#024: Should You Put Pricing on Your Website?

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Transcript

Speaker 3 0:05

Should you put pricing on your website? If you've debated whether to make pricing publicly available on your website, you are not alone. This is particularly daunting of a question for businesses with complex pricing structures, but here's the truth, most B2B and B2C buyers aim to be at least 70% confident in their buying decision before they pick up the phone or inquire on your website. This means that when we require them to call for an estimate, it's likely to lead to frustration and they'll likely look for their answers elsewhere. Let's dive deeper into why posting pricing online, even if complex can be a game changer in how to do it effectively. First, common objections to putting pricing on the website. Commoditization. Some business owners don't publish pricing because they want customers and competitors to see them as a brand, not a commodity, but let's think like your customer. If your customer needs a toilet or replaced taxes, submitted cremation, service, accomplished HVAC installed, or insurance for their business, do they see the product or service as a commodity, something that anyone can do or highly specialized. If they see it as a commodity, but you treat pricing as highly specialized, it easily comes across as either one. You don't have enough experience to know ballpark pricing, or two, you're trying to complicate it to take advantage of the customer. What many forget is a brand can sell commodities. Commodities are easy for the customer to understand and purchase bond with the customer before they need what you offer. Then make your offering as simple as possible. Next, objection, complexity. Another reason business owners don't publish pricing is they feel it's too complex. Our pricing is too complicated, and we want our sales reps to educate or sell them on why we're the best to provide context or justification. But customers want to self-qualify, make a quick decision, and move on. By withholding pricing from them, you create a lack of transparency and distrust with your customers. So if you have complex pricing, what's the remedy? Simplify if you can estimate. If you can't. Let me share a real life example of simplification. My wife and I interviewed a contractor for our interior design business. One contractor, Carlos, noticed that all master bathrooms have the same primary cost levers. There's the vanity, the shower, the toilet, the light fixture, and the tile. He then changed his pricing model from hourly to flat rate based on the room offering an allowance for higher end finishes. Example, he charges the same price for all master bathroom remodels regardless of size. Did he lose some projects? Of course. Did he lose money on some projects? Occasionally. However, the simplicity in pricing matched how customers wanted to buy and built trust that the rest of the project would run as simply as his pricing. Carlos now has a wait list, the length of my arm. he has consistent contractors and hundreds of five star reviews. Which for contractors is saying something. He made things simple for his customers and they rewarded him for it. So again, simplify if you can, estimate. If you can't, if there's simply no way that you can simplify, you can build trust and convey goodwill by giving them a ballpark price. To do this, start by identifying the primary and secondary levers of your pricing. A primary lever is the major factors that influence pricing and are usually non-negotiable for customers. For example, the model of a car would be a primary lever. Secondary levers are factors with less of an impact on pricing, but still some. This could be the trim level in the car example, they're important, but typically secondary to the model. Once you've identified your pricing levers, rewrite them in the language of your customer. Here are three examples that I've helped clients with. B2B office furniture, their primary levers. How many cubicles do you need? How many conference rooms? How many private offices? What does that look like in the customer's language? Roughly how many employees do you have? It's as simple as that. Your secondary lovers quality of materials and custom colors. How do we rephrase that in the customer's language? Does soundproof cubicles or long lasting chairs matter to you? Do you want the colors to match your branding? What about for a residential septic company? Their primary levers are often, how many occupants in this house? How much water do you typically use in a given week? Now, how can we phrase that into questions that homeowners would easily know? Start out with how many bedrooms is your house, and number two, is your ground more sandy or clay-like? What about for a residential septic company? Some of the primary cost levers tend to be occupants, water usage and soil type. So how do we rephrase those in the customer's language? We could ask, how many bedrooms do you have? We could ask, is your ground more sandy or clay-like again, using. Questions in terms that the customer would be very familiar with. What about secondary levers, tank material, durability in the customer's language that could be reframed as do you plan on being in your home for a long period of time. Last example, for a funeral home, the primary levers are oftentimes internment versus cremation. It could be plot or mausoleum versus urn or scattering of ashes. What about a reception or a service? Now, those are common terms that most people are pretty familiar with, but then the secondary levers tend to be things like memorial package, flowers and decor, et cetera. And to put that in the customer's language, you could say, would you like Books, folders, DVD, flowers, decor, et cetera. Now, there's an additional reason that this is incredibly beneficial to help you communicate this on your website and across your company. Let's start by playing out what an inbound phone call could look like based on these bits of information. The customer says, hi. I'm wondering how much a new septic system costs. Instead of deflecting the call taker says, hi, I've seen them cost anywhere from$10,000 to$40,000. Do you mind if I ask a few questions to help narrow down for you? Notice how we're answering their question as best we can while offering to help them narrow the range so the customer then says, sure. Call taker asks, how many bedrooms do you have? Customer responds with, five call taker says, great. Do you plan to be in the home for a long period of time or more short? They respond, I'm about to move, and the inspector failed my septic system. Now, quick side note. Now we can assume they're looking for the lowest cost option. The call taker then replies, okay. If you have done some digging in your yard, have you found the ground to be more sandy or clay-like the customer replies? I'm not sure. Maybe clay sidebar. Now the customer realizes that they might be wrong on a vital piece of information. This will encourage patience if the price changes based on their error. Call taker then concludes with no worries. The state requires a soy sample to verify. Anyway, I'm just trying to give you a ballpark. I'd estimate. A new septic system for your home will cost between$15,000$25,000 to, depending on implications of your soil type. Would you like me to get a soil sample scheduled for you so we can further narrow down your estimate? This range not only accounts for the results of the soil sample, but also includes the most basic to the most premium add-ons from the secondary levers. Notice you don't need to be narrow in your estimate, just narrow enough to convey transparency and is desire to help them make the right decision for themselves, both of which help your brand. Once you know your levers and script, you can create a pricing video and or pricing calculator on your website. Let's start with pricing videos. Keep these short like five to seven minutes max. A pricing video should cover your primary levers and common secondary levers with a goal of helping customers understand a general price range. This should also help them feel more equipped to make a buying decision. Next is pricing calculators. A calculator allows customers to plug in primary lever inputs and receive an estimate. Benefits of transparent pricing first. Brand alignment when your website videos, calculators, and sales team all share the same message and pricing. Customers are more confident in your brand. Next optimized messaging. With consistent messaging across touchpoints, your business becomes less dependent on the skills and knowledge of individual employees. Number three, better leads. By providing answers, especially pricing upfront. Customers who cannot afford you won't waste your team's time. And lastly, pre-sold customers. When customers feel informed and empowered, they'll be more comfortable reaching out and buying as they'll feel less risk of being taken advantage of.