How you price your services can be a powerful way to differentiate yourself in the marketplace.
Over the weekend I ran across a story Gym-Pact. Gym-Pact puts a creative twist on the old model of paying for gym membership by offering what they call motivational fees. Customers agree to pay more if they miss their scheduled workouts, literally buying into a financial penalty if they don’t stick to their fitness plans.
Here is how it works. Gym-Pact negotiated a group rate with Planet Fitness, then paid the membership fees for participants, who in return for a free membership agreed to work out at least four times per week. If they fail to follow the schedule in any one week, the participants pay $25. Members pay $75 if they decide to quit the program for any reason other than injury or illness.
Gym-Pact is expanding to dance and yoga programs as well. For now the fees will be used to pay for the gym memberships and to build a financial aid fund.
Now, before you dismiss this as something that “just wouldn’t work for professional services”, take a moment and think about what you could to differentiate your firm by how you charge for your services.
- Could you charge flat fees for service packages rather than charging by the hour?
- Could you offer special incentives – such as letting the people who bring in their tax work at the beginning of the year pay less than those who wait until the last minute?
- Can you stand out by offering an extraordinary guarantee?
- If your customers have seasonal businesses, could match your billing to their periods of higher cash flow?
If the reason you price your services the way you do is “because that’s how everyone does it”, then you may have a great opportunity to stand out from the crowd staring you in the face.
