Chapter
Is it just textbook theory?
Can you really apply these ideas in your business?
People don’t always focus on the key
issues
How any business can improve its bottom line
The Five Ways to Grow a business
Why people fail to see the problem as a price issue
02 Why is pricing so difficult?
The importance of knowledge and training
How to avoid the impact of your bad experiences
Blindly copying the big retailers
Limited financial understanding of how profits are made
People’s desire to please, and their freedom to do so
People need to be properly motivated to change
03 The remarkable benefits of getting pricing right
Understanding what you actually charge at the moment
Increasing the headline price (but with added value)
How you can charge more when you guarantee value
Making sure your frontline people understand the profit equation
04 How most businesses price and why these methods are wrong
Cost plus pricing – the fundamental flaw
Undercutting competitors – it simply cuts your profits
Last year’s pricing plus a bit – the bit is never enough
Best guess pricing – it’s just a stab in the dark
Value to each customer – the only pricing strategy that really works
05 Understanding value versus cost
What happens when the scales don’t balance?
How to balance the scales
The dissipation of value over time
The importance of discussing value with customers
06 Packaging for higher prices
The four ways to maximize each sale
Using price to up-sell and cross-sell
Offering choices increases the value of the sale
Alternative price options affect the perception of value of all options
Setting price differentials properly
07 Customers don’t always want the cheapest
Increasing prices doesn’t automatically mean losing customers
08 Exploding all of the myths about pricing
Myth: Customers only want the cheapest
Myth: A 50 per cent off sale is a 50 per cent off sale
Myth: Presentation of the price doesn’t matter
Myth: All prices should end in a ‘9’
Myth: The best person to set the price is the salesperson
Myth: Setting prices is a once a year decision
Myth: Every customer is worth having and every sale matters
Myth: Raising prices loses customers
09 Using guarantees to get increased prices
Using guarantees to add value to your side of the Value Scales
Offering options with and without guarantees
Customers are fundamentally honest
Offering a guarantee as an extra
Who is affected by poor discounting practices
The financial dynamics of discounting
The impact of a small change in discounts
Discounting prices to win customers is a myth
The top four reasons people discount
When discounting is right
11 Presenting the price properly
The impact of the price ticket
The significance of clarity
The importance of the actual numbers
Presentation of price on bundled items
When to reveal your prices
The advantages of moving customers to alternative options
The critical issues to know
Setting extreme prices to make other offers seem comparatively attractive
13 Dealing with the human factor
Most people running a business are untrained for that role
Don’t be afraid to get external input
The key people in the profit equation
Handling your team’s need to please customers
Helping your team focus on profit
Dealing with the human factor in your customers
14 Getting financial clarity
You need to know the numbers
Not all customers make you money
Steps in the profit calculation
Have a vision for the future
Build your team and allocate resources
Two questions, with answers
16 The final word on pricing for profit