Attractive offering
17 November 2010
Every time we go shopping we weigh up the costs and benefits of a purchase and then decide whether or not to buy. Exactly the same is true when your clients weigh up your service … What will I get? Is it value for money? Is it attractive?
So to be attractive to new clients, your service offering must be clear and desirable to your target clients, at a price they believe is reasonable. Your offering includes certain tangible items such as an annual review, but it also includes intangible relationship aspects which provide peace of mind or confidence.
Do you know what clients really want?
For example, they may value “24/7” access or be quite happy with a once a year mini-review. They may crave regular educational sessions or prefer a timely and topical webinar. They may want to “eye-ball” you twice a year to ensure you are feeling confident or they may be content with a written report.
By knowing what they do and do not value, you can start including or excluding certain services in your packages.
Do you know how much it costs to deliver?
Once you know what services your clients will value, you need to calculate what it costs to deliver:
- who or what delivers the service and how long does it take?
- what is the full cost of that time or resource?
- is there any way to reduce costs while maintaining the client experience?
- what profit margin should you add?
Different packages for different segments
As you go through this process, you are likely to notice that different segments within your target clients will respond to different packages. This may be driven by their life-stage, the size or complexity of investments or by many other factors.
You may not want to try to deliver too many different packages, but having two or three designed for different segments will make them more relevant and hence attractive.
Pricing your offer
Now you need to assign a pricing structure which is acceptable to clients and generates a profit for your business. Striking the right balance is not always straight forward, and may take some time and a number of iterations to get just right.
Once you have a clear and attractive offering, make sure you write it down. Then you will be ready to communicate it – to staff, referral partners, clients and prospects. And if you have done your homework well, you should be feeling confident that your offering will be attractive and well received.
Contact Macquarie Practice Consulting to find out how to create an attractive offering.
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