Are You Too Cheap?

Yesterday I received a menu in the mail from a local Chinese restaurant. On the front of the tri-fold mailer is a  proud proclamation in large type: “$1.38 Chinese Food.”

Sure enough, all of the appetizers and most of the entrees listed inside are indeed only $1.38.

My first thought?

This stuff must really suck.

Seriously, if they’re charging less than a buck-and-a-half per item, they must be using the cheapest, lowest-quality ingredients possible. And that’s not what I want to eat.

Too often, business owners, professionals and salespeople feel they need to cut their prices to attract more customers. But that can actually work against you.

We’ve all learned from experience that as a general rule, you get what you pay for. Higher-quality goods and services tend to be more expensive, lower-quality ones tend to be cheaper.

Which means if you’re the cheapest option around, people will perceive you to be the worst. Is that the positioning in the marketplace you really want?

People don’t want cheap, they want good. If you’re good, say so. Make the relationship between your quality and your price clear. Point out what makes you better than your competitors and how that’s better for your prospect.

If you want to boost your sales, don’t make your product or service cheaper. Make it more appetizing.