To help you and your business navigate the disruptions of the federal government shutdown, we’re sharing practical tips and resources below. Topics include pricing, marketing, and joint ventures. We hope these tools and insights help strengthen your resilience and ensure your business stays on track—no matter the circumstances.
The Psychology of Pricing: How to Attract and Retain Customers
- Numbers matter in pricing – charm pricing is setting a price below a round number so that it feels significantly lower even though the actual difference is negligible. Think $19.99 instead of $20.
- When offering a discount, use the Rule of 100 – if your product or services cost less than $100, show the discount as a percentage. If your product or services cost more than $100, show the discount as a dollar amount. This simple tweak makes your offer appear larger and more appealing to customers.
- The power of reciprocity – give value before you ask for a sale. A free resource, small bonus, or genuine act of help creates goodwill and makes customers more likely to buy, refer, or return. People naturally want to give back when they’ve been given something of value.
- Reactivate former customers – you’ve earned their trust once, help them remember what you offer. It is five times easier to sell to a past customer than to a brand-new one.
- Joint ventures and alliances – leverage relationships to grow without spending money by collaborating with complementary businesses to share services with clients who need what you offer.
- Work to make your business newsworthy – use the power of free publicity in local media, blogs, and community platforms. Launch something new, support a cause, host an event, or take advantage of the season (such as Thanksgiving, Veteran’s Appreciation, Plaid Friday) and share that info directly with writers, bloggers, and as social posts
- Look for partners who share your target audience but aren’t direct competitors and collaborate with them on reaching your shared customers
- JVs can provide co-marketing, cross-referral systems, bundles or co-branded offers, and event collaborations
- JV Partnership Examples:
- Event Rental Company + Venue
- Cafe + Local Bookstore
- Marketing Agency + Local Printer
*Click each header above to watch these past webinars back for more details about each tactic.