Quality is like oats
Quality is like oats |
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By Bill Bane Selling high quality service over cheap competition is demanding, and not too many have the patience to do it. Many are frustrated when a prospect asks, “Why is it you charge more than so and so’s cleaners?” If prospects or customers question your price, it simply means that you have not justified it to their satisfaction. Every reputable cleaning business is plagued by the bait and switch advertiser who publishes a ridiculously low price, such as $5.95 per room. Every legitimate operator knows that overhead and advertising costs make that kind of a price impossible. But, apparently enough bargain seeking consumers believe it to keep the charlatans in business. Many fly-by-night artists (they are known as cowboys in the UK) advertise a “quality” service. “Quality” is an abused word. A sports announcer talks about a “quality” player, meaning a good player. Salespeople refer to a “quality” product or service. They mean it's good. “Quality,” however, does not mean “good,” it needs an adjective to complete its meaning ie: good quality, poor quality or mediocre quality! This is not a modern phenomenon. I found an old cookbook of my grandmother that was copyrighted in 1911. The publisher was an Indianapolis hardware company, and one of the items they sold was a kitchen stove. The headline on the page with the stove was, “Not how cheap. . . but how good!” This was their way of defending their price and putting the reader on notice that price is not the only consideration in making a purchase. A famous old saying goes, “Anything can be made cheaper.” Another old sage said, “Quality is like oats. If you're satisfied with oats that have been through the horse one time, you can get them much cheaper.” A good quality service costs a little more because it costs more to do it right. Service can't be built on a production line, stored in a warehouse, and put on sale. Service has to be built one at a time, and after the order is taken. Be prepared to justify the price you charge for your service. The other reality is that you need to know how to explain a competitor's cheap price. Your prospect may not know how the bait and switch people operate or that the service will likely cost much more than the advertised price. In fact, the customer will probably pay more than your regular price for the “cheap” service. Bane-CleneŽ Institute has a class on Pricing and Selling Service. If you haven’t been to school in a while, perhaps this would be a good time to come back. Besides the changes in technology in the past few years, a good dose of optimism, selling techniques, and camaraderie may do wonders for your profit margin.
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