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Clear links to value
Your competitors may appear to offer similar goods and services to you but at a lower price. In reality their offer may not be the same at all. So, it is important that you communicate the true value (benefits) of your products or services to the customer so that they can compare prices on a more knowledgeable basis.
Try and establish a Unique Selling Proposition for your offer that demonstrates superior value to your competitors. This doesn't mean that your product or service has to have unique features, but it does mean that the way that you deliver the entirety of your offer (i.e. the selling proposition) should be demonstrably superior. This may well be a unique combination of benefits.
You also need to bear in mind that benefits live exclusively in the mind of the customer. If the customer doesn't recognise an attribute of your offer as a benefit, then it isn't one ... no matter how many times you may mention it in your sales material!
Change the rules
Just because your competitors price their products and services in one way doesn't mean that you need to as well. When all suppliers use the same pricing metrics then it is extremely easy for the customer to compare and unless you are always the cheapest this will work against you.
Changing the rules is a good way to distinguish your offer from others. You can do this in two ways. Firstly, you can change the volume of the unit of purchase by bundling. For example, at your local produce market you will find the greengrocer advertising tomatoes at, say, £x for 3lbs (my greengrocer still uses lbs, I'm afraid). I don't recall 3lbs being the standard weight unit in which we buy tomatoes!, yet most customers will choose to buy 3lbs that day. The next week it could be £x for 4lbs.
The second way to change the rules is to change the unit of purchasing completely. For example, your competitors may charge an hourly rate for a particular service. Rather than follow the herd, you can think how you can price differently. Maybe you could offer the service on a monthly subscription basis, or join a few extra services together into an added-value bundle and price that on a per usage basis.
Memorable marketing
Thinking and working creatively like this will help you to make your marketing more memorable so that it better supports your business ambitions. This means that customers will be able to differentiate your products and services from those of your competitors and clearly see the value in buying from you.
If you would like some advice on finding the profitable customers for your own business, or you know someone at another business who might need help, then please contact us. The sooner you start, the sooner you will benefit.
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