Pricing
Pricing is in my view the hardest part of marketing, and the part that gives businesses the most trouble.
Aside from the basic but frighteningly common mistake of mixing up mark-up and margin, pricing is the biggest marketing problem for many businesses - but one that's often hidden.
Why?
Because the price you ask is the acid test. People may find what you have to offer a great idea, and something they'd willingly give you money for.
But if you get the price wrong, you can lose your shirt. If it's too high, your customers won't want to buy and will keep their money. And if it's too low, you won't make a profit.
So you choose somewhere in the middle, where everyone else is operating. OK, that seems safe. But there's a better way.
Price, cost and value
Many business people get these things all mixed up. Price and cost have no relation.
Price is what you charge. Cost is what you pay. Businesses that simply apply 'cost-plus' pricing are inventing a relationship where none exists.
Value is how motivated your customers are to give you money. They are the ones that measure value. And what is value? - well, it's simply quality divided by price.
Many businesses find this difficult to evaluate because they can't see things from their customers' viewpoint - either because they're too close to their business to be objective, or because they haven't worked out what their customers really appreciate.
Using price as a marketing tool
I'll help you use pricing as part of your positioning, and as a way of building sales. I'll show you how to use pricing to gain sales at the expense of the competition; to strengthen customer loyalty; and to increase spend per customer.
And I'll definitely make sure you don't confuse mark-up an margin.