If you’re going to charge more for your product/service, then you better make sure you deliver more. I’m constantly amazed by how greedy business owners can be. They work so hard to build up a brand that people love, and when the first sign of success hits them, they scale back and raise prices and make their product not as good. That’s pure greed.
Here’s a tip. You can raise prices, fine. But you can’t scale back quality at the same time.
Restaurants do this all the time. My family used to frequent Boston Market all the time as a Friday night dinner spot. But the franchise decided to both raise the prices, and cut portions… all at once. So you tell me. Why in the world would I continue to eat there? I don’t.
Look at the businesses in your neighborhood who have lasted for 20+ years or longer. Those are the ones who realize that once you build a brand and find success, you can raise your pricing here and there, but you absolutely can’t lessen the quality of the product you serve.
Are you guilty of this? If so, you’re not going to be in business very long. The rules is this: If you raise prices, make sure you raise quality or quantity as well. This is true in any online or offline business. It’s the classic upsell and downsell argument.
For example, if I offered you coaching services at $50/month. Then a month later reduced that price to $25 to all new people. The people that paid $50 are going to pissed off, assuming I’m selling the same coaching product.
Now, if when I reduced the price, I also reduced the features… well then, that’s not the same is it? It works the same way when you raise the price.
So if I raise the price, I should add features. Your customer will continue to trust you if this is the way you practice. Otherwise, they’re going to feel like you cheated them.
Long-term success comes from consistency and fairness to your customer.
