First, I’m sorry this story may sound like I’m bragging. I’m not. The lesson is important.
A client created a fabulous new software product and wanted help creating pricing and the pricing page on their website. The owner was convinced that he needed to package and price his products in a specific way.
Imagine there are only 3 features, A, B, and C. He packaged his offers as A&B, A&C, A&B&C. He priced A&B very low to beat an established competitor. A&C was priced quite a bit higher. A&B&C was the most expensive by far. The pricing was low, medium, high so it looked like good, better, best, but from a packaging standpoint, it wasn’t.
Several times we discussed how this could confuse his buyers and I recommended we create real good, better, best packaging. I always tell my clients what I think, and they always make the decisions. In this case, he went with his original packaging.
I got an email from him the other day. “Hi Mark. I guess, the expert always has the final say and the smile. We got the opportunity to observe patterns for 60 days and now we are going to Good, Better, Best pricing model.” He went on to say the market loved the product but was confused about the upgrade path.
Although I like being right, I wasn’t happy that he lost 60 days. At least he got to test it. And his original packaging may have been right. He knows more about his market than I do.
What should you learn from this quick story? Don’t confuse your customers! Create good, better, best packaging whenever possible. It’s easy to understand and your buyers expect it. To keep it simple, make sure better has everything good has plus more. Make sure best has everything better has, plus more.
For this and every pricing situation, put yourself in the shoes of your buyers. Be naive. They don’t know what you know. Will your pricing page confuse them? Remember …
Confused buyers don’t buy.
