Pricing is a complex matter – especially in services.
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The complexity has further increased due to COVID.
But should you change your pricing during the early recovery phases? These are the strategies that work.
The common perceptions (mostly true):
- Prospects more conscious about spending
- We need to show we are accommodating
- Competition is ready to do it for less to survive
There are 3 ways to respond -
Response #1
Reduce prices
+ Survive and close faster
+ Client doesn’t move to competition
- Working upwards to normal pricing is an uphill task
- Perception of your cost structure gets solidified
Response #2
Hold your ground
+ Chant quality over quantity
+ Retain positioning
- Lost opportunities can be expensive
Response #3
Get creative
Negotiate:
a. Add a min relationship value for a discount
b. Provide deferred benefits, like PSCS/ warranty
Change the paradigm:
a. Allow sampling more products/ services
b. Require adoption of other products/ services
Engage deeper:
a. Require 25% of discounts to go to a charity
b. Tie to other wins – say stock price
+ Changes the way the cost-benefit is seen
+ Creates new revenue opportunities for tomorrow
+ Reminds them of actual pricing of your services
- Too hard to deploy for simple buys
Pricing is beyond ‘price’.
The key thing to consider today is not how to get more, but how to build a relationship that keeps getting you.
Have you tried any creative ways?
