Setting Prices - You Just Can't Win!

[David Earle]

All day long I get customers coming into the shop asking what my prices are. 9 times out of 10 I get comments like "that's good" or "very reasonable" etc - i.e people generally seem happy with the prices.

However when customers phone up and order, they are often totally shocked & the tone of their voice changes as if I've just told them their favourite pet has died when I tell them the price. I get "That's a bit expensive" quite a lot on the phone, but customers who come into the shop in person always seem happy.

I set my prices to reflect the quality & service and level of expertise/skill on offer here, as well as the fast turnaround time. I don't want to be the cheapest. I have loads of repeat customers. I work hard and deserve a decent lifestyle so why should I work for peanuts? I guess there are always going to be a few people who think everything is "too expensive".

So, what do you say to people on the phone when they say you're too expensive? I'm often dumbstruck, but I need to have a set-piece response ready.

 

[akirk]

how about:

"oh dear, yes I do understand, not to worry, let me recommend mr cheap t-shirt printing company - they can offer you a t-shirt for xxx, I am just not totally sure how long it will last - on the other hand we can offer you a t-shirt which is... for only a bit more..."

i.e. you agree with them (you are now on their side), offer them something else / someone else, but press on their buttons - their concerns about quality etc / demonstrate in it why yours is better...

Alasdair

 

[CSHTech]

I normally have some basic idea of what my competitors charge and if I get a customer like you are experiencing, I tell them how much it is elsewhere and why they get good service with me.

If you put the price in context it's up to them - you'll always get someone who wants gold standard service for peanuts!

 

[trev82]

my response would be
"Im sorry you think that But ive been in the industry _years and we pride our selves on our quality. You could go for the cheaper option but imho you will be taking a gambling on the quality and could end up returning to us to have redone where you will be wasting the money previously spent"
or something like that hope this helps
trev

 

[Kernowman]

All day long I get customers coming into the shop asking what my prices are. 9 times out of 10 I get comments like "that's good" or "very reasonable" etc - i.e people generally seem happy with the prices.

However when customers phone up and order, they are often totally shocked & the tone of their voice changes as if I've just told them their favourite pet has died when I tell them the price. I get "That's a bit expensive" quite a lot on the phone, but customers who come into the shop in person always seem happy.

I set my prices to reflect the quality & service and level of expertise/skill on offer here, as well as the fast turnaround time. I don't want to be the cheapest. I have loads of repeat customers. I work hard and deserve a decent lifestyle so why should I work for peanuts? I guess there are always going to be a few people who think everything is "too expensive".

So, what do you say to people on the phone when they say you're too expensive? I'm often dumbstruck, but I need to have a set-piece response ready.

From my own experience the best way to counter pricing issues is to transfer their perceptions to ones which they themselves understand, rather than you going down the path of justifying your quality when you don't need to.

For example:

Ask if they saw some top grade Fillet Steak being advertised for £1 a kilo, what would they think and would they buy it? If they saw a Rolls Royce or Ferrari being advertised for £10, what would they think? And so on . . . .

Same too applies to discounts. Ask how much they have given away for free in the last month, how much of their business percentage would they pour down the drain or give away for free?

Another successful tactic is to take value AWAY from the product if they ask for a discount or query the price. Say things like: "Well why didn't you say you wanted less quality? Got some rough old stock out back I ordered by mistake and need to shift so I can let you have that cheap". The important part is in bold.

 

[MH1]

I would reply along the lines of "Not everyone can afford the best quality and there is no shame in admitting that, we tried using the lower quality shirts several years ago but had too many complaints so we have always used quality materials ever since and prefer to have happy clients. Are you just looking for the cheapest low quality item or are you looking for good VFM?"

 

[directmarketingadvice]

However when customers phone up and order, they are often totally shocked & the tone of their voice changes as if I've just told them their favourite pet has died when I tell them the price. I get "That's a bit expensive" quite a lot on the phone, but customers who come into the shop in person always seem happy.

Someone phoning is always likely to be more price sensitive.

2 questions

(1) Are you more expensive?

(2) Did you give the callers any reason why they'd want to pay more for your t-shirts than someone else's?

Finally:

I work hard and deserve a decent lifestyle

If you think your customers will be willing to pay more in order to fund the lifestyle you want, you're wrong. That's not why people buy.

Steve

 

[francsutherland]

Hi,
Maybe you could invite them down to the shop? The personal touch might help them value your quality more.
Franc.

 

[Kernowman]

When that person picks up the phone and dials you, they already have a particular mindset in action. You may or may not be the first person you have called and even if you are, they have may trawled ebay, poundland and the local market at some point in time, some, all, or none of those. It does not matter.

That is why their immediate response is "shocked and the tone of their voice changes" as the OP states. They are now in a shocked state of mind, you have not told them what they wanted to hear and their natural instinct now is to flee. Trust me, they are not interested in a lengthy speech about quality, or the justification of price against quality - you are pretty much on a loser. If you can recover those phone calls into sales there and then using what you instinctively do by explaining quality, then I reckon you are a genius. Maybe it's an idea to invite them to the shop to see for themselves. Worth a go.

 

[Infocast]

If they are saying something is too much tell them simply that that is the cost of what you do and if they have a problem, move on...

 

[ukipodearphones]

As i've noticed it doesn't matter what your prices are. You can only please most people. I've put it down to labelling different groups. Might sound bad but it is true. You get certain people who come in knowing what you sell is good and they don't think twice about the price. Then you get the penny pincher's. They ask about everything and end up buying very little. After moaning of coarse. Unfortunately you just have to deal with it, if they buy nothing then it's their loss right?

 

[crossdaz]

You can always be cheaper by cutting things like service and reliability. Another good one is to have a policy of never giving a refund or maybe offering 24 hour delivery but actually sending via 3 day delivery.
Or, you can be really clever and put your prices up 10% and offer a 10% discount code.

I think I'm not alone in being sick to death of all these kind of gimmicks. I bought a pair of walking shoes today and they were £30 more than last time I bought the same ones. Did I look around for a better price - no I didn't because I only deal with businesses I trust and who have served me well in the past.

Someone who shops on price alone usually gets what he deserves.

 

[Gill]

I am one of those people who does make do and mend - I do expect to pay more for good quality knowing that it will last, wash and wear well and if necessary be repaired, and then handed down - yes my children do wear hand me downs, they are only able to do this if I buy quality goods in the first place.

Buy cheap, buy twice.

Don't be hard on yourself - you really can't please all of the people all of the time, no matter how hard you may try - heavens I gave up trying to please everyone quite a while ago!!!!

Best of luck with it,
Gill

 

[yooneeq]

is it about being the cheapest?
afterall you are a business and in order for you to be around to service them you need to make a profit too. People always want to pay least and then first to complain if the customer care or quality is strong enough.

We don't think we are the cheapest, we are not the most expensive either, but our customer retention is very high. Still have clients 13 years on... just go with what you feel is a fair price, and back it up with the after care/support/ guarantee's you offer.