Ever wondered how to hit that pricing sweet spot where your digital or cleaning services are irresistible to your ideal customer? In our latest episode, we pull back the curtain on market research and pricing strategies that cater to various customer profiles and their unique willingness to pay. We're laying out the blueprint for competitive pricing, discussing the ins and outs of a "convenience tax," and sharing insights into why customers happily open their wallets for services that simplify their busy lives. With our personal experiences in tow, we reveal how you can set prices that not only reflect your work's value but also the sheer convenience you're offering, especially with perks like online booking and payment options.
Navigating the tricky waters of customer pushback on prices can be tough, but we're here to guide you through it. In this heart-to-heart session, we confront the challenges of staying firm on your pricing strategy and the importance of valuing the exceptional service you provide. Quality speaks volumes and will always find its audience—this is the mantra we preach, live by, and want you to embrace. Whether you're serving a time-strapped mom or a digital-savvy millennial, we share our own stories of maintaining pricing integrity and tailoring our business models to fit the needs of our diverse clientele. So, get ready for a journey through the fundamental business decisions that could be game changers for your entrepreneurial aspirations.
Ever wondered how to hit that pricing sweet spot where your digital or cleaning services are irresistible to your ideal customer? In our latest episode, we pull back the curtain on market research and pricing strategies that cater to various customer profiles and their unique willingness to pay. We're laying out the blueprint for competitive pricing, discussing the ins and outs of a "convenience tax," and sharing insights into why customers happily open their wallets for services that simplify their busy lives. With our personal experiences in tow, we reveal how you can set prices that not only reflect your work's value but also the sheer convenience you're offering, especially with perks like online booking and payment options.
Navigating the tricky waters of customer pushback on prices can be tough, but we're here to guide you through it. In this heart-to-heart session, we confront the challenges of staying firm on your pricing strategy and the importance of valuing the exceptional service you provide. Quality speaks volumes and will always find its audience—this is the mantra we preach, live by, and want you to embrace. Whether you're serving a time-strapped mom or a digital-savvy millennial, we share our own stories of maintaining pricing integrity and tailoring our business models to fit the needs of our diverse clientele. So, get ready for a journey through the fundamental business decisions that could be game changers for your entrepreneurial aspirations.
Podcast Sponsor: If you are interested in a spot shoot us an email at info@thehartrimony.com
Speaker 1:
What type of market do you want to service? So when we first started with our digital products and services, I didn't know it's a price, because there's such a huge range of what you can offer someone, whether it's a $5 product or a $5,000 or a $10,000, I've seen as much as $25,000, $50,000 products and services that people offer. So knowing what type of market you actually want to serve is going to be important, because I know the person that may be willing to spend $5,000, $10,000, $15,000, may not be the same person that's willing to spend $5,000, $10,000, $15,000, $20,000. They are completely different, absolutely. Or even $5,000 to $1,000, they might be different people. So knowing what part of the market you want to service. So when we first started, I would talk about the digital side of things. You want to stay with the cleaning business side.
Speaker 2:
You could do both, okay.
Speaker 1:
I'll start with the digital side of things. I know when we first started, I just went off of what other people were doing. So when you talk about market research especially for the cleaning business, things like what are other people in your market charging based off of what services you want to provide so I said, okay, I'm going to start with everybody else started. And then I realized that that might not be ideal because I might need more volume to get to the goals that I want to get to. But then also it was like, okay, if I provide this, this and this, can I charge this or that. So market research is a great place to start. What are your competitors charging? Or your market, what's the average price of what people are charging? But then also deciding where you want your business to be, ideally for your lifestyle too.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, and I think that also. I think it was important when you said the market that you want to do, because even when we started on this business, we're like our market is probably for a busy mom. Our market is probably for a younger clientele that can just utilize online, feel comfortable giving their car, that type of stuff Not to say that we won't go into an older person's home, but that's probably not our target market, right? That's probably not what we want to be doing. Spending 20 minutes on the phone just explaining every single thing which I've done multiple times for a sale, but that's not really our market.
Speaker 2:
But I think you find out necessarily your market when you're in it, especially at the beginning. You just want it all. Right, you want all. You're like I just want to get some money, I want all. So you may not have a specific target depending on what you're selling. Obviously I understand it depending on what you're selling, but the pricing pressures and the questions that come up around that will continue to talk more about that. But I just wanted to speak that overview of the market research. I'm like all of these companies do it. This is how Amazon finds out okay, we can add an extra $4 because it's getting delivered to their home and so on and so forth. If you ever look at the pricing at Amazon versus a target or something else, it's way more expensive generally. Generally it's more expensive, but it's more convenient. Right, you don't have to go to the store. You don't have to go and get it. It can come to you between 10 am and two am.
Speaker 1:
And the other thing, too, is that people will pay for that convenience. So there is a hidden tax of convenience that we don't even think about that we use every single day, like your hairdresser, is a perfect example of that.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, coming to me, having to come to me.
