New marketing service - do accountants do that?

This one does...

Accountancy and marketing are not usually two words that sit comfortably together.  Marketeers spend money and are ‘creative’, accountants save money (usually) and focus on facts.  But they have a lot more in common than you think.  Good marketing is measurable and produces returns, just like investments.  Here at Hixsons we know that.  

So what we give is a 360 degree service that includes marketing support and guidance. Businesses are short on expertise and resources, and worry that marketing will be money wasted. Clients have told us they need input to show them what works and how to do it. 

We’ve listened, and so what we give you are the tools to support your marketing, or can take on elements of it or you. We believe in helping you to help yourself, but we will fill in the gaps where needed.  Whether it’s kickstarting your business, new product development or simply getting in front of the right people at the right time, we can help.

With the right tools (which we have) we quickly get to the root of what a client really needs to see marketing work for them, and find the best way to do it.

Focussing on exactly the kind of marketing your business needs with a straightforward and jargon-free approach achieves results. Investing time with us to take an objective look at how your business is marketed currently, what you are really getting for it and what you could be doing pays real dividends in the future and actually helps you to save money by reaching those customers that really matter.  

And it will be a common sense practical approach, as you would expect from us.

We look at all areas of the marketing mix, put together a comprehensive and practical marketing plan, and importantly help you to achieve it and measure its success. Good marketing is measurable, trackable and flexible. Getting the marketing right is vital for the future of your business. Our support will help you to stop looking at marketing as an expense and start seeing it as a real investment. And it’s easier than you think.

What does this mean for you? Cost effective leads and new customers through targeted marketing. You will know what it costs and what it produces. 

And you’ll see that fully rounded business advice naturally includes marketing too.

We’ll help to market your business cost-effectively and measure success. And perhaps get you to start thinking about marketing differently.

Pricing for maximum profit

Customers care about prices. But they are certainly not the only thing they care about - and your business and marketing strategy should mirror that fact.

In other words, you should never compete on price alone. Instead you should start by making sure that what you are offering exactly meets the needs of your customers. And then you should sell it to them on the basis of “best value” rather than “lowest price”.

What is “best value”? As we see it, “value” is the gap between the benefits a customer perceives he is getting and the price he perceives he is paying. So offering “best value” means offering a bigger gap than anyone else.

The three keys to offering best value are to make sure that:

1 Your products and services are exactly what your customers need and want – i.e. they offer the best and most appropriate combination of benefits;

2 Your customers fully understand those benefits – i.e. because unless they understand that what you have to offer is special, they will assume it is average, and that means that you’ll only be able to charge an average price; and

3 Your prices are presented in the best possible light.

Get these 3 things right and customers will happily pay you more than ever before.

Different prices

How do you cope with the fact that some customers are willing to pay more than others?

Economists tell us that the market price is set by supply and demand. We can show this graphically…

In the above graph, SP is your standard selling price. But the problem is that having only one selling price causes you to lose out in 2 different ways…

1. for some customers that price is too high – so they don’t buy, and you lose them as a customer, and

2. for other customers that price is too low – so you end up charging them less (and earning less profit) than they are willing to pay. Which means you lose again.

Economists call the amount by which you lose in this second scenario the “consumer surplus” – and it is shown by the shaded area on this graph.

The consumer surplus represents the individuals who are both willing and able to pay more for your product or service than you are charging them.

One of the keys to dramatically improving your profits is to claw back some of this consumer surplus by charging different customers different prices. This is often called ‘price discrimination’. And this is exactly what publishers do with hardcover and paperback books.

Many people believe that hardcover books are about twice the price of paperback books because it costs twice as much to print a hardcover book. In fact the difference in production costs are minimal. Publishers have recognised that some people are prepared to pay substantially more for a book in order to buy it as soon as it is published. But more price sensitive consumers are prepared to wait for the paperback version.

Pricing according to the value you give

Many businesses set their prices using a cost-plus method. For example, many service businesses use hourly rates to set price. Cost-plus methods, such as hourly billing, can seriously affect your profit potential. And these methods are not in the best interest of your customers.

Some of the many disadvantages of this method of pricing include…

i. the interests of you and your customers are incompatible

ii. you focus on costs – not the value to your customers

iii. the customer takes the risk of your inefficiencies

iv. creates a production mentality – not an entrepreneurial spirit

v. focuses on effort – not results

vi. penalises technological advances

vii. rates are set by your competitors

viii. does not differentiate you from your competition

ix. limits your potential income

x. creates a bureaucracy of recording costs

Traditional cost-plus pricing starts by finding out how much it costs to produce the product or service. A mark-up is then applied to set the price.

Value pricing starts by finding out how much the customer values the product or service. This determines the price. It is therefore fairer to the customer.

Next - 14 ways to charge more without losing customers