“I want to charge $399 for my audio cassette album,” a small publisher told me. “But Nightingale-Conant also sells several audio albums on the same topic for $79,” I pointed out. “What makes yours worth 5 times more than theirs?”
The answer most people would give is “because mine is better”. Well, maybe it is. But “better” is a difficult proposition to sell through a direct mail package.
So how can you charge a premium price to buyers to whom the greater quality of your product is not immediately obvious? Here are 7 ways to ask for and get the price you want for your products and services:
1. Vertical niche. The more vertical your product, the higher the price you can charge. Your total audience will be smaller, but their need for a specific solution to their problem will help them rationalize paying your premium price.
2. Supply and demand. It’s always easier—especially when selling your services—to hold out for more money when the demand for your service outweighs the supply.
If you market to the point where you are generating more potential business opportunities than you can handle, you can raise your fees, because you can afford to have some of these potential buyers who balk at the higher fees walk away.
3. Add value. Add value to your product or service until the buyer perceives that the price you are asking, however high, is a drop in the bucket compared to the value he is receiving.
One way to add value is to offer a premium that is inexpensive for you to source but has a high perceived value. Example: Ron Popeil gives away cooking tools free when you buy his cooker on TV.
4. Become a guru. Whether it’s Tom Peters, Alan Dershowitz, or Dr. Ruth, people can’t get enough of gurus.
Make an effort to build your reputation and establish yourself as a guru—a leading expert—in your field. When you are a guru, people will pay a premium price for your seminars, speeches, videos, audios, books, newsletters, software, and products.
5. Demonstrate Return on Investment (ROI). Buyers are less reluctant to pay a high price when you can show that they will get a rapid—and significant—return on their investment.
For instance, a direct mail package selling a $149 newsletter on employee hiring says, “Hiring the wrong person costs you 3 times their annual salary.”
When it comes to marketing, ‘free’ is one of the most powerful, most overused, and most wrongly used words in the English language. You see, when most people want to use this word in their marketing, they’ll write it in big, bold letters, slap it in the headline, and wait for it to work its magic.
Make no mistake, ‘free’ is an extremely powerful word, but if you don’t know how to wield it with precision and skill, you’re in for a nasty surprise! It’s a little bit like the difference between a scalpel and a machete. Both are extremely sharp and powerful tools…but you must have the right skills to use them safely and effectively.
One of the best places to use the word ‘free’ in your marketing…is when you use it to offer your customers and prospects a free report.
So, what is a free report? A free report is exactly what it says: a free source of useful information you give your prospects. You see, you are an expert in your industry, and there are things you know that your contacts can certainly benefit from. Offering a free report is an excellent way to:
* Build your relationship with your customers and prospects
* Give your customers and prospects value
* Bring in leads (when you offer your free report as a download)
* Keep your name in front of your prospects
* Educate your prospects about your services
There is NO doubt about it: the value you get from giving a paper-and-ink report returns a value far out of proportion to its cost!
The advantage of giving away information is this: because you are the expert and because you’ve done your contacts a favor (by giving them something of value), they are going to feel comfortable with you and indebted to you. And, that will drive more sales!
When it comes to marketing, ‘free’ is one of the most powerful, most overused, and most wrongly used words in the English language. You see, when most people want to use this word in their marketing, they’ll write it in big, bold letters, slap it in the headline, and wait for it to work its magic.