{"id":1822,"date":"2010-05-06T09:25:24","date_gmt":"2010-05-06T07:25:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.tsirigosorbit.com\/blog\/?p=1822"},"modified":"2010-05-06T07:28:14","modified_gmt":"2010-05-06T05:28:14","slug":"be-remarkable-via-pricing-strategy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.tsirigosorbit.com\/blog\/?p=1822","title":{"rendered":"Be Remarkable via Pricing Strategy"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Being the first<\/strong>, the best<\/strong>, or the only one<\/strong> doing something (and in a way meaningful and relevant to your customers) is a strategy your company can use to stand out from your competition.<\/p>\n

Something that is relevant to all your customers is how they compensate you for your products or services. Adding a spin to the way they pay may be a way to help your business be remarkable.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\nMost of us heard about the restaurant* that offered \u00e2\u20ac\u0153\u00e2\u20ac\u02dcpay-as-you-wish\u00e2\u20ac\u009d pricing? There are no prices, and the waiter doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t bring you a bill. At the end of the meal, you simply leave what you feel the meal was worth. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Pay as you wish\u00e2\u20ac\u009d\u00e2\u20ac\u02dc as an idea wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t new, but it was in a restaurant atmosphere.Many \u00e2\u20ac\u0153new\u00e2\u20ac\u009d ideas are simply existing ideas combined in non-traditional ways. Old ideas remixed to form new ones.<\/p>\n

*The pay-as-you-wish restaurant concept may not be that successful, seems I should have learned and remembered the name of the restaurant that started it. Yet, being remarkable doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t mean you have to be world famous. You only need to be memorable enough to be the stand-out choice from among your potential customers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 choices.<\/em><\/p>\n

Methods of Payment to Explore<\/h3>\n

Below is a list of common (and not-so-common) payment methods. Apply these to your business, and create a new approach that allows you stand apart from your competition.<\/p>\n

Some of these may have more technical names than what I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve dubbed them. Please correct me in the comments section below.<\/em><\/p>\n

Per Hour\/Day (Increments)<\/span><\/h4>\n

Your company pays you every two weeks. Military personnel receive monthly payments. The plumber charges by the hour.<\/p>\n

Deposits<\/span><\/h4>\n

The management company charges you a month\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s rent upfront when you sign your apartment lease. They use this money to pay for any damage you might have caused to the apartment during your stay. It also prevents tenants from skipping town and breaking<\/p>\n

Fixed Amount (Excess Pays More)<\/span><\/h4>\n

I have an allowance of 300 instant messages per month on my phone. After 300, I pay on a per-IM basis.<\/p>\n

When you lease a car, the contract limits the total number of miles you can put on the car. The dealer wants to make sure the car can be leased again after you return it. If you exceed the allocated mileage, you pay a premium for that extra use.<\/p>\n

Soft Pricing (Negotiable)<\/span><\/h4>\n

Though one could argue that all pricing is negotiable, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m talking about the type pricing you especially find in international markets and swap meets.<\/p>\n

If you pay the posted price for that leather jacket in Florence or for that Mickey Mouse gum ball machine at the old Drive-In Swap Meet, you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re a sucker. The process includes their making you a stupidly high offer, and you countering with an equally low offer, and the final price somewhere in between.<\/p>\n

Barter\/Trade<\/span><\/h4>\n

Instead of money in exchange for services or goods, you pay with services or goods. The local printer will print your flyers for free if you help her with her marketing plan.<\/p>\n

Bandwagon\/Economy of Scale<\/span><\/h4>\n

The more you buy, the lower the price. You can order 1,000 business cards at a cheaper per unit price than for 500. There is a new product\/invention site where the price of newly invented products reduces as the total quantity is ordered.<\/p>\n

Custom vs. Off the Shelf<\/span><\/h4>\n

It comes in white, black, or silver. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s it. You can pay<\/em> more to have a red one if you want. Heck, you can have it any color you want if you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re willing to pay for it.<\/p>\n

With D.I.Y. (do it yourself) being back in style, you can have someone hand-craft a messenger bag to hold your laptop. Compared to a mass-produced store bought item, the bag could:<\/p>\n