In our last article, “Are Your Profitable Days Numbered” you learned that when you compete on price, your business becomes marginalized, your customer loyalty diminishes and your profitability suffers…
REMEMBER: Competing on price is the lowest form of value you can offer your customer!
So, let’s discuss 3 marketing strategies you can use to avoid the “deadly” price wars:
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- Offer a Better Experience.
Jordan’s Furniture was purchased by Warren Buffet a few years back … and not because they make the best or cheapest furniture.It’s because they offer an awesome experience!Walk into one of their stores and you might find a live band celebrating mardi-gras; a trapeze school; water fireworks; restaurant; IMAX movie theater and a LOT more.You walk through their store to take advantage of these activities and just so happen to fall in love with their furniture … so, you walk out having flipped on a trapeze and purchased a brand new sofa set (it happened to me!)
- Offer Better Service.
And, we’re not just talking about a friendly smile. Better service means helping your customer/client achieve some sort of “results in advance”. Marathon Sports sells sneakers but rather than just fitting you for a shoe, they take a look at your stride. Then they have you try on a shoe and watch you jog. They find a shoe that’s uniquely suitable for your individual running style to help you become a safer, more comfortable and better runner. - Offer a Better Guarantee.
30 days just won’t cut it anymore – everybody’s doing it!Make yourself stand out. Maybe you guarantee your performance or perhaps even make a bold guarantee against your customers results….A few years back, I remember a car company saying something along the lines of: “Buy this car and take it home with you for 2 weeks. If it’s not the most comfortable vehicle you’ve ever owned, bring it back to us and we’ll happily buy it back from you within 10 days.”What do you think happened to their sales? Yup, they went up. (And, they got thousands of dollars in free publicity as a result of their bold marketing which likely offset any additional expense related to the few customers that may have returned their car.)During one of our coaching sessions, we worked with a client to recreate a guarantee from a 15-day guarantee to a 1-Year, 100% money back performance guarantee PLUS an extra $500 bucks if the product didn’t perform as expected! And, yes, their sales literally skyrocketed!
- Offer a Better Experience.
Get creative. The sky is the limit.
Be bold. Be smart. Think strategically.