(Tim Miles is reliving the best and worst parts of the summer of 1977 – attempting to visit 14 states in 14 days with his family and only Pringles, Hawaiian Punch, and spray cheese for provisions. He’s banned iPads and is forcing his family to enjoy car bingo, the license plate game, AM radio, and the occasional 8-track tape. In his absence, Ryan Patrick has the conn.)
What’s that you say, Mr. Business Owner? You claim to offer the lowest prices? Funny, your competition is running ads saying the exact same thing.
One of you is lying.
“No, really, my prices really are lower.”
Okay. Prove it. Put your money where your mouth is. You really charge less?
Show me the price.
“Whoa, I can’t do that! If my competition finds out my prices are lower, they’ll just keep lowering their prices, too.”
Guess what?
1.Your competition knows exactly how much you charge.
2.If they can drop their price and sell it for less, you can’t promise the lowest price!
(And please don’t advertise “competitive prices.” That’s just another way of saying you charge the same as the other guys.)
Rather than waging a pricing war that you’ll never win, give your customers something extra:
* A Warranty/Guarantee…
* Free Shipping/Delivery…
* Customer Rewards Program…
* Exclusive, Invitation-Only Events…
* A Secret Decoder Ring…
What’s that? You can offer an added perk that the other guys can’t? I’ll get a much better value for my money?
NOW I’m listening.
photo credit: duncan via photopin cc
I couldn’t agree more. LOVE your post.
I was just on vacation last week w/ my family and annoying my wife in the car w/ my snarky comments about stores that advertise “coldest beer in town.” Now, I’m actually not a beer drinker myself, but I’m told the optimum temperature is one degree above freezing. Soooooooo…if everyone’s cooler is set to that, and one degree lower freezes it…..thennnnnnnn…hmmmmmm.
Give me a reason to enter your store…especially if the look of the outside and the cliches on the sign are already pushing me away.
Thanks! Great observation about the cold beer. I’d never thought about it that way…
When I’m not at my desk, a caller hears a prerecorded greeting. mine says “we’re not the cheapest, but when was “cheap” something to brag about?
Some people are only interested in “cheap.” Those are the people you generally don’t want to work with because as quickly as they switch to you because you’re the cheapest, they’ll switch from you when someone else offers it even cheaper.