Make Your Price Sell!, The Masters Course | Page 8

customer through value satisfaction.
How do you define “value satisfaction”? By putting yourself into your customers’
shoes. Simple but often ignored advice. Sometimes a vendor thinks that s/he
knows what’s best for the customer. Let’s call it the “mothering-smothering effect.”
If you reverse your viewpoint by coming at it from your customer’s angle, then you
start to look at your product differently. (That’s the funny thing about psychology, it
works on both sides of the business fence.)
Price to attract those first-time customers and let the value of your product “keep”
them with you for a lifetime.
SiteSell continues to build a loyal base of raving fans because of its
commitment to “overdelivery.” We go beyond satisfying our
customers… we strive to delight them! Watch/listen for yourself and
hear what our customers are saying…
http://ilovesbi.sitesell.com/
Naturally, you don’t decide whether to penetrate or top price on this basis alone.
But once you’re in the ballpark, it helps to have a keen understanding of human
nature. Let’s start with the most well known example...

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1) The right number
Some prices just sound like less money than other prices that are very close to
them in value. Take the price of 99 cents. It sounds a whole lot cheaper than a dollar
-- the same way that $9.99 does with $10.
Humans buy on emotion first, rational thought second. If they can say “and it’s under
$50,” it’s one more plus for you.
Point to take away?
End your price in a 5, 7, 8, or 9 and be on the right side of human nature.
Let’s also consider what Eric Mitchell, involved with the Pricing Society, observed
about the rules of rounding off prices, based on his market research...
For Prices up to $10... It makes more sense to use $0.99 rather than $0.95.
Respondents’ reactions are the same for both numbers. So why leave 4 cents of
profit on the table?
Odd price endings like $0.74 can sometimes cost sales. They cause some
confusion in the customer... $0.74 just doesn’t “sound right.”
For Prices from $10 to $100... “.95” and “.75” price points are much better
received than “.99”. In this price range, there is a resistance to “.99” because it is
often viewed as a “greedy” price point. Think about a restaurant menu... the special
of the day is usually set at $12.95, not $12.99.
For prices above $100... It’s better to deal in “whole” dollars. From the
customer’s viewpoint, $149 is a more acceptable and cleaner price point than
$148.95.
Pricing a professional service? Price in whole dollars. Choose $50 per hour
rather than $49.75. You’re not “on sale”, are you?
Reception (of a price) is based on perception (of that price). Make it positive!
2) The Value Bundle
Something for nothing. Don’t we all love that? Definitely! Value-bundle, if possible.
What’s “value-bundling”? Simple, really. Group-related products and set one price
for the combination. This works best if the grouped products have a logical
association with one another.
Customers tend to assign value to a bundle, based upon the probable cost of
individual “ pieces.” Value-bundling is a powerful method if the price of your bundle
equals the price of the most expensive component.
Offline example -- You commonly see vacation packages where air tickets and
ground arrangements (hotels, meals, bus tours and so on) are advertised at one

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eye-catching price... everything you need for the perfect vacation. If the price of the
bundle is just a bit more than what your customer would pay for the air tickets
separately, your customer has that wonderful “something for nothing” feeling!
Online example -- AOL bundles a number of information products and interactive
services together and charges one price for all of them. And, the company keeps
adding to it...all for one low price.
The bigger the bundle, the better!
Site Build It! is the ultimate value bundle. SBI! meets the needs of
almost every type of small business owner in a unique, powerful way
that works!…
http://tools.sitesell.com/
For more about online bundling, read Evan Schwartz’s fine book...
Digital Darwinism : 7 Breakthrough Business Strategies
for Surviving in the Cutthroat Web Economy
by Evan I. Schwartz
Broadway Books; ISBN: 076790333
Schwartz makes one fascinating point. A bundle of digital goods will make more
money than if you sold the pieces individually... even if not all the grouped pieces
are seen as valuable for all customers. He, also, suggests selling ultra-high value
products outside of the bundle and marketing them as a premium product... at an
extra fee.
3) Discounting
You’ll always find Ken over by the...
... “SALE” rack.
“I love a good bargain.” Most folks do.
On the Net, you start a product launch with a huge advantage -- you can reach all
your previous customers with the click of a mouse. When you introduce a new

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product, offer them a discount