Help! How Do I
Tell Them How Much It Costs?
By Mila Sidman
Introducing price into your sales copy can feel uncomfortable. If you have a
high priced item or service you may feel like the asking price is a turn off and
you’ll lose customers. Here are a few tips to help you state your asking price
in a manner that feels comfortable to you and more importantly comfortable to
your prospect.
#1 State your price in terms that make it feel small. A common strategy since
the takeover of Starbucks is to compare the price of your product to a cup of
coffee. “For less than a cup of coffee a day you can have….” This is a good
example of the strategy but please avoid this particular example, it’s
overused.
I recently read an ad for a personal running coach and she advertised her
program as costing $365 for a year of coaching. I immediately thought, that’s
not bad, that’s $1.00 a day but I bet many people completely missed that and
simply thought, $365 was too much money. If she’d stated it in those terms,
she might have converted more prospects.
#2 Value the parts. If you’re selling an online course for $500 that original
price might seem a bit steep to some readers. However, if you break it down and
tell them that they’re getting two DVDs valued at $100 each, a workbook valued
at $150, website access and a membership forum worth $200 and monthly telephone
calls with you for the next 3 months worth $500, then the total value is
significantly more than the asking price and your prospect doesn’t feel so bad
about spending $500 for the course.
#3 Show the value in comparison to the price. Or stated more simply, would you
pay $100 for a product that will generate thousands in profits? Show your
reader the monetary or time saving value of your product or service if it is
applicable. Time is worth money to many and they’ll willingly pay your asking
price if you demonstrate that the time they save will be worth the cost.
#4 If you are offering a high priced item, offer your prospect the ability to
spread out their payments. The commercial hype version might look like this,
“10 easy payments of $15.96 and you too can have glutes of steel.”
Of course they might also add that for less than a cup of coffee a day…You can
easily make this strategy work for you, and with less hype. One common practice
is to make it an option for your buyers. They can buy it in one lump sum or
they can choose the payment option.
#5 Add a component that your customer is unable to value. One common pricing
strategy, particularly in information marketing, is to add a CDROM, workbook, or
other item to their book in order to ask a high price. The reasoning is that a
CDROM is difficult to value. In the store they can cost anywhere from ten
dollars to several hundred. This makes your package more than ‘just a book’ and
helps your reader justify the expense.
The trick is to introduce your price and call
to action in a way that doesn't feel hyped up but actually offers value to the
customer. Don't be afraid to sell and introduce your price in a confident
manner.
Also, I have a little secret to share with
you... If you want to learn to write good sales copy that doesn't feel or sound
hypey yet produces excellent results, I recommend Maria Veloso's Web Copywriting
University course. This lady has influenced my writing style greatly and she's
also extremely nice and helpful. In summary, her course rocks - Go to
http://www.webcopywritingschool.com for more info.
Mila
Sidman is the owner and editor of the popular website Internet Based Moms. She's
a copywriter, marketer and mom with a passion for helping women succeed in
business.