Challenges,  Clients & Customers,  Communication,  Entrepreneurs,  Marketing

Human Behavior & don’t do what BMW just did…

I’ve been reading books about human behavior and marketing, my most favorite subject.

It’s something I’ve always been fascinated about – human behavior and why people do what they do, specifically when it comes to marketing and why people buy.

I almost got a degree in psychology and went on to explore more. Instead, with my dad’s encouragement, I decided to change my major to journalism/advertising and minored in psychology.

One of the many books I’ve read (Alchemy by Rory Sutherland) talked about the issue of money and human behavior. When it comes to SPENDING money, that’s not a big issue. We know how to do that well. 🙂

And we spend money to solve a problem or issue, to feel good, or reward ourselves with something.

The real challenge when it comes to money and human behavior and where we throw up our arms in disgust and sometimes despair is when we have no control over certain things we have to pay for.

You know, when the bill is a surprise. Like when it comes to taxes.

They come in all kinds – real estate taxes (Mine just went up after the sale of my house!), income taxes, and even how much we pay for utilities (which are going up cuz of the heat – sheesh. I think we need to invest in solar.)

Whether you’re an employee for a company or work for yourself, it’s still a crapshoot when it comes to paying income tax. The big question – did you pay enough? Will you get your money back, or do you owe more money?

Hence, it can be frustrating when it comes to taxes because you don’t have much control over them.

Then I read a fascinating article this past week about car manufacturers, how one, in particular, wants to up the game of owners having to pay monthly fees for the ownership of their vehicle.

What??

Yep, talk about not having control over costs, even when buying a car, and now BMW wants to get into the monthly subscription service game! (I have one, so I was definitely concerned about this.)

According to theDrive.com, there was a huge buzz and a bit of angry craziness around how BMW was now going to make its buyers pay monthly to use their “Function on Demand” services such as heated seats and driver assist cameras, and more.

I’m not surprised this created a huge stir. And It’s a good lesson for all businesses to take heed.

When you buy something considered a luxury or highly valued product, service, or in this case, a car – you’re paying a premium, and the last thing you want is to feel nickel and dimed.

Keep this in mind when rolling out any high-value/high-priced program, product, service, etc. – You are better off including everything, including bonuses for one price.

Indeed, you could break it up into separate volumes or programs with individual pricing.

Yet, it’s always the best bet to offer what Dan Kennedy used to call the Big Enchilada – where he sold ALL 76 of his courses for one price – $15k. And have NO HIDDEN FEES (or surprise costs.)

Don’t make the mistake of nickel and diming your dream clients or customers. Think through your pricing and your offer for what you’re selling. Adding more value is best as showing it and telling them the benefits.

In my experience and working with the top dogs in online marketing – don’t make the mistake BMW just did and ask someone to pay $50k or more for a car and then get them to pay monthly for things you thought were included in the price.

See, even big companies make mistakes and hopefully learn from them.

In many cases, greed is definitely not good.

That’s why you’re here.

It’s not about how much money we can make or get from customers and clients…

It’s about HOW MUCH VALUE we can bring and give them to help inspire and transform them and their businesses.

Think about your business and your offers for your courses, products, services, and more.

Questions to Ask Yourself:

  • How are you pricing your offers?
  • Have you gotten feedback from clients/customers?
  • Are you ensuring you’ve conveyed the value and your clients/customers feel like they’re getting a valuable deal?
  • Are you looking at all your courses, products, and services and offering a “big enchilada” deal?

Just know – Packages are good. There’s always room to offer monthly memberships, masterclasses, masterminds, and more.

Plus, it’s always beneficial to learn from others’ mistakes like BMW.

On another note — It’s hot, hot, hot this week – It’s gonna be 106 today – eeek. I’m grateful for air conditioning, ceiling fans, and how it’s still cool for my 6 am walks with the dogs!

Happy halfway mark of 2022 – holy moly – the year’s half over…

There’s still time to get your business on track. Reach out – I’d love to help you!

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