by Fred Schroeder
I seem to have missed an email, or a blog, or maybe some ‘best practice’ introduced over the last year in regards to pricing. It seems that when someone asks you for a price for what you are selling, it now apparently means nothing. Later on, there seems to be this new practice where a prospective new client, who seems to be supporting us, is suddenly given the ‘new low price’ from a competitor.
Maybe I am missing something, but I live in New Jersey, and every time I hear this, I cannot help thinking about ‘Crazy Eddie’s’, the electronics store in the 1980’s. Their prices were “insaaane…” as they said. This seems to be a parallel, as this ‘new lower price’ comes out of nowhere. And, quite frankly, how does that work? Yes, I view it as ‘insane’.
Let’s compare it to looking into having my house painted.
I talk to 3 painters. They explain their process, their extra services, their system. I select one and, of course, I tell the others. Out of the blue, one I did not pick provides a ‘brand new low price’…maybe it is only good until midnight if I put in a special code, or I get a set of steak knives if I order by midnight tonight…whatever.
From my perspective, when I see this, I lose trust in that painter. Why did I not get the best price upfront? If they need to cut the price, what else is up? Maybe I am wrong, but isn’t pricing one of the core competencies of a company from the beginning? What about the other folks that paid the ridiculous, unfair price? What else can’t I trust with this guy? Will I get the same service for this new, cheap price? If you claim to be an established painter, shouldn’t you know what to charge to be fair to the client and make a fair profit?
I view our business to be about trust. From the day we meet someone at Adesso, we tell them the situation as it is. As Promotion Optimization Institute stated in their recent evaluation of us, we provide “…a complete TPM solution that is a good value for the money.” And yes, we provide a price. And a rationale. It is fair to our prospective client, to us, and to our current clients. What would the painters’ other clients think if they knew of these offers?
This whole concept seems ridiculous to me – am I crazy?
How do you respond to this if you ever run into it? I’d love to get some perspective…one of our company’s core premises is to get input from clients, prospective clients, and the industry.
I would love to hear yours.