A more expensive Red Bull gives you… more wings?

How price can inject more energy into your offering

Psychologists have proved that when you sell a higher priced service, you create an expectation of higher value in your client’s mind. 

If you want to influence how your clients value - and pay for - your services, this could be one of the most important things you read this year.

In one experiment, people were given either a full-price energy drink, or the same drink but at a discounted price. Those given the full-price drink predicted that they would score more highly if they were asked to solve some puzzles.

Let’s take a minute to think about that.

When people pay more for something… they think it does the job better.

This is exactly the kind of thing they created the mind-blown emoji for.

This is a hugely important concept for your recruitment business. If you position yourself as more expensive than your competitors, your clients will expect that you will do a better job than the other agencies.

Conversely, if you agree to a discounted price then your client’s expectation of your service will go down. This could lead to you not winning the business, or your client might cover their bases by bringing in some other recruiters to work on the role alongside you.

This is where the screaming-face emoji comes in.  

So how can you apply this incredibly important finding to your business?

Well, you can take a look at how many of your fees over the last 12 months were discounted in some way. Then consider how your clients’ expectations would have changed if you had stuck to your price.

Not only would you have been paid more. You would also have been treated better, as your clients would have expected that they were getting a better service.

Now you know that your clients will think you do a better job if they pay you more, you need a way to charge them more. Which is where a smart pricing strategy comes in.

So if you want to increase your fees and earn more respect from your clients, simply reply to this email and we can talk about creating a pricing strategy that works for you.

Jon

PS. Red Bull is actually a great example of how a higher price creates a higher expectation of results.

When it was launched in the UK, Red Bull was up against Coca Cola, Pepsi and all the other soft drinks. Rather than price low and fight their way in, Red Bull executives packaged their drink in a smaller can at a higher price.

This higher price, combined with an inspired marketing slogan that the drink would ‘give you wings’, convinced consumers that this new fizzy drink had a powerful effect. In fact, there is a whole generation of students who credit Red Bull with getting them through their exams - although I’m sure a cheaper cup of coffee would have done the trick equally well.

So if you want to increase your fees and earn more respect from your clients, simply reply to this email and we can talk about creating a pricing strategy that works for you.