Brave or Stupid?

[FionaFell]

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I am either very brave or very stupid.

I am now letting prospective clients “choose their own price” for my website design services.

http://www.fionafell.com.au/pay-what-its-worth

Will be interesting to see how it works. (All part of a larger marketing plan, setting myself apart from the crowd)

[Dave Bockett]

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Good on you Fiona!

With an online business it’s so easy to try different approachs to your marketing, pricing etc. If one idea doesn’t work it’s just a case of dropping it and moving onto the next idea.

Love the flow diagram to help people understand the process.

Might have to do a follow up interview with you just to find out how it goes!

Dave.

[Craig_H]

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I’m not sure, it could work out very well or very badly.

There was a restaurant here in Perth that operated on the same principal and they lasted awhile but ended up closing due to lack of profits.

I think if people were ethical its a really good move but society these days with its ‘out for myself’ attitude and complete lack of ethics I’m not so sure.

Good on you for giving something different a shot. Will be interested to see how it goes.

[donnafrithdesign]

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I think it sounds like a great experiment Fiona, it will be really interesting to see how it goes. I really like how the flow chart presents the process and makes it clear that your services do have a certain value; that the arrangement is more about identifying how you can provide a service that matches the client’s budget rather than it being a free-for-all that a certain kind of person might abuse. Hopefully this is enough to set the tone and attract the right clients.

Good luck with it

[FionaFell]

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Thanks for all the feedback so far, i put in the flow chart to explain that you can’t get a website for ‘a buck sixty-five’ – but you can have something that matches your budget.

I am hoping it can be used to gather some enquires of people needing a hand, but looking for good value.

[Chris Bates]

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It brings to the fore one of the harder parts of communicating pricing to a prospect.

When we ask for your budget, it’s not so we can charge you exactly that – it’s so we can come up with a solution that FITS your budget.

This could be a very good approach for bridging that, by getting them to open up on their budget before hand.

[FionaFell]

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I see it helping bridge that gap as mentioned by Chris.

– What do you want?
– What can your spend?
– How much of what you want can I give you for the amount you can spend!

[Trish FCA]

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Love your flow chart, Fiona. I’d like to thank your parents for your lovely manners Please and thank you never go astray.

Keep us posted on how it’s working for you.

[FionaFell]

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Thank you Trish. (On behalf of my parents)

I’m glad the flow chart puts a bit of my personality out there, because that is the kind of experience, one with courtesy and respect, that I like to share in my business daily.

(As a service provider and as a customer!)

[natj]

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Fiona, well done.
I have to admit the thing that shocks me the most about this new concept is the fact that you are invoicing 100% on commissioning.
Wow!
Does this work? I mean is that the norm?
Really surprised. I would not part with more than 50% of my budget without seeing a tiny bit of evidence of your work….maybe I’m just a miserable old woman.and you’d get the last 50% when the whole job is finished. That’s how I operate with my marketing business.

I’d be interested to see if I’m the odd one on this one.

[Glassangel]

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I think it is a great idea. I’ve been looking into web design (as a need for our business not as something I do) – and this approach appeals to me

because…

1. I don’t want to pay for something I don’t need and

2. It creates a sense of trust…for some reason reading through that gave me a sense of trust that you would do the right thing by me (maybe its the please and thankyou!?)

[@HeatherSmithAU]

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I have tried this before, and it did not work, they opted not to pay.

but I wish u the best of luck!

[YoungNomad]

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I think in theory it’s a great idea – the practical application is going to be very tricky.

It’s the same as looking at a webiste for a product, and they don’t put prices up – I switch off straight away. I want to know what my dollar is going to achieve, or else I will go to any number of competitors.

I think a much better approach would be to figure out the average cost of your competitors, and then charge a flat fee for web design. Undercut your competition, but make your service and product delivery top shelf. Offer a 10% reduction if they can match your offer from another service provider.

I personally don’t think the wheel needs to be re-invented in terms of marketing – the simple stuff works! Give a superior service, offer immaculate service delivery, and charge less … the phone will not stop ringing. Circumspect or confusing ploys will do exactly that – confuse your target market.

[Chris Bates]

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Erik, website design is not an industry you want to compete on price in.

If you do compete on price, you may as well just go work at your local KMart.

I expected someone with the number of achievements under his belt such as you wouldn’t be advising people to compete on dollars – I’m actually really surprised. That is such an old school mindset!

@Fiona – Charge what you’re bloody well worth. You have a wealth of testimonials and results achieved there to demonstrate that you’re a grade above 90% of web designs out there.

Erik, you must understand that there are different type of web designers.
1) Designers who suck at developing
2) Developers who suck at designing
3) Designers who can develop too!

Fiona is one of them rare #3’s.

[YoungNomad]

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Hi Chris,

I’m simply offering a different approach to “pay what you think its worth”. With this approach, it seems to me she is appealing to the bottom end client base, and therefore a cut price service may be relevant – especially if she has the skills to compete with the more cost prohibitive providers.

I’m not really sure why you are surprised at my suggestions? My industry is probably one of the most overvalued – industry norm is commission at 3% the VALUE of someones home to sell. Grossly inflated and unjustified. I do it for 6k, which is roughly 50% less than all my competitors – and I have carved a massive niche and following.

At the start, everyone told me I was crazy to compete on price … now I’m the one driving a Ferrari and retiring at 29. Therefore I think my points are valid, and I’d probably suggest you research someone a bit more before discounting their points as invalid.

Cheers

[Author]

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