Instantly Increase Your Bottom Line By
Building Value And Raising Prices.
Does the very thought of raising your pricing have your blood run cold and your posture stiffen? Does raising your prices without losing business sound like an impossible feat?
After all, I have nothing to lose when I tell you to simply raise your prices, and you feel like you could lose every one of your clients.
I’ve been there, once upon a time I was concerned with what my competition was charging. And my best "strategy" was to find out what "the other guys" were charging and price myself below them. Lame. If that’s your edge, then changing is scary.
But it doesn't’t have to be. It’s actually liberating and fun to free yourself from price competition and to set your prices where you want them to be, where they need to be.
Before I get into the “how” of raising prices let’s talk a little about your market and the reality of what your homeowners think about low prices.
Do People Really Care About Price?
To start with, if you are starting to let that little voice in your head raise doubts because “your area is different”, let me say, there are people in your town that drive Mercedes, and I bet the people in your area at least on occasion eat at expensive restaurants. And I know there are people in your area that shop at Nordstrom or it's equivalent, either in person or online. I’ll even wager that a lot of homes in your area have expensive flat screen TV’s hanging in the living room.
See where I’m going with this?
People in your area might be clipping coupons to get a “deal” on the "2 for One" soda special this weekend, and maybe they even drive 5 miles across town to save 10 cents per gallon on gas, but those same people will drop $500…$1000….$1500 or more to get the tv and surround sound they want.
That is because price is what people pay....But VALUE is what they get.
And VALUE is like beauty, it’s in the eye of the beholder.
That means your real job is to create and build VALUE in what you do.
When you can do that successfully, you will never worry about competing by price again.
I know from experience and from the experience of the thousands of professional cleaners I've helped over the years.
For example, here is what Joel Cohen, user of my Rich Cleaner Strategies for 17 years has to say, "In the height of the recession, in a town that was leveled by the economy, when everyone was complaining that there was 'no work', I was booking $1,200.00 cleaning jobs from one residential client. And no, I didn't live in Beverly Hills, I was in a small town in Oregon. I continued to get the highest prices in town while my clients were thrilled with my service and loyal to my company. It was all possible because I knew from Joe's strategies how to create a 'wow' experience for my clients so they perceived the tremendous VALUE in what they were getting."
So the real strategy is how to CREATE & BUILD value so your prices are never an issue again!
Are You A Mercedes Or A Hyundai?
Please, answer me this, why do some hamburgers sell for 99 cents while others are priced at $18.00 or even higher? Or why do some cars sell for under $10K while others command well over $100,000.00 or more?
It is all in the perceived value. It's in the quality of the product (or service) delivered and the quality of the over all experience the customer gets.
How do you improve that perceived value?
You start by giving your clients a "five star" experience instead of a "fast food" experience.
Or choose to be the "Mercedes" in your market, not the "Hyundai".
Start with this super simple step. If you want to instantly increase the perceived value in all of your services then simply tell your clients everything they are getting. (And of course deliver the quality you promise.)
After all, when it comes to your client, "their perception is reality."
It sounds too simple but it's a very important "piece of the puzzle" that will allow you to be able to charge more for your services. Think about your prospect's perception and let it influence every aspect of the way you deal with your clients.
For example, do you realize your average client doesn't know you pre-vacuum, edge vacuum, take extra care with their furnishings, wear shoe covers, pre-treat the carpet, remove spots with extra effort, deodorize, move furnishings, steam clean and groom their carpets? Your average client doesn't know a thing about your equipment, the chemistry involved in the cleaning or the training needed for you to be a really great cleaner.
Think about it, your client sees you pull up and do your job but they aren't thinking about all the different steps, chemistry, and work that is going into cleaning their carpets. Most people don't even realize the different certifications involved in learning to clean carpets properly or the value of the methods and tools you use.
So tell them about it. (And by the way, if you aren't doing at least some of those things I mentioned then you really need to bump up your quality of work and service, after all, "five star" quality gets "five star" prices.)
And how do you "tell" them about it?
Through Direct Response Marketing of course! (See Strategy #1)
Simply educate your clients and prospects about what they are getting in a very simple, detailed and interesting way. For instance you can put it into print via a little booklet you leave them. Or, "Wow" your clients with a presentation explaining what you do by using your iPad or laptop. Or, offer a booklet or video explaining what you do on your website. You can even have all the value your clients are getting printed on cards that you can hand out on every job or prospective job.
Just be sure to tell them in some form or another.
By simply" telling" and educating people about what it is you do and how you do it, you are building value and changing their perception of the overall experience you give them.
Living Up To Your Value...
Speaking of the "experience" you give your clients, take a minute and ask yourself right now "What kind of experience am I giving my clients?"
Do you do all of the different steps I listed a minute ago, or are you cutting corners?
Do you take extra time and attention to send thank you cards? Holiday cards? Do you do the courtesy of reminding people of their appointments? Do you follow up after the job with a quality check phone call? How about a nice typed or hand written "Thank You" note?
Here is something you can do to instantly raise the value of your company in the eyes of your prospects and clients. Create a Client Welcome Package. This is an easy and affordable way to instantly add to the "wow" experience people have with your company.
