Bernie Heer, quoted in Michael Jefffries’ blog, reminds AEC marketers of ?the importance of consistency — notably, if you are selling higher-end services which aren’t the lowest cost, you shouldn’t focus on price in your marketing.
How you first attract a prospect has everything to do with how they respond to your sales message.
I think we all know that, if you advertise your services to a neighborhood of modest homes, there is close to zero likelihood that they will respond to a premium-priced offer.
But let?s say that you market an offer to a more affluent area of town, and in the offer you characterize your prices as ?reasonable? or ?competitive.?
When you present your proposal for high quality work at premium prices, do you think these prospects will buy?
Maybe a small number will, but not many.
Why?
Because they responded to a price offer. ?The fact that you?re now offering them a premium service at premium prices is inconsistent with your marketing.
Can you see how your marketing message impacts how prospects will respond to your sales message?
The two must be consistent.
One client of mine who uses our client newsletter service is the top painter in his market.? He?s painted most of the historic homes in his area, and he?s worked on some very high profile jobs.? He?s always the high-priced guy? and that?s the way he wants it.
In preparing the monthly newsletter he sends to his clients, he is very careful never to suggest that his prices are reasonable? even removing certain words from testimonials that his clients have given him before he puts them on his website!
He understands about having a consistent message.? (By the way, he does a lot of other things right.)
If you attract your prospects with a message about price, that?s what they?ll be looking for when you make your presentation.? If you attract them with a message about quality, they will respond to your sales message about premium services and premium prices.
Of course, to get this right, you have to have other things in place. Notably, the service you provide must be consistent with your marketing offer. If you purport to offer high-end services and your guys on the job site are slobs, you won’t get very far. (This is all obviously rational, when you think about it. After all, virtually any marketing you do will ultimately be validated by word-of-mouth and how can you expect good word-of-mouth if you fail to deliver the experience your clients really expect.)
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