How Offering Three ‘Virtual Products’ Can Help Maintain Profitable Pricing

Last week, the Fire Enterprises, Inc. (FEI) tribe learned why understanding of a product’s benefits is crucial to selling the product into its target marketplace. This week, Marka explains how fire businesses can differentiate themselves by offering convenience, safety and peace of mind. Remember, fire = print.

Perched atop her favorite stool at the Red Argus, Marka listened to Zoot jaw on about price.

“Complaints about FEI’s prices have increased as of late, among new prospects and old customers alike,” Zoot said. “We’ve been tempted to bring out the dreaded ‘D’ word—Discounting. Half-off Fire Classic, two-for-one torches...whatever it takes to bring customers back.”

“Never in FEI’s history have we considered discounting,” Marka stated defiantly. “We sure as Hades won’t consider it now. Discount pricing is rarely a long-term sales growth solution.”

Zoot, reaching for the bowl of peanuts, shot back, “But how do we know that our customers won’t flock to Pyro and his low prices?”

“Price is far from the only influencer of customer purchasing behavior,” pointed out Marka as she lightly touched the sleeve of Zoot’s elegant toga. “For example, where did you buy purchase this fine piece of clothing?”

Zoot shrugged. “Olympus Brothers.”

“Olympus Brothers?” Marka replied with mock-surprise. “That’s a hoity-toity designer! Certainly not the cheapest toga brand.”

“No,” Zoot said. “But a discount toga could fall apart at any moment, making a bad first impression on a new client—or worse, my mother-in-law. Sure, I could save a couple drachmas, but I want value. The peace-of-mind provided by this high-quality product justifies its higher price.”

“You just summed it up,” Marka declared. “For any consumer, fear of purchasing a shoddy product or unreliable service is a huge motivator. If we remove that fear, we remove pricing objections as well.”

“How do we do that?” Zoot asked.