Pricing Strategies for Local Search Consultants

[Linda Buquet]

I know many of you have been struggling with that baffling issue of what to charge for your services and with the start of the new year that may be weighing heavily on your mind.

Although the post below is not specific to local search consulting fees, I thought it had some really great points to consider, so wanted to share.

At the end he goes into something I've talked about here in the Consultant's Corner a couple times - sometimes you just need to turn business away or fire clients who are not profitable or want a low price.

Getting Your Pricing Right

How do you best determine the price to charge customers?

Do you look at the competition and price the same as they do? Undercut them a little? What happens if you do undercut them, then the customer still demands further discounts?

Pricing can be difficult to get right. We don?t know exactly how much the other party is prepared to pay, but we need customers in order to sustain and grow our businesses. So how do we ensure money is not left on the table, yet we still make the sale?

This guide looks at a few fundamental pricing techniques, ideas and strategies. We'll look at how to avoid getting caught in the ?race to the bottom? scenario of endless price cutting.

What do you think? And good points that helped you?

Let's get a discussion going about fee structures.

 

[David Deering]

Great topic for a thread, Linda. I'm still trying to figure out a good pricing structure myself, but I do feel that you should at least factor in what other similar companies are charging and go from there. You want to charge what the market will bear, as they say, but not get too crazy. On the other hand, I think it's important not to try to outbid your competition by being the cheapest out there. Research has shown time and again that when potential customers compare prices, they translate low prices with low quality and high prices with high quality. So we have to learn where that balance is.

But if you do good work and you are honest and ethical and know that you will get results for your clients, then by all means charge more than your competitors. Your clients will be willing to pay it if they trust you and feel confident that they will see a high return on their investment. So in my opinion, it all starts by selling yourself and your skills through talking and asking questions and sharing knowledge. Once potential clients see your expertise, they will be more than willing to pay for your services, even if you are higher than your competitors.