Waikato Business News February/March 2018
Waikato Business News has for a quarter of a century been the voice of the region’s business community, a business community with a very real commitment to innovation and an ethos of co-operation.
Waikato Business News has for a quarter of a century been the voice of the region’s business community, a business community with a very real commitment to innovation and an ethos of co-operation.
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WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS <strong>February</strong>/<strong>March</strong> <strong>2018</strong><br />
29<br />
Take your pound of flesh<br />
Do you feel like you’re letting your clients<br />
take more from you than is genuinely fair<br />
payment? What does your pricing say<br />
about your brand?<br />
Where you position<br />
your brand on the<br />
pricing scale can<br />
have long-term consequences<br />
on your marketing, on how you<br />
approach your different target<br />
audiences and on how you talk<br />
about your business.<br />
Whatever the business reasons<br />
behind it, a radical change<br />
in where you have placed<br />
yourself along that scale can<br />
be damaging to your brand’s<br />
credibility unless it’s handled<br />
with care.<br />
Discounting is not<br />
necessarily inevitable<br />
in all sectors but it<br />
feels like you have<br />
to be pretty strong<br />
willed not to give in<br />
to the temptation.<br />
For those of us starting out<br />
in business, or introducing new<br />
aspects to our offer, ensuring<br />
that pricing doesn’t damage<br />
our brand is a real challenge.<br />
Working out how much to<br />
estimate for any project was always<br />
the hardest part of being<br />
an account manager in a creative<br />
agency and now, working<br />
out where to set my own<br />
fees for my clients, it certainly<br />
hasn’t got any easier.<br />
Set my pricing too high and<br />
I count myself out of contention.<br />
Set my prices too low and<br />
I’m not only underselling myself<br />
but also undervaluing the<br />
expertise of all of us who offer<br />
similar expertise and services.<br />
A few years ago, I think at<br />
the beginning of the GFC, I<br />
listened to a client bemoaning<br />
the actions of a competitor who<br />
had completely revised their<br />
fee structure to be about 60<br />
percent of their industry norm.<br />
As a consultant, his services<br />
were, on paper, very similar to<br />
my client’s and his credentials<br />
were pretty much comparable.<br />
The competitor did well<br />
from the change in the early<br />
days, but the tactic wasn’t<br />
without issues. Although he<br />
did not operate in a way where<br />
he cut corners, the cheaper<br />
pricing made his clients worry<br />
that, when a project didn’t go<br />
100 percent perfectly, perhaps<br />
he had actually cut corners. He<br />
also found it harder to secure<br />
high calibre contracts as the<br />
pricing created a perception<br />
that he may not have the capabilities<br />
needed.<br />
But not everyone who looks<br />
into buying your products or<br />
commissions your work is able<br />
to make experienced judgements.<br />
If your client has never<br />
purchased the products or services<br />
you offer before, it can<br />
be hard for both sides to know<br />
what’s fair and reasonable.<br />
I recall shopping in the<br />
local Big Fresh in Johnsonville<br />
when I first came to live<br />
in New Zealand. There was a<br />
smattering of familiar brands<br />
I recognised from the UK but,<br />
with many that were new to<br />
me, I had to re-train myself in<br />
the noble art of grocery shopping.<br />
So, I made a conscious<br />
decision to start at the cheapest<br />
and work my way up until I<br />
found the one I liked.<br />
I started off being relatively<br />
brand agnostic but, like many<br />
of us, I soon developed a pattern<br />
of favourites and go-to<br />
brands that won my trust.<br />
The same was true with<br />
things like clothing, household<br />
goods and homewares.<br />
At first, all I had to go on was<br />
price and the way the brands<br />
presented themselves to me in<br />
store, barely influenced by advertising<br />
or experience. Looking<br />
back, I can’t quite decide<br />
whether to reconcile those experiences<br />
as confusing or liberating,<br />
but I’m thinking it was<br />
probably the latter.<br />
There are plenty of us that<br />
appreciate a good deal. But<br />
the impact of taking a risk on<br />
a bargain basement product or<br />
service varies depending not<br />
only on your personal finances,<br />
but the wider consequences of<br />
making a costly mistake. If we<br />
buy cheap items prepared for<br />
the fact they may not last as<br />
long as their more expensive<br />
alternatives, we’re fine with<br />
that. But if a product fails to<br />
live up to the expectations it<br />
set for itself, the likelihood of<br />
us engaging further with that<br />
brand are diminished.<br />
In the retail arena, continuous<br />
offers are now the<br />
norm. When did you last walk<br />
through a mall and not see at<br />
least half a dozen sale signs?<br />
TELLING YOUR STORY<br />
> BY VICKI JONES<br />
Vicki Jones is director of Dugmore Jones, Hamilton-based marketing<br />
management consultancy. Email vicki@dugmorejones.co.nz<br />
Discounting is not necessarily<br />
inevitable in all sectors<br />
but it feels like you have to be<br />
pretty strong willed not to give<br />
in to the temptation.<br />
For those of us who charge<br />
for our time, do you discount<br />
to win a new client? Or reward<br />
them later down the line for<br />
their loyalty? Or never at all,<br />
because that’s the cost, take it<br />
or leave it.<br />
I suspect there is no silver<br />
bullet to resolve this issue and<br />
it will be a perpetual dilemma.<br />
But at least we’re all in the<br />
same boat, hoping we never<br />
have to sell part of ourselves<br />
to seal a deal and that fair play<br />
will always win out.<br />
GRAND OPENING<br />
Mike (Coxy) and Leanne Cox -Directors. Auto Super Shoppe Hamilton Central<br />
90 Tristram Street Hamilton Central<br />
NOW OPEN IN TWO LOCATIONS<br />
AUTO SUPER SHOPPE HAMILTON CENTRAL<br />
Book Online:<br />
www.hamiltonautocentral.co.nz<br />
Auto Super Shoppe Hamilton Central<br />
90 Tristram Street<br />
Hamilton Central<br />
(07) 838 1440<br />
Hamilton Automotive Repairs<br />
82 Killarney Road<br />
Frankton<br />
(07) 847 1865<br />
www.hamiltonautocentral.co.nz