In hard times, is it essential to offer discounts? Or maintain the price and value?
By Emma Meakin
In hard times, it’s definitely not essential to offer discounts across the board, but you should certainly consider some limited discounting of certain lines, or strategic special offers.
Pricing is, of course, always difficult. Too low and you’ve devalued your product and lost potential revenue. Too high and you’ve risked alienating your customers and sending them straight into the arms of your competitor. It is important to strike a balance, if hard time are affecting the population as a whole then you need to ensure not only are your prices in line with your competitors but that they allow you to keep the business afloat whilst attracting customers.
One way to offer a discount without undervaluing your product is to offer zero or low costs on other services such as delivery or warranty. If you do discount on the ticket price, think about how and when you’ll be able to raise it again.
If times are tough for you, the same may be true of your customers and prospects, so perhaps offering a discount is just the thing to get them onboard. Later on, you can switch them to a fully paid version, or eliminate the discount.
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