The Pricing Masters... an intensive
5-Day e-mail course on
finding the Perfect Price that will
maximize your profit.
If you have a friend who would benefit
from taking this
course, please pass this on. Or
tell that person to get
the 5-day course by sending a blank
e-mail to...
tpmssupertips@sitesell.net
Refer to this course whenever you
price new products and
monitor or upgrade existing ones.
Print each e-mail out,
pour yourself a beverage of choice,
bring along a pen to jot
down some ideas, and take it all
to your favorite sofa. This
is serious stuff -- pricing makes
or breaks many products.
So get into a comfortable spot for
maximum learning.
Sat Feb 03 01:18:32 2001
Pricing Masters Course 505
Pricing.
Of the marketing 4 Ps (Product,
Place, Promotion,
Price), it's the only "P"
that brings income INTO your
business -- the other 3 Ps all COST
you money. Pricing
extracts the value that the other
3 Ps build in your
customer's mind.
But
exactly how high is that perceived
value?
Pricing
sounds so easy in theory, but ever
so difficult to
do in the real world. Actually,
up to now, it's been
impossible for small-to-mid-sized
businesses to do it in
the same manner as the Fortune 500.
All
the way through this course, our
guiding e-commerce
statement has been...
The
Perfect Price (tm) is that price
that maximizes your
profits while building a lifetime
customer through value
satisfaction. And perfect-pricing
does more than just
maximize profits -- it LEVERAGES
them. Here's how...
Let's
say that you have a net profit margin
of 10% (i.e.,
after ALL expenses, including overhead,
etc.). If you could
increase the price by 10% *without
losing a single sale*,
you would obviously increase gross
income by 10%. But that
10% increase in price increases
your *net profits* by 100%!
And
you'd still keep a happy customer
who will return again
and again. Talk about a win-win
situation!
But
there are two big IFs in there...
...
IF you don't lose a single sale
and
...
IF your customer is still thrilled
with your product.
How
can we be sure of those IFs? Where
do we find the
Perfect Price? Simple. Start where
*all* business begins...
...
with the customer.
Perfect-pricing
does not always mean an increase
in price.
Let's say that you decrease the
price of your product from
$89 to $79. If that doubles sales,
wouldn't that more than
make up for slightly lower margins?
How
do you know IF that price decrease
would increase sales?
Again... start with your customer.
Yesterday's
assignment is our lead-in for today's
session.
"Insights" ready?
Key
point from Day 4...
"Know
your product. Know your customer."
It's
what every successful business owner/entrepreneur
puts
into practice. Daily.
-----SIDEBAR-----
Check out how we followed this advice
for our MYKS! Web
site. Using Make Your Site SELL!
strategies, we designed a
strong, sales-oriented site. Using
Make Your Price Sell!
software, we tailored MYKS!'s Perfect
Price. Result?
The
high sales-conversion rate for this
product continues to
astound even us! Over 7%!
http://myks.sitesell.com/supertips.html
-----SIDEBAR-----
No
"guess", no "ball
park", no "gut feel"
terminology is
allowed. The most important determinant
of price is *always*
what the product is worth to the
customer. You have to know
that perceived value level *exactly*.
The
homework reflection exercise helps
you get inside your
customer's head. Were you able to
answer them all?
Quick
review...
o
What method do you use to get to
know your customer?
o
What is your customer profile? Does
your site fit with it?
o
Do customers perceive your product
as valuable and useful
to them? How does your Web site
"show" this? How often
do
your readjust?
o
Where is your market? Where is it
at in its development?
-----SIDEBAR-----
Make a reminder to yourself to come
back to this assignment
every once in awhile. Keep on your
toes so that a competitor
doesn't bump into your heels. :-)
And
don't forget about the Make Your
Price Sell! Pricing
Manual. It's a treasure-chest of
pricing information. And
it's free when you order the MYPS!
server-side pricing
software...
http://myps.sitesell.com/supertips.html
-----SIDEBAR-----
Read
your answers again.
Now,
how do you know if your insights
are correct? What's
the margin of error?
Dr.
Carol Ann Dorn, a McGill University
marketing/consumer
behavior specialist who worked with
me to develop MYPS!,
pinpointed six important questions
that crystalize your
understanding of the customer.
