If your competitor is charging X amount dollars, I am going to charge X minus $1, and itâll outprice him. Can you only compete based on price?
It’s not uncommon for the SEO services industry to undercut one another by getting multiple quotations from other SEO companies and said: say, this is what your competitors are charging, you’ll need to match their price, or we won’t purchase from you.
Warren Buffet, the wealthiest man in the world states that he invests in business that don’t compete in price.
Instead of competing over price, you should be looking at how you can position yourself better in your market.
Secondly, if you are constantly giving out discounts, your profit margin goes down. If you’re constantly blowing your credit card bill on entertainment expenses, your profit margin goes down.
You’re not really a competitive business. You’re only getting sales because you’re giving your clients cashback benefits.
You never bothered to craft out a unique selling proposition for your company and products.
Through my days as an SEO consultant, I have never once offered kickbacks or took in clients that used my competitor’s prices as a manner of negotiating the price of my services.
You got to be able to craft out a unique selling proposition for your company and products.
How to Craft out a Unique Selling Proposition
They are so many ways you can stand out in your business. The opposite of laziness is excellence. If you’re not putting in the time to figure this out, you’re merely being lazy:
- Have you identified your customer’s hopes, dreams and fear?
- Is your copy selling on benefits or features?
- Is your business standing out in a crowded niche?
How to Stand Out with a Brand
Have you ever wondered why people pay million of dollars for a Ferrari or queue up for days outside an iPhone store?
That’s right, brand equity. You can define brand equity in many ways, however, I define brand equity by the ability to position your product or service preeminently in any marketplace.
This is your competitive advantage. This is why you are able to charge a premium on your services. This is what keeps you away from competing on PRICE.
This is why the same cup of Starbucks if sold separately in another cup without its logo, isn’t going to sell for a premium.
This is why a car, with the same specs and price without the branding of a Ferrari, will never sell for its the same price.
Check out this short clip from The Founder, based on a true story.
Brand equity is going to largely determine the LONG TERM VALUE of ANY COMPANY.
The Wrong Customers: Customers That’ll Never Buy from You
‘Marcus, I’ll start an SEO campaign with you soon/ next week/ next month’, can you draft out a proposal?
I’ve drafted out proposals, attended meetings and had no sales after hours/ days invested into a potential project.
Customer: ‘Why is your quote 1500 when others are 1200?’
In fact, I hate customers like that. The first thing they look for in a service is price. Not value. Yet, these are the very people that are willing to spend half a million on luxury cars, as opposed to a Toyota.
There are going to be customers that compare your quotation with other quotations. There’s nothing wrong with comparing quotations. However, it’s stupid to compare quotations without asking: why is your service more expensive than others?
‘Marcus, they are charging only $500 a month, I can’t buy from you because yours is more than his.’
You got to understand that not every lead that comes through is going to be a potential customer. However, you waste hours and hours preparing, investing, psychologically, in time and effort for the potential project.
If you’re like me, you don’t like wasting time and you don’t like false hopes. You also don’t like to chase customers, making yourself seem like a hard sell.
Conclusion
If you’re still chasing after the sale after drafting out a proposal more than a week in… then it’s more or less likely he won’t purchase from you within that period of time. In my experience, the majority of sales are closed within a couple of days of negotiation.
This is why being discerning can help with pricing your products. Not everyone is going to be your customer.
