“Cheap belongs scrawled in Sharpie on the walls of bathroom stalls, not in your business plan. Value? That’s a mainstay.” ~ Erika Napoletano
Finding the true value of what you do.
Recently, we developed a “Pitch Book” product for our TFG sales force to offer: a tangible piece to serve as a conversation starter with customers and prospects. (Agencies “pitch” clients all the time and, in most cases, take in – or leave behind – materials which illustrate their value and/or successful past efforts.) The goal being to validate that they are who they say they are, as well as help forward their story.
Our goal, however, was a bit different: put together a creatively-designed, large format/small quantity piece as a thought-starter that our customers and prospects could use to promote themselves. Challenge them to think about creating unique tools to better their business. Their personalized printed presentation piece (Pitch Book) could be used to sell a new service, demonstrate a new product or introduce themselves to a new audience or market.
Hypothetically speaking… Wa-Wa World is in the business of building wonderful water widgets for commercial companies. Their sales force has been challenged to go forth and cultivate new client relationships. So what kind of a personalized Pitch Book couldthey take out to each prospect? Something that showcases not only previous Wa-Wa projects (with pretty pictures) but also demonstrates the process that Wa-Wa goes through, from design to concrete – along with factors that truly set them apart from their competition. Then, at the end of the sales call, the aforementioned spiffy-looking personalized printed pitch piece is left behind (with Wa-Wa’s contact info on it). That way, it lives on in the prospect’s office, hopefully to grow legs and end up somewhere else. Think of it like an impressive coffee table book that sells. Now is that cool or what?
There ain’t much value in thinking cheap.
So how the heck do we price our new Pitch Book product? This is the age-old challenge of “cost” vs.“value.” Many of us fall into the trap of “cost-based pricing” and lose sight of where the true value lies in what we do and/or the things we provide.
Take my earlier Wa-Wa hypothetical. Now, we could probably sell that personalized printed pitch piece to them for 75 or 100 bucks (and make a “fair” profit). Or, we could dig deeper to understand what its true value actually is.
If Wa-Wa’s personalized Pitch Book allows them to boost their close ratio by 50%, and their average sale is $50,000 and they make 10 calls a month, well…you can do the math. Translation: HUGE growth opportunity for them. H-U-G-E.
Knowing that – and understanding the true “value” of our Pitch Book idea – we could comfortably charge $750 to $1,000 EACH (and still be “cheap” in the grand scheme of Wa-Wa’s sales process). Know your worth.
Ideas have value. People have value. So instead of being blindly driven by cost, challenge yourself to not only understand but define your value. Not only will you have the opportunity for sales (and profit) growth, but your customers will also be more successful – thanks to your efforts. Want to pitch ’em something they won’t want to pitch out? Intrigued by TFG’s “Pitch Book” idea? Think something like that could work for your business? Give us a call and we’d be happy to show you how.
