websites are up to scratch. I always recommend this to anyone in business, go visit say the Hilton / Mercedes and see how the premium brands play it. Then say go visit a 3 Star hotel / Ford dealer and see the difference. Our businesses are no different and I hope this has provoked some kind thought.
Thank you from Edward Zia for taking the time to read this article. Wishing you the best and maximum success out there!
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