More than a Price Tag

You need to do what is right for your business to stay in business, period. What far too many people think is people on low or fixed incomes do not have the ability to buy the best, make their own decisions, be able to understand, and hire the best contractor(s). The people with lots of money often buy cheap stuff. Why? Because, when it breaks, they just buy another one; it doesn’t save money, no problem, they have lots anyway. People who are in the crunch spend more time and typically buy the high-end products with the best warranties, lowest operating costs, and the reason is they have the ability to pay only once. They also need to save as much as possible so they can put it to great use elsewhere. Why do we keep raising the issue of price in the marketplace? Why do our columnists and trade magazines keep drawing us to pieces about price? It is, and always has been for the majority, about far more than price. Now, let’s talk about the value, the benefits, the reliability, durability, energy savings ... a novel concept.

D. Brian Baker
President
Custom Vac Limited
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

Making Informed Decisions

If somebody says, “That’s too much,” or, “Your price is too high,” then there are really only two reasons for that statement:

1. They don’t have the money. And I mean they don’t have it. They don’t have it in cash, they don’t have it in savings, they don’t have it in their checking account, they don’t have room on any of their credit cards, nor do they have the ability to borrow the money from another source ... family, friends, bank,
or otherwise.

2. They don’t, at the moment, believe that what you are offering them is worth the money you’re asking for it.

There’s nothing that can be done about No. 1, so, for whatever reason that is the case, we simply accept it.

Regarding No. 2, either the prospective customer will be open to understanding the value they would be getting for their money spent, or they won’t. After a reasonable amount of time has been invested in presenting information and asking questions to be sure that customers understand their options, they can make an informed buying decision.

Jim Johnson
Owner
Technical Training Associates
Tucson, Arizona Area

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Publication date: 5/19/2014
 

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