Why do people shop at dollar stores? Is it for the customer service, the wonderful store ambience or the quality of the products? It’s only because of the prices.
Why do people buy coffee at Starbucks? Is it for the customer service, the wonderful store ambience or the quality of the products? It’s certainly not because of the prices.
Consumers choose to shop at a particular store for a variety of reasons and price is not often the primary motivator. Instead, customers search for the best value for their money. Value is always in the eye of the buyer, not the seller.
If you think your customers shop only by price then you may have no choice but to compete on price. This becomes a downhill race unless you can sell a huge volume of product to compensate for the low prices.
But a professional photographer can’t work by volume since there are only so many hours in a day. A photography business is not scalable. The photographer has to change their strategy so that price is not the top priority, (unless the photographer is trying to attract only bargain hunters).
If the first page on a photographer’s web site is about price, then that photographer is encouraging customers to shop price. From that moment, it’s a losing proposition.
A photographer must sell something other than price. They have to convince the customer that they are the best solution to the customer’s photo needs.
“Hire us because we have the lowest portrait prices in town” – is meaningless and encourages the customer to shop price.
“Hire us because we are experienced portrait photographers and we do good work” – won’t win much attention because everyone says that.
Both of those statements are spoken from the photographer’s point of view.
“When you hire us, you’re assured that you’ll look your best in your new business portraits. Your pictures will enhance the credibility of your business.”
When a photographer talks to a customer about what matters most to that customer, price will no longer be the main topic of conversation.
