Branding Yourself as the Most Expensive… Good or Bad?
August 24, 2008
I’m not a Wal-mart, I’m a Holt Renfrew.
That’s the one statement that started off this blog post. I was thinking the other day about pricing and branding and how we turn ourselves into exactly what we decide we want to. What I mean by that is that your pricing strategies, your branding strategies, etc. define you in a simple yet powerful statement.
My statement is the first line… I’m not a Wal-Mart, I’m a Holt Renfrew. Now, let me explain what I mean by that. The first part about not being a Wal-Mart means that I am not setup in such a way to cater to everyone’s needs. I’m also not here to serve the masses. Instead, I run my business selectively. I price my services so that only serious entrepreneurs will move forward with our company. For me, serious entrepreneurs means that we’re going to get focused on the core issues around delegation and why they need a VA more quickly.
Setting yourself up to serve the masses may be appealing because that might lead you to think that you are going to get more customers. While this might be true, can you truly serve that many people in a service-based business (trading time for money) and do it effectively? That answer may be no. If it is, consider setting yourself up to serve fewer people in a more niched format. You could do this via pricing, you could do this in terms of what services you are going to provide or you could target one particular industry or a subset of people.
Now, let’s examine the second part. I’m a Holt Renfrew. For those of you who are not Canadian, Holt Renfrew is the equivalent in most cases as Barney’s or Saks Fifth Avenue. It’s the department store for the elite and the wealthy. They have limited product, high price tags and pride themselves on over-the-top customer service and overall customer experience. When I was thinking about the differences, this is where I wanted to fit into.
So, I’m making it my goal to make my company the equivalent to a Holt Renfrew and I’m going to work really hard at upholding these standards in my business. Catering to fewer people means that I’ll have less stress and be able to do a super stellar job for those people who become our clients.
What’s your business motto? Do you have one and if not, create one! Think about what you want in your business and what you want in terms of a lifestyle. Decide what is most important and write it down!
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2 Responses to “Branding Yourself as the Most Expensive… Good or Bad?”
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I think it’s an interesting idea and certainly some businesses do very well targeting a more exclusive client base.
I believe we all should provide (and deserve to receive) exceptional customer service, but it certainly is not always provided by more value-based businesses.
I agree and is one of the problems my readers have when starting out as solo entrepreneurs - pricing themselves too low for their return on time, experience and investment.
It’s not only in how they price themselves, when looking to work with (instead of hire out) other professionals, they don’t seem to get the fact - You get what you pay for!
Thank you for helping to spread the word….Cheap eats gets you cheap customers and clients. Period.