A strategy that is often overlooked or underrated by business owners is packaging products or services together to entice your clients to buy more in order to get a better deal.
Will it work for your business? How should you implement the strategy? Read on for my “field guide to packaging!”
Packaging complimentary products together is a fantastic way to offer customers exceptional value, and at the same time increase your average transaction value. It’s also a great way of moving old, unpopular stock that you have been having trouble shifting! The package deal is really a win-win for the business and consumer when done right.
If you’re worried that your clients won’t like it,well, maybe some won’t be interested, but they just won’t go for it; and some will LOVE the convenience! Man picking out gift for wife who has asked for “pamper products” (him: “?????”) – check. Someone starting a new hobby, say home brewing, but not really sure what they need to begin – check. Some clients will be downright relieved that you offer a package.
Finally – it locks the customer in with you. Every product or service they buy from you is one they are not buying from a competitor. If you can satisfy all of their needs in one go, they won’t be shopping around.
How?
To work out what items to include in a package ask yourself this question …“Which products and services can I bundle together to give greater value and better performance to my customer?”
When you ask this question, three interesting things happen:
Your customers are getting greater value and feel like they’re doing well out of purchasing with you. What’s more, by purchasing the package they’ll be getting and trying products that they wouldn’t have ordinarily purchased on their own.
Since customers are delighted with the value that the package gave them, they’re going to feel great about your business and they’re much more likely to come back and do business with you again.
You’re enjoying a higher profit per sale because even though you’re discounting to offer a complete package, at the end of the day, the profit is still much higher per sale.
When you introduce a new product:
It can be great to get it out there by packaging it with a popular item, at a great price. This way, all the customers who buy the popular item are likely to try the new one out too, and they’ll feel like they’ve got a great deal, too. A win-win, and a great low-dollar-investment advertising strategy for you!
Packaging In “Soft Dollar” Items
Remember going to the The Royal Show or local fair as a kid? And remember badgering your parents for a show bag? The Confectionary Show Bags might have been, say, $10, but when you looked at the sign on the wall looking at all the inclusions, the total value adds up to as much as $60 and sometimes more. Approximately $8 of this is confectionary and the rest are vouchers for discounts at various/offers for other businesses. The hard cost for these discounts is virtually zero (because the participating business owners are more than happy to offer the deal to the customers – it’s low-cost marketing for them!) yet the perceived value to the purchasers is high. Can you offer something like this?
Or, if you are a service provider, can you package in some of your low-hard-cost but high perceived value services? It needs to be something that they may not have considered purchasing themselves but they still perceive to be highly valuable and relevant to their needs. A good example of this is gyms offering a couple of free personal training sessions as part of a package membership deal. This should cost the gym $100 or less, and they get the $1000+ sale of the year membership, (plus a good chance to make more if they retain the client) which they’ve made more attractive to client by offering to “get them started” with the PT sessions.
How To Sell The Package On Price
1) Sell the perceived value
One of the factors that people use to determine whether or not they are going to buy something is “value”. They make a judgment based on the value for money they are receiving. So — the higher the perceived value of your package (and assuming too that the products are of interest to them), the more inviting that package appears to a buyer.
To this end, always mention the perceived value or Recommended Retail Price, the package price AND the savings. It’s important to show people how much they can save by purchasing the package offering.
2) Give it an inviting name
The name of your package can play a big role in how many sales you generate. If you’re a beauty therapist, don’t just call your package “The Beauty Treatment Package”. Instead, call it something like “The Ultimate Indulgence Pack”. Give your package a name that reflects the benefits that your product offers and you’ll find that it becomes so much more attractive to customers.
3) Show a photograph of the package in your advertising
A package instantly becomes more attractive when people can see it. Style it in a beautiful manner (if it is a physical package). If the client can pick up a pre-packed package deal and take it to the counter, that will make their decision to buy pretty easy!
4) Feature a limited time frame
Eliminate procrastination by including a cut-off date on the offer. Further create a sense of urgency by telling customers to hurry in so they don’t miss out. E.g. “Offer ends 14′” February, 2008 so hurry”! This can be a great end-of-year/season idea.
I hope that helped give you some ideas for how you can grow your business with a packaging strategy!
As always, get in touch if you want to talk further about how this can work for your business.
Happy packaging!
