09.27.06
Control the Urge to Nickel and Dime
With rising fuel costs and general costs of doing business, it is not uncommon to see a business owner pass these costs onto the client. However, how you choose to pass those costs on can potentially alienate your customers. For example, customers are more likely to accept a increase in your overall hourly rates than they are to accept an “administrative fee” or a “phone charge fee”. Nobody likes to be nickeled and dimed to death. Seeing several entries for miscellaneous, small items tend to cause many customers to become irate, particularly when they are already paying, what they feel, are competitive rates for your services.
Be cautious when adding a charge to a customer’s bill where there’s no perceived value to the customer. A better, winning sales approach would be to make it clear to your customers that many of the extra services you include are free. As always, the “carrot” of the perks you provide will go a lot further than the “stick” approach to doing business.
holdcube said,
March 6, 2010 at 3:04 pm
I completely agree with your ideas. As the owner of a recording studio that makes professional music on hold recordings for business phone systems, i know first hand that business owners want simplicity. They feel that if you start hitting them with hidden fees and charges that you have something to hide. That is why from the conception of my business, holdcube, we stayed away from all of the charges and fees. Your ideas about being cautious about adding a charge to a bill without value is huge!
Great ideas!!