We
divided the six pivotal questions
into three categories...
1)
Net Buying Habits -- how often your
prospect buys this
type of product, and how much she
usually spends. Obviously,
youUd rather have a customer who
buys in your product
category, frequently and for big
bucks!
2)
Product Impact -- how important
and how unique the
product is to your respondent. Pretty
clear here -- give me
potential customers who rank my
product tops in importance
and uniqueness!
3)
Price Point -- what s/he considers
a fair price for
the product, and where the customer's
Teeter Point is (that
price at which the consumer is full
of indecision.)
See
how these questions build a comprehensive
customer
profile? Knowing your customer means
knowing the right price
to charge for your product. The
Perfect Price fits the
customer's *AND* your needs (as
the seller).
Now,
how do you get the answers to find
the Perfect Price?
Well...
Expensive
pricing consultants are willing
to do the job, if
you have deep pockets. Or you could
ask customers directly.
But that takes staff time and creates
logistical headaches
for collecting and analyzing the
data.
Think
about the last time a marketer phoned
your place at
dinner time -- with "just a
few questions" for you.
Reception level... 0.
Make
Your Price Sell! makes finding the
Perfect Price so
"do-able" and uncomplicated.
MYPS!is
an exact, super-fast, cost-efficient
and truly
scientific way to determine the
Perfect Price. It not only
gives the answers to those pivotal
six questions... it
interprets the results in *illuminating*
bar charts and
graphs.
http://myps.sitesell.com/supertips.html
For
example, let's say your customized
MYPS! survey gets
100 replies from visitors to your
Web site. These visitors
are potential customers.
Our
software shows you the results.
In one of the bar
charts, let's say that you see that
your product has very
little impact on your prospects.
(In
this case, our scientific system
combined the answers
to the survey questions about the
"importance" and
"uniqueness" of your product
to customer.)
What
did you learn? You need to make
some changes quickly.
Develop
a strategy to increase customer
impact...
o
Make a better product.
o
Make a better Web site
http://www.sitesell.com/supertips.html
oJAim
for a different target market.
o
Give your product away as a traffic-builder.
You
must do something. If you donUt
make an impact, how are
you ever going to sell anything?
Price doesn't even factor
in here.
On
the other hand, what if your sales
are great and your
traffic stats are high? Are you
completely confident that
you are maximizing your profits?
No money being left on the
table?
MYPS!'s
"three-in-one composite"
line graph gives you all the
information you need to identify
the Perfect Price. At every
single point, you see how many units
of your products you
will sell.
You
just have to match a peak on the
graph to your business
model (i.e., are you pricing to
penetrate the market or are
you skimming the cream?).
You
want high volume or high profit,
without falling into
the deadly No Man's Land. MYPS!
illustrates "the lay of the
land" perfectly.
http://myps.sitesell.com/supertips.html
Pricing.
In five days, I can only give you
a small overview
of its role in the big "marketing"
picture. It is definitely
one Marketing "P" that
you ignore at your (sometimes fatal)
peril.
The
wonderful news is that if you do
make pricing your
priority, *you* will reap the benefits...
MAXIMUM
Profit.
SATISFIED
Customers.
LIFETIME
SUPPORTERS of Your Business.
Now,
that's an e-commerce puzzle with
all the pieces
together! What a positive business
picture to leave you
with.
Wishing
you much pricing success,
-Ken
PRICING MASTERS UPDATES...
The
Pricing Masters Course is sent only
to those people who
have specifically requested it.
From time to time, I'll send
you a refresher/update to this course.
If you'd like to
receive them, you have nothing to
do.
If
you'd prefer not to receive the
updates, simply
unsubscribe by sending a blank e-mail
to...
unsubscribetpms@sitesell.net
NOTE:
You must send it from the same e-mail
address that is
subscribed to this 5-day course.
Contact info: E-mail us at support@sitesell.com
Written by Ken Evoy, M.D.
President, SiteSell.com
(c) copyright 2000, 2001 SiteSell.com
Inc.
Perfect Price and Teeter TM GoodBytes.
MYPS! patent-pending.