An Answer to a Pricing Question

An Answer to a Pricing Question

I joined a networking group called Alignable. It hooks up over 200,000 local businesses in communities around the country. Members write in and ask a specific question. One member asked a question about pricing his dog walking service called “Premium Dog Walking Service

So I said, what the heck and answered the question. I received the following note from the head of Alignable and wanted to share it with you as well as my answer to the question.

 Joanna Mastrocola Oct 27

Hi Fred,

You gave a really awesome answer on a recent question. To increase your national exposure, I added this as its own blog post. You can find it here.

I will reach out in the coming weeks with an official publish date. Thanks for participating and providing such great advice.

Cheers!

Jo

Posted By

Fred Kaplowitz from The Kaploe Marketing Group
Ellicott City, MD

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How Do You Properly Set Your Prices?

My Answer

When pricing services, it can be easy to set a high price and forget about it. But if you want to charge premium prices, you need to make sure your target market will respond.

If your product or service is truly “premium” and you are targeting the higher end of the market (i.e. “more affluent, doggie parents”) then your price should reflect your premium service, what you do that your competition doesn’t (that is, what makes your service authentically premium?) and what kind of emotional attachment have you made with these doggie parents or cat parents…and can you prove it?

Prove the hypothesis and the higher price you charge, more than your competition, will be credible, authentic and people will pay it.

On the other hand if you just have “premium” in your name and don’t live up to it then you are a commodity and will be in race to the bottom with competitors whose only known strategy is discounting, couponing, and price cutting.

And finally, pricing is a strategy and should reflect your product or service visions and passion. The actual pricing, thus becomes merely a tactic to support your strategy

If you are really “premium”, do you have premium type people/affluent types of “doggie parents” willing to say they wouldn’t trust their beloved “Muffy the poodle” to anyone else but you, both in a Youtube video and in print with their photos? How many do you have?

But seriously, answer the questions first, WHAT MAKES YOUR SERVICE PREMIUM?

And if you’re not, then what can you do to live up to your name?

Hope this helps

Regards,

Fred Kaplowitz