Speaker 1:
If I can sit in my house and you do my hair, I'm going to like. When we were in New York, our barber used to come to our house and it was super convenient. I don't have to send a shop on a Saturday, I don't have to be there for five, six hours. I can sit here in my room. I can sit here in my home. I can watch my TV, I can eat my dinner I wasn't eating my dinner but people will pay that hidden tax for convenience, whether you know it or not. So are you making it more convenient for your clients, for your customers, to get your services? Are you offering more than a competitor? So when you're doing your market research, deciding okay, I know that some clients don't want to talk to me on the phone having the ability to book me online, pay me online, that's a hidden tax of convenience that people will happily pay for knowing that you will be able to provide the service that they are wanting. So those are some things that I would also add to that.
Speaker 2:
So, along the lines with pricing, I think that we also get stuck and this is speaking from experience, it's speaking from our students- Hold on.
Speaker 1:
so about you here, right quick, how much more do they charge? Do you know how much more they charge versus being at home versus in the store?
Speaker 2:
Our travel fee. I think it's gone up, so I think it's about an additional 100 to come here versus going to the salon.
Speaker 1:
So can you break I actually want to get the timing on that so you drive into the salon you drive home, that would be a total of an hour for me. So that's an hour of you driving to the salon, you driving home and then you're probably are you more comfortable in your own house, home?
Speaker 2:
Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 1:
You could get up, you go to your own bathroom. So you're paying for that convenience fee, no more. You're paying for your time.
Speaker 2:
You got your time back, yeah, so you got about an hour back of your day, so let's say you're and the way that they have to do it is she drives way further actually to get to me from where she lives.
Speaker 1:
Hold on, let's not say too much, just in case she want to raise her prices on you.
Speaker 2:
But I mean, people raise prices. I either got to pay it or I say no, that's kind of. But when you think about that convenience, fee.
Speaker 1:
Those are things that you have to think about as well. It's like you're getting Like the convenience is also you getting your time back. Anything convenient is more money Instacart. Instacart is a perfect example of they have a yearly fee and they tell you how much time you're saving by not going up the grocery aisles. Why not asking questions? Why not leaving your house? You got to get the cart, you got to put it in a car, you got to drive home. So these are the hidden taxes and luxuries that people will happily pay for for your products and services. You just got to be comfortable putting it out there.
Speaker 2:
So another thing that comes up that I see with our students is people get like so stuck on the pricing part. They're like well people and so easily swayed right. So they're like some clients have said that I'm too expensive, shall I lower my price. And I'm like you just got in the business a week ago Like anybody is going to say your price is too low. It can be $70 for a clean. Someone's going to complain that that's too high regardless. So I think with that pricing, precious being able to stick by your pricing.
Speaker 2:
As you know, I've done my research. I have all these other things behind as to why I'm priced this way and can you explain that to someone as well, if needed, right. So for us, when it comes to clients and our cleaning business owners, we tell them you know. If you need to, you can say you know, we background check everyone, we make sure that they're paid fairly. We have a guarantee, if there's an issue, that we will come back out. So kind of explaining why you may be priced a bit higher than others. Now some people may say, well, you're still too high and move on. Being able to accept that is important as well. But standing by your price, I think it's just as important and not being able to easily sway. Now you can change pricing at any point, but I find that we, as students and new entrepreneurs, just get so stuck on that and it's like there's no, there's no reason to like. You have to test it, you have to see how it's going to work out for your market, for your clientele, so on and so forth.
Speaker 1:
I remember, with the digital side of things, this guy was like can you lower your prices? Your price is too high. I responded to his email. Actually, I'm raising the price as we speak and you got to be OK with that. Like you said, you got to stick by your prices.
Speaker 1:
And be client isn't for you, you know what you're offering, you know what you're not offering, you know who you're for versus who you're not for. So my response to you saying telling you to lower your prices, I don't need your services, I don't need you to dictate how I'm running my business, because if you were running your business, I'm not going to tell you.
Speaker 2:
Absolutely not.
Speaker 1:
To lower your prices. Your prices are too high, Absolutely not. I'm just going to say, you know what you may not be for me, and I'm going to go to the next direction. I'm going to go to the next, you know. Offerer of that service.
Speaker 2:
And it's always I mean, I think, when I think of the digital side and and even just in the cleaning business always feels like the audacity of people to tell me what my price should be, what I feel is worth, what is not. Like I said, like he said, I won't tell anybody that I just won't purchase, and that's fine, unless you ask my feedback, maybe. But other than that, just moving along, there's no reason to be like, oh, you can't charge that because someone else will pay for it. And that's another reason why I'm saying don't be so quick to sway when someone says, oh, it's too high, because there is some someone else that will pay those prices and be OK with it.
Speaker 2:
Thank you for tapping in with us again. As you know, we always ask if you guys can, please, please, go ahead and leave us five star review. Go ahead and write something. If you're enjoying what we speak about, if you listen to us week to week, please be sure to let us know. That helps us to continue to grow and for other people to listen to our show as well.
