How you price a product can help you differentiate your product or service offering. You can find a unique pricing approach as a compliment to your brand’s positioning. Below are 5 ideas you can use to price differently.
Can you ask people to pay with money + something else?
What if your brand and offering provides aid and comfort to people as they age. It could be products or services. What if as part of your fee structure you offer a $100 price reduction if the customer/client agrees to donate 3 hours of time at a charity of their choice that provides services to the elderly? What a great way to live your brand instead of a plain vanilla discount. Could movie theaters offer matinee shows one day a week for the price of a can of soup? Can an accountant offer an hour of free service with every 4 hours purchased if you donate a toy for tots at the holidays? Money is but one form of currency to use.
Can you structure payment differently?
What if you sold your services like a monthly magazine subscription or an annual fee instead of an hourly rate? It could allow for better budgeting of expenses by clients and could help you avoid them feeling that they are under the clock. A marketing consultant I admire named Jim Connolly offers an annual fee for his services for small business to fit their budget. So they don’t feel like they are getting pinched by the hour. Smart. Very smart.
Can they lease instead of buy?
If you have equipment you sell, would a leasing arrangement be better for the customer so that the lease brings the financing to them. Think like car sellers who take an expensive purchase and turn it into a monthly rate for a certain term. Break the price into bit size servings.
Can you give it away for free and charge for something else?
Maybe you should give away the product or service if it leads to an upgrade or it gives the user a chance to sample. Think of a food sampling in a grocery store. Would your product benefit from this approach? Many software companies follow this model. Use the product for free but than when the customer is hooked, give them the option to pay for more functionality.
Can you charge a lot more and sell a lot less?
Maybe you can sell a small amount of products or services at much higher prices and not worry about the mid-range (or low range) part of the market. Things that are very expensive have a assumed high value because “how else can they charge these prices if it isn’t worth it?” Maybe you are selling your product or service short and you’d be better served selling fewer for much, much more. Price your offering for those who are willing to pay for super extraordinary service and then deliver.
So grab your pricing stickers and think outside of the tag.
What a great approach to playing with pricing, Jeff! It’s easy to get stuck doing it the way everyone else does. Thanks for sharing these tips.
Jessica, thanks for your comments. Pricing is a dial we sometime forget to turn when determining how to market or brand a product or service. Another pricing model not mentioned in the article is the airline approach of detaching values. Charge separately or a la carte for things like checked bags, extra legroom or meals. Can your business do this and offer more choice?