3 reasons why you MUST display pricing as a services business.

A few days ago, whilst humming my ‘time to get fit’ mantra, I was researching yoga classes to join. I came across one site that looked great - but where was the pricing information? I was instantly put off. Jokingly, I said I couldn't afford to pay a business that didn't consider pricing to be one of the major considerations of their customers. In a flash, I closed the window and they lost a valuable lead they would have paid 15 bucks for through Adwords. Pricing allows the customer to cut through the information overload of today. We rely on it more than ever to differentiate between businesses - it is therefore crucial in our decision making process.  

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1. We expect pricing information and we’re not going to work for it

Today, consumers have more choices at their fingertips than ever before. This unfortunately, means we've developed the attention span of a 3 year old. In fact, even a one second delay in page load time can result in 11% fewer page views, 16% decreased customer satisfaction and 7% lost conversions.

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If these reductions are the result of a one second delay, imagine the degree of dissatisfaction felt by potential customers and lost conversions because crucial pricing information could not be found.

2. You lose your place in the race

As a business owner, you may be able to write pages and pages of why your service is the best in the market. But guess what? So too can your competitors.

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By not providing pricing information that could help differentiate your business, you will easily drop out of the customer's decision making process in their final selection. Why? They can’t compare. And remember, behind you are a dozen more businesses jockeying for the attention of the customer you just lost.

3. You put the customer on guard

Not including pricing information is the easiest way to turn a hot lead into a cold one.

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The customer may now be suspicious and think: Why don’t they display it? Must be expensive and they don’t think most people can afford it….Could they have something to hide?

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Its absence means that the customer is now preoccupied with price even when they may not have been before.

It depends, it depends…

  The major reason service businesses don’t display pricing is the fear that it will become a pricing trap. Unlike businesses that offer goods, pricing for a service business depends and varies on a case by case basis such as the length of engagement, number of people required, type of task...the list goes on. Displaying your prices doesn't have to become a pricing trap. Consider using pricing bands or tiered pricing for your services. If you don’t want to put an upper limit to your prices, you may prefer displaying ‘starting at’ prices. Whatever method you chose, the end goal is to give the customer an indication of what they should expect to pay and prompt them to inquire further. One more thing! With the average time spent on a website being less than a minute- make sure your pricing (whatever form it takes) is easy to find!