Q. Have you found a way to charge different prices to different buyers?

A. I always try to have different pricing levels for my products, which really can increase your response and conversion rate. Especially when your products/services are priced higher than normal. We have to realize that there are people who’ll need each and every service you include in that “premium” product, but that there are others who may not want to pay your premium price just to acquire or use a product or service that they’d only have use for PART of.

Because a lot of the times, it’s not about whether or not your prospect has the money for what you’re offering. It’s about whether or not they feel that the price they’re paying justifies how many of the “pieces” of your product they’ll actually use.

I’m not sure I explained that well, so let me give an example.

Say, your new product will sell for $200 and include phone consulting, a manual, and a 6-month website membership. Instead of making this the only package you offer, you can often increase your profit and conversion by offering several “pieces” of that same package separately, for a lower price:

PACKAGE #2 ($75):

  • the manual

PACKAGE #1 ($150):

  • phone consulting
  • the manual

PACKAGE #3 ($200):

  • * phone consulting
  • * the manual
  • * the 6-month membership

The same is true if you begin with a product that’s only $50.

I think people should introduce “premium” packages into their pricing strategy to take advantage of that extra income. Like offering a “Silver” or “Gold” upgrade offer that both cost more than the original $50 “Basic” offer.

This almost always increases profit, as you’re able to break down the barriers of a lot more prospects (and even increase customer retention) by offering solutions that *more closely* match their needs.

This has proven very effective for me.

Q. What discounting tactics have you found to work?

A. Actually, stating both the percentage and the dollar amount of a discount has worked well for me. It’s almost as if one strengthens the other, and increases the overall “weight” of the discount. But it also depends on the price of the product.

If you’re offering a 15% discount, and 15% off of the price of your product is only $5, you obviously want to go with stating the percentage of discount — not the dollar amount!

But if your product costs $200, it would probably be smarter to say that the customer is saving “$30.00”, instead of that they’re saving “a mere” 15%.

It’s all about how your discount is *perceived*. You always want to use the method that makes your discount seem the largest. Along the lines of that, I also use the decimal and “cents” when I’m referencing the dollar amount of a discount, to make the discount amount seem more substantial.

Ex: “$45.00 off” as opposed to “$45 off”.

Pricing structure for new products
Pricing structure for new products

Q. Any other pricing psychology insights?

A. In one of my articles, The “Everyday” Pricing LIE That’s Killing YOUR Cash Flow {http://HarmonyMajor.com/articles/common-pricing-lie.shtml), I say that you should listen more to what your prospects/customers are saying with their wallets than to what they’re saying with their mouths.

Because what they SAY they want (or will do) and what they actually DO are often two very different animals!

For instance, the ones who are willing — and *will REMAIN* willing — to pay premium prices for a product usually just BUY it.

No complaints.

No haggling.

Silence.

You never hear from them.

It’s the freebie seekers and bargain hunters who try to get you to lower your price — prospects who think of a product in terms of literal price, and have a hard time viewing it in terms of its VALUE or WORTH.

And even on the off chance that they’re NOT freebie seekers or bargain hunters, they’re still obviously not your target audience.

This is VERY important to remember.

Also remember that if you agree to discount your price for a prospect who feels that it’s too high, this prospect will likely feel that you’re setting the precedent that you’ll continue to do this for them in the future.

So every time you release a new product, they’ll feel like they can come to you, complain (or haggle) again, and that you’ll lower the price for them each and every time!

And is this truly what you want?

Remember, product pricing is about more than the literal price. It’s also about the perception you’re creating of yourself and your products. It’s about the image you’re projecting. Your pricing structure is a big part of that image.

And I’d rather be the “Neiman Marcus” of my field, than the Walmart.

What about you?