Are you stuck in the middle?

Most entrepreneurs like to price their products right in the middle. The idea that once you take the middle you can’t go wrong. But they fail to see that the middle ground is a dangerous area. It makes quality conscious consumers think it is too cheap, bargain hunters in turn think it is too expensive.

This is not to say it is entirely wrong; it is to say simple solutions may not always be so simple. Do your homework, if it indicates that’s the best price range - sure, go for it!

What are the other choices?

Let us help. Call us now at +60378901079 or visit us at roar-point.com

Are you saying the right thing?

If you understand how much value your product delivers but complain that the consumers are not willing to pay that price; then perhaps your challenge is in communicating that value to the consumers. You aren’t telling a compelling story that makes their willingness to pay increase. Or your product price is signaling the wrong message. Calibrate both of these and see how your profit increases.

Are you charging the right price?

Let us help. Call us now at +60378901079 or visit us at roar-point.com

How did you determine your price?

If all you do is ask, "What are my costs? What returns do I want? What are my competitors doing? What is the market willing to bear?" Then you are missing the bigger picture in your pricing strategy.

The bigger picture involves you understanding your product’s (or service’s) worth to the market and being able to communicate that. That’s where the other P (i.e., promotion) of marketing comes in to secure the positioning of its worth in the consumer’s mind.

Are you leaving money on the table?

Let us help. Call us now at +60378901079 or visit us at roar-point.com

Do you want to increase profitability?

There are four gears you can pull in order to increase profitability. Sales, price, fixed cost and variable cost. You can increase the first two and you can decrease the last two. These will increase your profitability. Arguably, the easiest to do is increasing price but it is the one that most companies are most afraid to do.

Ever spent more time on your pricing strategy?

Let us help. Call us now at +60378901079 or visit us at roar-point.com

Do you think you can make it up?

“I will make it back with volume.”

If you are losing 2 cents on every good sold, there is no way you can make it back by selling more. Don’t confuse “loss leaders” with making a loss. Even then I would argue that you should never make a loss on what you sell. Bare minimum, sell it at cost price if you are playing the loss leader game.

Can you lead if you are losing?

Let us help. Call us now at +60378901079 or visit us at roar-point.com

Are you making money?

The percentage of your mark-up from the cost of your product is not your profit margin. Some of you may know that. But you will be surprised at how many so-called marketers out there do not understand this simple concept.

Most marketers tend to leave this to the finance or accounting department; when pricing is the sole determinant in the marketing mix that truly delivers profit to the business.

Just for good measure, here are some profit margin formulas you may want to get intimate with.

Take back the one responsibility that can seal your ultimate value as a marketer to the company.

What value do you deliver?

Let us help. Call us now at +60378901079 or visit us at roar-point.com

Can you conquer your niche?

Start with your niche. Be the big shark in that small pond. Aim to be the monopoly in the niche. If you can do that, you would have learned key lessons about your strengths to fight in a bigger pond without being eaten alive too early, or worse; drown yourself too early.

Start small and grow. There is nothing wrong with it. Nature has been doing it for millennia.

Do you want to be a monopoly?

Let us help. Call us now at +60378901079 or visit us at roar-point.com

How do you grow future fruits?

If you keep relying on performance marketing, the bottom of the funnel; all you are doing is harvesting the current demand.

To nurture future demand so that you have continuous fruits to harvest, spend time on the top of the funnel. The brand stuff, the omnichannel stuff. That gets you the brand fame and brand saliency. What we know, we trust better. That helps consumers click on that performance marketing ad easier when it appears.

Are you nurturing your tree?

Let us help. Call us now at +60378901079 or visit us at roar-point.com

What is your last lap?

In a previous post we talked about price being the key determinant of your profit. So don’t be too focused on only one P in your marketing mix. Distribution is the last leg connecting your product and service to the consumer. Don’t neglect it. No, it is not true that if something is good, they will come. It’s more like, if they can’t find you, you will die.

Find multiple sources of distribution. Especially find at least one that you can be pretty good at and solidify from there. Make it strong then build others. Oh, never ever rely on one. Even if you are selling on the interweb, the rule of physical availability still rules.

Do you have the stamina for the full race?

Let us help. Call us now at +60378901079 or visit us at roar-point.com

Are you afraid of selling?

The person who makes sales look easy took years of hard work to get there. She learned the art of persuasion, listening, empathizing. Making the buyer feel like he made the decision himself. She made it look like she didn’t sell him anything, but feel like he bought it himself.

Your marketing and advertising are mere bombers in the air. They serve a function. But at the end of the day, the infantry needs to get in and secure the land.

If you don’t see any infantry in your organization, you are the infantry.

Do you ever persuade?

