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Adding Premium Products To Your Business Mix
Have you considered increasing your profits through premiums? What is a premium? A premium can be many things such as an additional level of service, additional products, additional attention, reduced waiting times, faster turnaround, greater access, higher standards of products or increased results.
In any business there will always be people willing and keen to pay more and receive a premium level of service. If your business doesn't offer a premium level service, you will be leaving money on the table and not meeting the needs of potentially some of your best customers.
People who are willing to pay a premium often are or become your strongest fans and your staunchest allies, provided you meet your end of the bargain and deliver outstanding value. A premium offer is more than just fancy branding or cool looking design it needs to trickle through to premium service and results for the best outcomes for your business.
Value Based Fees
Premium fees are not just for everyday businesses. This issue has been hotly debated in the accounting and legal professions, many of whom are moving away from standard time based billing to value based fees.
Work by authors such as Alan Weiss & Ronald J Baker have pioneered a re-thinking of how these very traditional industries package their services. If you currently bill by the hour for your business, it would pay to buy some books to understand how value based fees work.
Upselling
If you are in a non-hourly billing business, then you need to look at how you can add a premium. Let's start with the simplest premium service upselling. If you are a retailer, the concept of upselling is not a new one. It doesn't have to be as blunt as "would you like fries with that", but upselling can and does make additional profits.
If someone buys a dress then upsell the customer that great necklace that perfectly matches the dress. If someone buys cough medicine then upsell the customer with soft tissues and a thermometer. The challenge is a recent study showed that less than half of all shop assistants routinely practice upselling during transactions. Look at setting up automatic prompts on your point of sale cash register to help remind them, and reward employees who regularly upsell if you want this behaviour to change.
For an online business you can also upsell through your sales process recommending additional products that the customer may find useful either at point of sale or through follow up emails.
Bundling
Bundling is another way to create premium products. Look at goods or services you normally provide separately and create a logical "bundle" of pre-packaged products in one convenient transaction. If you bill by the hour bundle your hours into different levels of packages that people can purchase rather than just your flat hourly rate.
Adding value
Adding value is an easy way to add a premium. Your e-book or report can be supported by MP3 or video training, which is also supported by transcribed notes and copies of overhead transparency slides. Record your training sessions and make the session available for purchase or download. You can also record your interviews or brainstorming meetings and provide copies to the client, or simply add a new or different level of service.
Time premium
Place a value on your time. Many freelance businesses or small businesses find they will move mountains to help clients meet tight deadlines. The trouble is by doing this all the time you train your clients to expect you to always be able to do this for them. A "rush job" surcharge is one way around this. You are compensated for burning the midnight oil and missing out on family time and your client learns to either give more lead-time or is willing to pay the premium.
Access
Increased access is an interesting premium. People value interaction with knowledge experts think of celebrity auctions or fans going to extraordinary lengths to meet their idols. In business, direct access to the key person or knowledge owner is a valuable commodity. The ability to ask questions and have them answered by an expert can't be underestimated. Many premium products include unlimited access to the expert, or some increased level of access.
Contacts
Have you ever read about "million dollar rolodex's?" That is not just marketing hype access to contacts is a great resource for people. Being introduced to people in the know, forging alliances and finding great other businesses saves time and builds income. Granting people access to your contacts is another great premium service.
The trick is to realise that people buy value. If you make a great offer packed full of demonstrated value then you will attract significantly more higher end buyers. How can you create a premium product for your business?
About the Author Ingrid Cliff is a freelance writer and the Chief Word Wizard of Heart Harmony - a writing services studio that helps put your business into words. For a free copy of the "7 Secrets of Compelling Copy & Powerful Words" visit her website www.heartharmony.com.au .
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