In Business, Cheap Is Not Always Good

By: Lynne Saarte
Submitted: 2008-05-07 12:49:07
Print this article | Tell a friend | For publisher |

Rating:

 

Many beginning small business owners make the mistake of believing that they must sell their product for a lower price than their competitors. When you think about it, that is a completely logical thought. Your competitors are established, while you are brand new. Your competitors have had time to build their name recognition, while you have not even gotten off the ground yet. Your competitors already have a core group of customers, while you are trying to steal those customers from them.

With all that in mind, going cheap is a good idea, right?

WRONG!

Why is it wrong? Well, for one, you will make less money. But, more importantly, contrary to popular belief, customers do not buy products based on price alone. They buy products because they feel, on some level, emotionally attached to the product or to the company selling the product.

The trick for your new small business, then, is to find a way to attract customers on an emotional level. How do you do that?

First, you have to get your name out there, and establish contact with potential customers. A customer can not be emotionally attached to a company that he has never heard of. Invest in good, quality advertising literature and plaster it all over your area. Print up lots flyers and posters and put them in every strategic location you can think of. Make up some attractive brochures and business cards and hand them out like crazy. Send out postcards and promotional letters to everyone who might be interested in what you are going to offer them.

Now, once you have established contact, you have to maintain it. This is the key to building an emotional attachment. The only way customers will become attached to your company is if they hear from you (and about you) regularly.

A great way to maintain contact with customers is a newsletter. Yes, I know, it sounds a bit old-fashioned. But why do you think newsletters have been around for so long? Because they work, that’s why!

Get in the habit of collecting addresses from customers and potential customers. Design a newsletter printing that provides information and lots of interesting tidbits about your company. Don’t worry too much about length, just make it quality stuff. And try to include things that will interest your customers emotionally. Send your newsletter to every address that you have collected. Wait a few weeks, gather responses and feedback, and then do it all again. And keep doing it, regularly and consistently.

Regular contact with customers is the way to establish an emotional connection. And an emotional connection is the way to generate sales. If you effectively build an emotional connection, you will not have to make your prices lower than your competitors, because your customers will buy from you anyway.

For comments and inquiries about the article visit:  Newsletter Printing

Article source: Expert Articles