Let us help. Call us now at +60378901079 or visit us at roar-point.com

What will blind you?

When you think you know a lot. When you feel all you know is true and correct. When you fail to realize what you don’t know and don’t bother to find out more.

You will read all these and feel that it is not you. But spend a week observing yourself talk to your family, you colleagues, your clients and your suppliers. See how many times you argue and poo-poo what they say. Fighting to be right rather than to learn.

What will enlighten you?

Let us help. Call us now at +60378901079 or visit us at roar-point.com

Where is your profit coming from?

Most marketers when speaking about marketing are almost always referring to marketing communications or what is called advertising generally. Sometimes, sales.

Amongst the four marketing tactical levers that a marketer can use, the ‘pricing’ P is the one that can deliver and most directly affects profitability. However, you don’t see marketing people discussing this as often as they should or be as territorial as they should over who has a strategic stake in determining the product’s price.

Shouldn’t you be looking into pricing?

Let us help. Call us now at +60378901079 or visit us at roar-point.com

Who aren't you selling to?

Defining who aren’t you selling to can help you define your target, sharpen your product and get your marketing objectives correct.

Think music genres. Musicians and their marketers are excellent examples for this. They purposefully exclude groups of people from their music because they know who their music is for and who it is NOT for.

Who is it for?

Let us help. Call us now at +60378901079 or visit us at roar-point.com

How much is it?

Of the 4Ps in your market, the price "P" is the one that can determine the profit of your company the most. If you know this, how much time have you spent on your pricing strategy?

Learn other ways besides cost plus as a way to determine your selling price. Don’t leave money on the table.

What’s your profit?

Let us help. Call us now at +60378901079 or visit us at roar-point.com

Who's doing it?

If everyone is doing it, then it is too safe. Do something different. Yes, it is risky. But it is the safest thing to do for your business. When you do what everyone else is doing, there is no differentiation. What is not distinctive doesn’t stand out. But you already know that.

What’s making you stand out?

Let us help. Call us now at +60378901079 or visit us at roar-point.com

Who’s helping?

 

If you assume no one is coming to help you. It will force you to be creative in the solutions to your business. Now that you are limited by what you can do, what would you do?

Don’t you think you will have an answer?

Let us help. Call us now at +60378901079 or visit us at roar-point.com 

You found your silver bullet?

 

When you understand the power of complementarity in media, you will not think one medium or one type of media is the end all be all to your marketing communications objectives. Some media builds reach, others build frequency well, yet some are good conversation starters and there are those that create impact.

They all complement one another. Finding that sweet spot is your job.

Who’s on your team?

Let us help. Call us now at +60378901079 or visit us at roar-point.com

Will it harm you?

New prescriptions on media or marketing can have toxic effects on your business, especially when not built on sound principles. The need for classic principles of marketing and media is ever more important in a world where noise replaces sound strategies.

Is it toxic?

Let us help. Call us now at +60378901079 or visit us at roar-point.com

What did you pay attention to?

You can focus on all the ads that you buy, how much sales you are getting and so on and so forth. I will still tell you, you are focusing on the wrong things. If you focused on your segmentation, made a tough decision on your target and then your position, you are halfway there in getting it right. The next step would be on your marketing objectives. There is another half. But that is for another time.

Most managers and business owners tend to forget the most crucial thing on their marketing plan.

Did you see correctly?

Let us help. Call us now at +60378901079 or visit us at roar-point.com

How do you want to be treated?

Perhaps you will never forget how people treat you now. Not even after you are dead. But how people treat you now may be how you treated them before. Instead of being angry at how you are being treated, maybe it’s better to reflect and ask, “What could I have done better?”

The treatment you have now could be people unleashing their grudges against you. Just as you are holding a grudge against them now.

Be humble when you are high and mighty. You probably forgot how you behaved when you were down and lowly. 

It’s easy to be angry but tough to admit we could have done better before.

How did you treat them?

Let us help. Call us now at +60378901079 or visit us at roar-point.com

Who needs to be in you?

If you are going to start a business, can I suggest this? You need these 3 parts in you. An artist, a technician and a manager.

You need the mind of an artist that strives for all the idealism without a care for budget, and can see that big hairy audacious goal you are striving for.

You need the technician to be able to handle the expertise side of things. To be really good at delivering whatever that you say you will deliver. In short, giving the best to your customers every single time.

You need the manager to be the practical person to manage the business. The finance, the accounting, the numbers, the legal, operations and a million other small details. Basically, to organize everything in order.

If you don’t have all these three parts in you, either employ or find a business partner that can make the sum of the parts work.

Where can you find them?

Let us help. Call us now at +60378901079 or visit us at roar-point.com