A question that I used to hate seeing posted on social media forums was “does anybody know where I can find a REASONABLY PRICED photographer?“ To me that question implied that a lot of photographers are over-priced for what they offer. That question doesn’t have any hint of the customer looking for value. Photography isn’t the only industry that has to deal with this. Unfortunately, a lot of people don’t take into account what kind of training is necessary or what goes on behind the scenes to the work that service providers offer.
Competing on Price Doesn’t Help Your Brand
When your business is struggling to get sales or the industry is struggling one of your first instincts could be to run a sale or drop your prices. As a service provider that would be a big mistake. Competing on price is a race to the bottom and doesn’t do anything good for your brand. As a service provider, you are just one out of MANY different options. If someone is searching for a bargain, value is taking a back seat in their mind.
When Customers Choose You BECAUSE of Your Price
If you find that customers are always asking you what your price is before talking about your services it could be that you are not showing your value well enough. Getting work because you offer the best (lowest) price available you need to either make it up by offering less than you normally would or you suck it up and be happy with the fact you are essentially making less. Also, when it comes time to raise those prices, you can see a lot of those previous customers and referrals drop off.
When Customers Choose You DESPITE of Your Price
When customers start choosing you DESPITE YOUR PRICE, it means that they see value in what you offer. Maybe it’s because they liked your clean design choices in your ads, or it could be because you seem to know exactly how to solve the problem they’re currently having. Whatever the reason, is there is something in your brand they connected that is making them not focus on the investment first and why they’re choosing to pay a little bit more to get your services as opposed to your competition.
So my question to you is what are you doing to show your value to your ideal customers? If you aren’t sure you might need to start by answering these questions.
- Who can you serve best?
- What distinguishes you from your competitors?
- What can you offer that your competition doesn’t?
Take your answers to these questions as a foundation for helping you build a brand that your ideal client desires.
