How often have you told a provider they are priced higher than their competition, only to be told they “provide more value?” If they’re pressed, they’ll provide a list of features that make their product cost more – and most of them are worthless.
Value-based pricing is a great economic concept – if I can solve a problem for you, then we can both share in the money saved by solving the problem. But if there are plenty of companies that can all solve the problem for you equally well, it’s still a question of cost. You can’t justify charging more unless you can solve the problem better, or you can solve other problems. Unfortunately, this concept seems to have escaped many companies.
That’s not to say there aren’t honest companies out there selling on value. A Mercedes is not a Mitsubishi, even if they can both get you to work (most of the time). Here are a few signs that a company is providing more value than their competitors.
They can articulate an added benefit you care about – If a company claims they provide more value, they should be able to tell you what that value is. If they provide a list of “features” instead, that’s your first warning that value is just a sales tactic.
They can talk in terms of money – If a company can’t explain how their benefit leads to higher revenues or profits, they probably aren’t going to help you achieve higher revenues or profits. In many cases, a higher value product or service lowers costs elsewhere. If a company can’t explain how they are going to help you achieve better results in a way that makes sense to you, it’s not your lack of subject matter expertise, it’s their product’s lack of value.
They can back up their superiority – Some providers don’t claim an added benefit – they just claim to do their job better. If they claim to provide better service or better results, they should back that up with something. How are they reviewed? What do their references say? Can they provide a host of references, or only two or three? Everyone claims to provide superior service – make them prove it.
To learn how WingSwept can help you leverage technology to achieve better business results, call us at 919-779-0954 or email us at Team_WingSwept@WingSwept.com.