It is always worth taking the time to think about your pricing strategy for your products or services. However, the price tag isn’t necessarily the first thing that impacts your customer.
There are many factors a customer will take on board when shopping for products or services. Think about a considered purchase you made recently and rank your choice using the following three factors:
- Price
- Value
- The person you bought from
Price is rarely the top choice when I ask this question in my webinars or coaching sessions. The value of a product or service, along with the person you are buying from, comes out on top almost every time.
Yes, the price of your goods will matter, but if you get your selling strategy right, it’s often the last thing a customer will check.
Before you know your target audience, your customers will make assumptions about your products or services, judge your business brand, and analyse how you value what you do and how you do it.
However, if you explore customer psychology and fully understand your ideal customer, you can build a lasting relationship based on trust, value, and authenticity rather than cost and assumptions. Some of this is often done in the way you show up, your consistent message and your UHP!
70% of buyers fully define their needs on their own before engaging with a sales representative, and 44% identify specific solutions before reaching out to a seller. Source: (CSO Insights)
The Value of a Value Ladder
When I talk about setting prices with my sales clients, I like to keep it simple. That simplicity is not only for the benefit of my clients as they make decisions but also for their end customers.
How can you make it simple for your ideal customer?
This is where a value ladder becomes very powerful. By providing different products or services at various cost levels, you can capture more of the market at the different stages of their buying journey.
I use a value ladder in my own business, and it looks like this:
- Live it Live it Sell it Book
- Express 30 Session
- 90-Minute Sales Strategy Session
- The Sales Academy
- 1:1 Coaching
- Sales Day Trip Intensive
Anyone looking for help to fall in love with sales and build their confidence in business sales and selling can jump onto my value ladder at a rung suitable for them and their budget (and trust level).
At no point do I try to sell to everyone. I’ve done my homework and know who my ideal customer is, their challenges, and how I can help them.
I understand that my book is the ideal way for new customers to dip their toe into my world and see if they like me. They get to know the language I use, learn about my Live it Love it Sell it methodology, and understand more about my backstory, giving them an insight into the face behind the brand.
The next step on my value ladder is my Express 30 Sessions, designed to solve any issue in just 30 minutes. During this quick-fire session, I provide actionable advice that you can put into practice to improve your sales journey and win new business – all this for £75 + vat! At this stage, my ideal customer gets the opportunity to speak to me face-to-face and build a deeper connection.
Having at least three choices of product or service is the sweet spot. Think of it as Gold, Silver, and Bronze levels (but be more inventive with your offering names!).
The lowest (Bronze) offering is a foot-in-the-door service or a low-entry level product. It’s still packed with value for your customer, but it might be something they can purchase from a distance (like a book). The customer usually doesn’t get to interact with you at this level.
The Silver service is usually where most of your customers will land. You might see this middle-ground offering when buying online services such as Calendly, WordPress, or hosting platforms. It will be the one in the centre that says, ‘most popular’.
When I ran Truly Madly Baby, 70% of my consultants bought the ‘silver’ option starter kit when they joined the business. In service-based businesses, the silver stage might be where your customers get to share you with others, like in a membership, on Webinars, Podcasts, etc.
Your high-end ticket offerings will be your Gold level services or products. In coaching, these will be where the customer gets individual face-to-face time with you – the exclusive deal.
When you create your value ladder offers, stand out from the crowd!
People = Revenue
No matter how fabulous your value ladder offerings might be and how competitive your prices are, it’s still important to remember that people come first in sales.
Be sure to emphasise getting to know your ideal customer and stepping into their shoes, and the price strategy will follow. Use market levels and your competitor information as research if it makes you more comfortable, but always be 100% happy with what you are charging. If you don’t feel confident with your pricing, how do you expect your buyers to buy from you?
62.5% of buyers said they found value in discussing their situations with salespeople (source: CSO Insights). How interesting is that statistic! It means your customer wants to chat with you, they want to know their options, and they want you to suggest what is best for them, after all, they are coming to you for your expertise too.
How do you do that? You dig deep and understand what they are struggling with and how you can provide an effective solution. Don’t go cheap just to satisfy a fear you have. Be confident in what the customer needs to solve their problem and don’t talk about ‘what it costs’, but what the investment would be. We always feel better about investments as they traditionally give us a return when done well.
And I say regularly…
“You have to acknowledge the hell in order to sell“, Jules White
Empathy and showing you have listened goes a long way when it comes to building trust and that’s why we have to acknowledge where our customer is right now – the hell as I call it.
If you don’t know why your ideal customer needs your help, you can’t possibly understand how you can help them.
Adding Prices to Your Website
There is no right or wrong answer to whether you should display your prices on your website. Still, there is a way you can provide what your target audience needs (to know the value of what you offer as well as the price) and establish trust and likeability without sharing the ticket price.
Using your value ladder offers, you can display the lower levels (Bronze and Silver) with details of the value your customer will get and the set price. For your Gold service, you can put POA (price on application) and invite your audience to book a discovery call to chat about their challenges and how you can help them.
When I have a virtual cuppa with potential customers (my unique take on discovery calls!), I use this process to find out as much as possible about them and their challenges. I ask them the following:
- How important is it to you to solve this problem?
- What difference would it make to your business/you to find a solution?
- Why is it important to change things now?
These are just a few simple questions that give me so much information about the customer, allowing me to offer them the right service at the right price. If they don’t intend to make immediate changes, then a chat or Express 30 might be a perfect choice.
And don’t forget the customer may not be right for you – this is a two-way relationship, so for the higher price services and products these conversations are important.
Suppose you don’t feel confident talking about pricing on a discovery call. In that case, you might want to read my article How to Effectively Handle a Discovery Sales Call, or watch my webinar Back to School with Discovery Calls.
You can even follow up the call with a proposal which may be a more comfortable option for you.
Want to learn more about getting your price right?
If you want to find out more about pricing, schedule a virtual cuppa with me and we can discuss how I can help you. You can also check out my Sales Webinar, The Price is Right.
“Jules is all about doing it right! Right education, right training, right attitude, right outcomes for all! If you want to do it right, speak to Jules White.” Asvin Chauhan, CEO Pharma Wealth
Alternatively, you can join my Sales Academy and build on everything you’ve learned in this post to create success in your business and deliver an unparalleled sales experience. My article, 4 Reasons Why Joining a Membership Will Help Your Business Grow, gives you more information.
“If you are a looking for a Sales Coach that can teach you how to sell from the heart… your search is over. Jules White is an absolute master at how to sell without selling. With her brilliant and gentle teaching style I have learned that sales is not about being pushy and sleazy. Instead, Jules taught me that sales is all about having a human conversation.
I am a huge fan of Jules White. I highly recommend her lovely book, “Live It, Love It, Sell It” which I gave a 5 star review on Amazon. I am a subscriber of her engaging podcast “The Human Conversation”. I have seen her in action running her fabulous monthly membership group the “High Street: Sales Academy.” Gillian Whitney – Founder Easy Peasy Video – Las Vegas
Join me in the Live it Love it Sell it Sales Academy for £47 a month (£360 per annum) and get all the support, resources, and community interaction you need.
Want to find out more? Schedule a virtual cuppa with me, and we can have a chat about the membership or my other coaching services.