Pay us what you think it’s worth – a pricing experiment
So, if it’s good enough for Radiohead, posh London restaurants, and local entrepreneur Robert Craven…
For our next training event, The One Day Marketing Plan, we’re trialling a bold approach to pricing.
A very bold approach.
You buy yourself a £5 entry pass (which doesn’t even cover the cost of the lunch) and after the event we’ll follow-up asking people to pay us what they think the day was worth.
Why are we doing it?
There are a few reasons. Not least that we simply wanted to take money out of the equation. The workshop itself shows people how to invest time, rather than money, in marketing their small business. And so, the ‘pay us what you think it’s worth’ underlines the point, all people need give up is their time.
Secondly, we wanted something interesting to talk about… and putting our heads on the block like this is certainly something to talk about. There are loads of training courses people can go to, and whilst we’re confident that our content stands us apart, the pricing strategy certainly does!
Lastly, the experiment will help us to understand what people are really willing to pay. Granted, a few people will no doubt use the option to get themselves a cheap day’s training. But, we’re hoping that most will give us a genuine view of what they’re happy to pay. This will tell us whether these events are worth putting on again in future, and at what price.
Are we crazy?
Possibly. The workshop is a full day run by two experts in their field – each with hefty day-rates for their consultancy services. We also need to spend time preparing the material, promoting the event, etc. And, of course there are the venue costs. Depending on numbers, if this backfires, we’ll be standing to lose between £200-600 in venue fees… and upwards of £2,000 in opportunity cost.
Would you like to know how it goes?
So, it’s an experiment. We’re going to give it a go. Keep an eye out towards the end of February, when I will write up the results – warts and all.
By Bryony Thomas | Chief Clear Thinker | Clear Thought Consulting Ltd | @bryonythomas | www.clear-thought.co.uk
Clear Thought Consulting works with small businesses, equipping them with the marketing strategies, suppliers, skills and set-up that they need to become bigger businesses. We do this by planning and delivering 12-month marketing transformation programmes – supporting a small business through a step-by-step process to making marketing pay. We firmly believe that when you can’t out-spend your competition, you have to out-think them.
Published on 20 January 2011
