Are you hooked on ‘special offer’ marketing?

Are giving too much away in the name of trying to get more business?

When you are really in need of new customers or more business, the temptation to do a promotion can be just too compelling. There is often a better way to be thinking about solving your marketing problem. Beware of the special offer temptress! A company wrestling with this issue this week has gotten into the habit of offering a special offer price for all of their customers all of the time, on their core service. This business has difficulty getting businesses to switch from their current provider due to hassle and trust factors, and their service tends to be a grudge purchase. If you are in this situation, you need to ask yourself:

Will it really make any difference to the sale?

If you don’t offer this special offer, will this potential customer still buy from you? Is there a chance they will still say no, even with the offer price?

Is it really an irresistible offer?

Has this potential customer been exposed to your previous price and overall offer (everything included for that price) before? Have they any basis for seeing the value in taking up your offer now compared to before?

What sort of value does this potential customer really want?

Is price really the most important motivator for your potential customer? Deciding to pay for a service or product is a decision that takes an overall view of value, of which price is only one aspect of the relative parts. Price against quality, long term gain to the business, relationships etc.

What do your competitors do?

Is this potential customer comparing my price to my competitors? Depending on what you are selling, this can work to your advantage, or not, as can happen if you appear 'too cheap' and therefore not as accomplished or quality as your competitors. If all of your competitors are playing in the price war, maybe customers will be willing to pay more for something more special.

Can you go any lower?

If you are playing the price game, the next customer is sure to want it even cheaper - think carefully if this something you are willing to do over and over again.

What will make this customer buy from you?

If you really look at what your customer needs, chances are they will be willing to pay a reasonable amount for meeting that need. It is an exchange of value. If you have to force people to buy something that doesn't really meet their needs - just on price - then chances are you should be aligning with customer needs for a more sustainable business.

Being too free with the special offer can create a number of potential issues:

- Customers only buy from you when you are having a special offer. This can particularly be the case if you do it very regularly. Your over enthusiasm with the offers is a cue to the customer not to buy when your price is the standardl price, as it will only be a short time until you have a special offer again. - Calls the value of what you are offering into question. If you can offer it at this price so regularly, maybe you make too much profit on the full price, or your product/ service simply isn't worth what you'd ordinarily charge. - You only compete on price, and put yourself in the lower priced competitor bracket - which means you only win when you are the cheapest. If you have a more sensible price, then customers evaluate the full extent of what you are offering for its value to them, rather than just the price. When you set a price, remember what you are really worth (and working for bananas is more suited to monkeys). Bronwyn Durand writes the Marketing Ideaology blog for JupiterJasper, an On-demand Marketer service for small businesses.