Your "Welcome Pack" can contain your Consumer Awareness Guide, your client reviews and testimonials, a written copy of your money-back guarantee, "before and after" shots from jobs, information about your company, a step-by-step guide of how you clean, proper "after care and maintenance" of their carpets. The list goes on and on. I even have professional cleaning clients who set up a computerized picture frame that displays everything from pictures taken on jobs, to smiling, happy customers, to members of their company, to pictures of their kids. Just make sure your Client Welcome Pack is professional and benefit oriented.
Do you see how all these little things can set you a part from the rest of your competition and help you to raise your value and your prices?
Now, if you don't have the time or money to do all or even a few of these value building gestures and if you're margins are too tight to deliver high quality of work, then you definitely need to charge more.
When you raise your prices you will average higher job tickets and you can deliver a much higher quality of work and service.
Every little gesture you make toward your client and their experience that is "above average" builds value. In fact, your client can perceive tons of value when you create a "wow" experience for them.
And that's when you can charge top dollar and have very happy, customers.
In fact, do you realize there is a correlation that people perceive between high prices and high quality? And on the flip side between low prices and low quality?
And there are plenty of people in your area who want to pay more because they feel like when they pay more they are getting the best.
Many of the users of my Rich Cleaner Systems tell me they are the highest priced carpet cleaners in their area. Yet they have no shortage of work.
A Winning Formula.
You see, when you can use Direct Response Marketing to attract the kinds of clients who value service and quality more than cheapness, you will find price is no longer an issue. (Of course, you have to hold up your end of the deal and deliver superior service and quality, that means "wowing" people.)
And do you want to know the secret of how to "stop a price shopper in their tracks"?
You raise your prices.
That’s your best filter to separate true "price" shoppers from "quality/value" shoppers.
But even quality shoppers will often start their conversation with “How much do you charge?” when they call you. That is simply because they don’t know what else to ask. Until your marketing educates people and shows them that there is so much more to cleaning carpets than low prices, then what else are they ever going to ask?
Here is how you can easily "re-direct" any conversation away from price with just 7 little words . Simply reply with this question...
"How did you hear about my company?"
There is nothing wrong with answering a question with a question. And, keep in mind a lot of people ask that "price question" simply because they don't know what else to ask you.
So when you reply with this question of your own, a couple of things happen. First, it causes a "pattern interrupt" in your prospect's mind, shifting their focus away from price. Second, it opens up the door for you to find out how they heard about you (therefore tracking your marketing sources), and lastly, it allows you to direct the focus of the conversation around the value they will receive, not just the price.
Your prospect is actually happy to have you take control of the conversation and lead them down the path to the sale. After all, you are the expert.
And remember, people love to be sold, but hate to be pressured. So keep things benefit rich and interesting for them. Help your prospects and guide them, never pressure or manipulate.
Once you've taken control of guiding the conversation, it's easy to find out what all their needs and wants are and this is your chance to build a ton of value in your service by educating them.
Then you can schedule an appointment to come out and give an exact price, my Rich Cleaners perform a Carpet Audit at this point. You can then continue to "wow" your prospects with everything you are going to deliver, that is when the investment of the cleaning becomes a moot point.
What your prospect really cares about is, "What is the quality of service?" "What is the value of what I'm getting?" "Does the quality and value justify the investment?" "What's in it for me?"
But keep in mind, when you start using Direct Response Marketing, your ads will filter out the majority of price shoppers. That's what I mean when I say people will call you pre-sorted, pre-disposed and ready-to-buy. That is the job of your marketing from this point forward. Your ads will attract quality oriented, high-end clients and usually filter out price shoppers.
Granted, there are some true-blue price shoppers out there, and some of them will still call you. So answering with a question of your own will distract them momentarily, but they will always circle back to price because cheapness is their priority. Look at those calls as an opportunity to filter out those prospects that do not fit what you are looking for in a client. Happily let them move on and call the "cheap guys" for a "cheap service". Because that's simply not you anymore. And you don't waste anymore of your valuable time trying to convince someone who is not interested into investing in quality.
Just How Scared Are You?
At this point, are you scared if you raise your prices you will lose all your clients?
I hear this from time to time. People are like "I can't do that because all my customers will leave!" "How am I gonna compete with the guys charging 1/2 or 1/3 of what I charge?"
Remember, I have taught cleaners this stuff for years and it's done nothing but make them money. So those "fears' you have about raising your prices are your own insecurities holding you back. You just need to get over them.
If you can apply just a fraction of what I've told you already, your prospects won't compare you to your competition because they are no longer comparing "apples to apples". Comparing you to your competition would be like comparing a Hyundai to a Mercedes.
And think about this, doing a 10-20% price increase is $10-$20 bucks per $100 your clients spend. It's really quite painless.
But if you need to do a 30%-50% or more increase in your prices to get profitable, there is a good chance you will lose some of your clients because up until now you've been attracting "price shoppers" whose loyalty is always to the cheapest price anyway.
If you are good at what you do and really increase the perceived value of your service I promise you will not lose all your clients. (Remember I've been doing this for a long time, long time and no one has ever lost money by raising their prices. Everyone who does this makes more money.*)
Start building relationships with your clients from this day forward that are built on value and quality not on low price.
If you use these techniques you will attract a higher paying client. And you will NOT waste your time with "price shoppers" anymore. And you will make more money. Period.
"Thanks from the bottom of my heart. You saved my life! I have changed the way I price my work and also raised prices which was a little scary, but after doing a Carpet Audit, the price was not a factor – they were happy!"
- Rob Small, Canacolour Carpet Dyeing, Canada
Now read about Strategy #3
