Jun 29, 20219:21 AM - edited Aug 12, 202111:14 AM
Key Advisor | Diamond Partner
Presenting your pricing on your website.
It’s a tough question - often there are many in the business who don’t want to publish pricing and sometimes there are good reasons not to, how do you choose if you should share your pricing online? And if you do, how do you display it on your website to generate the most leads / sales?
Today, customers want an easier way to compare benefits and options across various choices. If your company thinks it's better for customers to call and ask for prices, you're mistaken. You could be losing many potential leads by not displaying your products or services with clear pricing. One of the best ways to build trust with new customers is to provide transparency from the start, and pricing is a key factor for everyone.
By establishing clear expectations, sharing prices can foster confidence and streamline the purchasing process. It may, however, also restrict our ability to provide customized quotes and expose our pricing to competitors. So, make your pricing explicit and comprehensive if you choose to post it. Analyze the expenses, emphasize the benefits, and provide a range of packages to accommodate varied needs. To demonstrate advantages and defend the cost, provide comparison charts, testimonials, and case studies. To engage potential clients, include compelling calls to action and resources like pricing calculators. This strategy can boost sales, streamline the decision-making process, and draw in quality leads.
Thank you for posting this question. I agree; this is a tricky question. The pricing should be on the website but hidden. There should be an easily navigable, discernible interface that provides easy-to-process information in the form of CTAs and tidbits, which leads people to click and read more so they can be 1) intrigued, 2)inspired, 3) feel as if they're self-taught, not educated. Then, they'll want to see the pricing. The pricing should be 1) semi-hidden and 2) presented in a way that encourages the buyer to do mental math in terms of the value it will bring to their life, so it should be presented as such. This formula would work for most products and services.
I've noticed many industries frown on having openly availabel pricing at enterprise level. Which is odd because at that level multiple products will be trialed but discounts would also apply which hints at unfair and non transparent pricing.
With readily available information some players could take advantage of this variable.
Presenting your pricing on your website is essential for provide transparency and clarity to your customers. By clearly displaying your pricing information, you make it easier for visitors to understand the cost of your products or services and make informed decisions. When presenting pricing on your website, it's important to be concise and organized. Consider using tables or charts to present different pricing tiers or packages, highlighting the features and benefits of each option. Additionally, you may want to include a clear call-to-action button or link that directs visitors to a page where they can make a purchase or request a quote. Remember to regularly update your pricing information to reflect any changes or promotions, and be prepared to provide additional information or support to customers who may have questions about your pricing structure. Overall, transparent and well-presented pricing can build trust with your customers and contribute to a positive user experience on your website.
We do present SOME pricing on our websites. Our firm is a full-service digital marketing and sales agency that primarily works with manufacturing and B2B tech firms. Like many agencies, our business model is predicated on an outsourced MRR-based service model and as such, it makes sense to provide investment visibility to our prospective clients. It helps us to position ourselves and is a key part of our sales messaging, i.e. we don't want to attract poor quality leads (contacts or businesses that are not a good fit for our proposition, and that are not willing or able to make the monthly investment required to get the best from working with us). As the guy leading our new business development efforts I don't want me or my team to spend time chasing down poor fit leads when I can spend my time helping firms that are a good fit.
I haven't and i've looked at competitor's sites and they don't either with the exception of one and they were out of state. After seeing this and reading about the reasons as to WHY, it might be beneficial to at least put the entry level costs to help customers get an idea as to what to expect.
So let me drop an argument which I would love to get a response to.
I believe the choice to show pricing depends on the complexity of your product.
There are some software products that require multiple integrations and development work to fully benefit from the services they promise on their web page because of the custom nature of most environments. In this case, the pricing will depend on the various parts of the bouquet the customer picks. Some of these elements could be number of users, amount of data flowing through the platform, number of integrations, complexity of integrations, level of support required after service.
Is it really possible to accomodate all these scenarios and show pricing on your webpage?
Another example luxury products. If we consider the "jobs to be done" rationale, some jobs of luxury products is to display wealth and class. A major part of this is built on price discrimination and hidden prices for very custom arrangements. A public display of pricing might diminish the luxury value of the product.
Except for these scenarios, I see no reason why you should not show pricing for product posts.
I think in this scenario a range is most appropriate. It lets prospective customers know how much it costs "to pay to play" but also lets them know that there are all kinds of added features. It allows them the recognize that there is a base model for what they're looking at and if they want what they think they want it may potentially be higher and they will need to contact you for the exact quote. Honestly, there seems like little downside. They only people contacting you will have the minimum amount at worst to get an "entry level" package and others will have more and just want to know how much what they want will cost.
Love this, but I'm afraid too many people will situate themselves in the "too complex" category. One practical example of a 'too complex' situation would be contractors, engineering firms, or any other highly technical "proposal-based" business model, where 'off the shelf pricing' would make literally 0 sense.
It is also worth noting the purpose of putting pricing online is to educate consumers and weed-out unqualified buyers. If someone approaches Bain & Co. for consulting services, or to use your example a luxury yacht company, they already have money to spend - owing to the inherently expensive nature & reputation of those services. You don't have to educate the consumer that, and that reputation weeds folks out from the get go.
I've never bought a pool before, so knowing the price beforehand would be helpful to qualify myself, but I don't need a blog post to tell me I can't afford a luxury yacht... (yet)
I think the compnay I'm with misses the boat here. As a tech solutions provider, I understand the customization and cost associated with it, I think everyone does in 2022. But to not price out your specific maybe entry level products, or to productize the most realistic examples or common amounts seems crazy to NOT be competitive this day and age as well as in the space we are in with the competition.
We want to answer as many of our prospects' questions as possible before they get to sales, and that made us display our pricing online. We have fixed pricing for some defined packages/solutions, and we also currently have an option that lets them request a custom quote.
Hi @JonPayne Great question! I think that whether it is a B2C or a B2B business, prospects should be able to find relevant information about your solutions, like pricing.
In B2B, sometimes the solution might be complex, and that's why the pricing will depend on the client's specific needs. In this case, it would be good to give your website visitors some context ( for A/B/C, expect a budget starting from X/Y/Z).
Showing an approximate budget will help your client have a clearer view of what to expect and ultimately will help sales teams get more qualified leads since the budget can be one of the buying decision criteria.
This is fantastic! I was actually thinking of one-way pricing before, but I liked your idea of "expecting a budget from" for complex and indefinite solutions.
Very interesting question. I think there is a lot of fear around presenting your pricing to be viewable for all to see. Scaring away customers with the price (but if that's a true concern you're either trying to charge too much, or need to revamp your ICP) However, if you're website is laid out and presents itself in a way that address the challenges of your ICP's and buyer persona's, then it could be extremely valuable. Now you're challenging your competitors to prove that they also do what you do, better or more efficiently.
Very difficult question. In some instances for sure, but how many should you do? I have learned over a lot years with marketing experience, that pricing (fixed) is somewhat negative, due to you can loose both leads and clients right there. But as written, it can also generate good leads that are after excactly that pricing structure. But if I need to answer yes / no, the answer will be no.
It all depends on the market, your target audience and the level of research done before arriving at your pricing structure. The data from the research helps you know how sensitive the market could be and how to tailor to meet its preferences.