I read a great article this week written by John Jantsch, the founder of Duct Tape Marketing.
The article was entitled, The Five Things That Every Real Marketer Knows Today, and when I got to #3, I thought of all of you, and the struggles you have with price. Here's the excerpt:
3) If you compete on price you will always lose
The only real reason a business other than Wal-Mart would choose to compete on price is because they have no other way of communicating the value of doing business with their firm. Potential customers are wired to consider one firm vs. another when making a buying decision and if you don’t give them actual reasons to consider the unique benefits of doing business with you; they will default to price shopping.
Price is a terrible place to compete because there is always someone willing to go out of business faster than you.
Price moves down or off the list when a prospect can’t get what you offer, exactly as you offer it, anywhere else. You must seize some opportunity to stand out and communicate that simple difference in every marketing word and action. If you don’t take a stand get ready to here “how much” in every sales presentation you make.
I know business owner have heard this before, but so few are doing anything about it. If you’re not willing to stand out, risk being different, do something remarkable and tell the world about it, you don’t get to sit around wondering why your phone’s not ringing.
I especially love the second paragraph: "there's always someone willing to go out of business faster than you."
Remember, if price is your #1 selling point, then your customers' loyalty is to the price... not to you. That means, when someone comes along and charges less (and someone always comes along), your customers will abandon you for the lower price.
Make your business about YOU. YOUR knowledge. YOUR uniqueness.
Most important...NEVER sell yourself short!
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