(updated 3/20/18)
When hunting around for business services, people often want to know the price. As a service provider yourself, you know how difficult it can be to price your services, let alone know if you should make them public. There's always the fear of turning people off. Or, you'll reveal too much to the competition. To many people, just like wine, price can be an indicator of quality too. So I can understand why you may be cautious.
Not showing any information about what you charge can scare people off. Publishing some kind of price, that is, being transparent, can help create trust. It can alleviate some of the concerns that someone may have about calling you. At least enough for them to pick up the phone.
Not showing any information about what you charge can scare people off. Publishing some kind of price, that is, being transparent, can help create trust. It can alleviate some of the concerns that someone may have about calling you. At least enough for them to pick up the phone.
Services Packaging Makes Perfect
I haven't always published prices on my website, and I don't publish my hourly rate. As I teach in my services businesses classes, it's a good idea to get away from selling yourself by the hour, because it makes it hard to scale. Here's why you should package your services:
Another Good Reason to Publish Your Prices — Search
According to this Moz Blog article about website mistakes to avoid, "people are searching for pricing information. It’s a huge missed opportunity not to have any content related to pricing, and it annoys prospective customers who would rather know your cost range before giving you a call or submitting a form for follow up."
Instead of Publishing an Hourly Rate, Try These Ideas.
You could publish your prices outright or you could hedge. Something like, "Call me for a free :30 minute consultation, and I'll evaluate your needs and costs." There's no one right way to answer this question — just like everything in marketing, right? Consider what fits with your business model and what you feel is going to resonate with your visitors.
If publishing your prices makes you uncomfortable, you could try one of these or a combination:
Whatever pricing model you choose, tread appropriately, knowing you could alienate some potential customers. That's okay, because not everyone is or should be your customer. If you've made a good case for your services, and priced them competitively, and they're still turned off, then they're not a good customer for you. The same holds true for competition — you don't want to rely on price to get more business.
No matter what you decide to say on your website, the better you know your website visitor — and the more you're in their heads, that is, the more you know their psych — the better you can communicate with them to achieve your objectives.
Let us know how you handle pricing on your website in the comments below.
If publishing your prices makes you uncomfortable, you could try one of these or a combination:
- Provide a flat rate on the services you can easily package.
- Create programs with a combination of services for a fixed or monthly price.
- Say something like, "Our typical projects fall somewhere in the range of 'X'."
Whatever pricing model you choose, tread appropriately, knowing you could alienate some potential customers. That's okay, because not everyone is or should be your customer. If you've made a good case for your services, and priced them competitively, and they're still turned off, then they're not a good customer for you. The same holds true for competition — you don't want to rely on price to get more business.
No matter what you decide to say on your website, the better you know your website visitor — and the more you're in their heads, that is, the more you know their psych — the better you can communicate with them to achieve your objectives.
Let us know how you handle pricing on your website in the comments below.
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