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.