We all want to save money. No one wants to waste it. But when someone's only appeal is, "We cost less," I am turned off. This is especially true of services.
I was really struck with the current Turbo Tax advertisement that is all about being less expensive. It's just blatant, "We'll beat the price" advertising.
Um. I don't want the cheaper tax preparer. Or the cheaper surgeon. Or the cheaper cybersecurity consultant.
If a monitor or printer is cheaper on Amazon than at my distributor (and I am very sure it's the exact same thing), then I'm likely to buy on Amazon. But services are another matter. One of the absolute truths about service delivery is: Service costs money. Better service costs more money to delivery.
You can still deliver better service at a lower price, but that just means you make less profit. Is that what's going on here? Or is the price cheaper because some service is missing? If you don't want to spend more to deliver the same service, then maintaining profit means the service has to be cut somewhere.
With tax prep, I don't really want to cut corners. I use an enrolled agent and can point to very specific advice that saved me tens of thousands of dollars - because my EA was looking at my business as a whole, not just the one tax return in front of them.
Now consider IT services. What do clients think if you lead with price? Do they say, "Oh goody. I can get platinum level service for the price of silver. It's all the same, so it doesn't matter which one I buy."? If they do say that, that's your fault for not showing them the value of your services.
Part of building your long-term client relationships is keeping them informed about you and your company. You have to change with the times. You literally have to respond to evolving technology all the time. You need to make sure your clients know you're keeping up and offering the new stuff. A monthly newsletter is a great tool for that ongoing education. So are quarterly roadmap meetings.
In the "Picture of the Day", I talk about my relationship with the UPS Store. Imagine the changes they've had to go through in recent years. Their total refresh has to consider increased traffic from Amazon, including massive no-questions-asked returns. They also have a newer clientele that may not own a printer, so they need to scan screenshots on phones.
On top of all that, there are new payment methods, new government requirements, postal regulations, and competition from both their "parent" partner (UPS) and their largest client (Amazon). But the store is the client interface for everything.
This is such a great example that branding is NOT your logo or your color scheme. Branding is every single thing you do. Taken together, your "everything" becomes the experience clients and prospects have.
Oh - and did you notice that the UPS store does not compete on price? They have a 100% markup on postage stamps. You can literally buy them almost everywhere for face value. But add some convenience and voila! the price goes up. With over 5,000 franchise stores, the UPS Stores are going strong. And their visible updates will keep them responsive to the times and profitable.
What do you think about competing on price and maintaining the perception of value?
