The first month half off ?

I am playing with the idea of offering half price for the first month ,
but as i read through professional tarot by christine jette she said this on page 32

"when you are starting out, there is a place for an apprenticeship period where you charge a smaller fee then that the standard rate in order to introduce yourself and establish a clientele; but this can be a self-defeating practice in the long haul. it may be a difficult to raise your rates once you charge too little and you have become the victim of what I call the "ongoing sale" syndrome.

so just before i read that i was toying with the idea of going half price for december and janaury but now I am not so sure.
I sure don't want to fall into the ongoing sale syndrome.

You could do an "Special Introductory Sale" instead for a day or two here and there, but don't make it either regular or ongoing. We tried something like that at our shop (5 minute reading FREE for new customers) and we got 3 new customers who went to each of us for 5 minutes and where never seen again. We had not specified that they had to have some paid reading with that, so it was on us...but people will take advantage sometimes just because they can.

there are always people who just want something for nothing.

setting prices is always going to be an issue, in any business. too high and you get few takers; too low and you get stuck with customers who care more about price than quality and will jump ship as soon as someone a little cheaper comes along... which they will in this era of undercutting. I see this a lot in my clothing business. people are used to paying very little for their cheap imported crap made by people getting slave wages and complain when my domestically made, small-run, original garments do not have walmart prices.

rates for readings seem to be all over the map! I've been researching this and have been amazed by the amounts some folks charge (both high and low end). I think you have to decide what *you* think is fair, and then see how it goes. there is also something to be said for not charging your absolute lowest possible price right out the gate as then you can't ever afford to have a sale.

Hi Interesting thoughts...
What works for me? F2f readings in my Healing Room $40 (30-45 mins) bring a friend and save $10 so 2 Readings $70 (1 hr-1 1/2 hrs)

Expos make it $30 but stick to 1/2 hr or $15 10-15 mins....

yesterday at Black Friday promo made it $15 did 10-15 mins(max) did 11 readings in 3 hrs........ so worked real well for me.....

Email special could be for this Month only ....
Have a selected Reading (make it a reading that gets you max return.....Your top dollar reading..) and be one of the lucky 3 that recieve xtra 3 cards follow up reading in 6 Weeks.........(it isn't costing you to actually discount your Readings within that first month but they get something out it.........) Follow through and you will get repeat customers.....

have tried it when i first started and it worked.......really well.......
I actually ended up giving all the clients (had approx a dozen new clients...) a one card follow up email reading..they were wrapped....plus the 3 clients got a three card follow up.....some became repeat clients Readings every six months or so..........some sooner...... some not at all... but they have referred others to me......so all good....

Email readings are not huge but they are okay........I still love f2f readings, expos, markets etc,.... so always looking for ways to promote .......

Good luck

Vesta

I feel special pricing should be a reward for good customers.
If you want to do something to generate business try a buy three get the fourth one free. You need to keep good records
Or give them a code word/number that they need to remember to give you when they request their fourth great Holmes reading.

I think it would be better to take advantage of the season and design a promotional gift certificate for people to give/get for Christmas. This way people who are gifted with the certificate won't know it was a "sale item" and you can convert them to ongoing clients who expect to pay full rate. And the bargain hunters can buy one for themselves and you'll at least get a chance with them that way.

Rather than a one off discount reading, maybe offer 3 for the price of 2 or something like that, which will also work to convert one off clients into repeat customers.

Or charge full price, but offer something free in the mix. e.g. "buy a 6 card reading now, and get a voucher for a free 3 card reading later" (gives you something to promote, and a way to encourage a repeat visit). Or "buy a 6 card reading, and get a free upgrade to a 9 card reading" etc...

Rev_Vesta said:

Hi Interesting thoughts...
Expos make it $30 but stick to 1/2 hr or $15 10-15 mins....

yesterday at Black Friday promo made it $15 did 10-15 mins(max) did 11 readings in 3 hrs........ so worked real well for me.....


Vesta

Click to expand...

This is great Rev I tried to do it but my problem is that I can not stick to the 10/15min ever and I will not ask for more money if i see something in the card and it is taking longer because of the dialogue I am not going to stop the client and say times up hummm I need to figure out a different technique
which needs another thread probably

yes timing can be an issue...

for me I work with 23 cards.... I get one sentence out of each card.... that are relevant to the client because I put the cards in sets of 3 it really works out a sentence joining 3 cards together 7 sets plus an xtra 2 cards for final summary..... it is practice in tying it all together....making it as simple and clear as poss for the client.. straight to the point, no waffling... say what I mean with no rambling on..... the clients seem to like all the info coming together so quickly... people loose concentration quite quickly if you seem to waffle on.....
so it becomes real value for money thing for the client.......They see the value of the info coming from the cards..... without trying to give every single detail out of each card........that is irrelevant..... (hope that made sense...)...

I feel once the client reads the reading you give, and it has the x factor, the client knows the value and can tell others what value you offer, no matter what you charge.........so price becomes irrelevant...to the client.... they just need to know you have the service they require........So promotion does not always warrent a discount of any sort or a freebie......

Vesta

I agree with Christine Jette. I think it could be challenging to get someone who has paid $25 for a tarot reading to pay $50 for one later. I understand the "introductory offer" aspect I just think there would be resistance to pying more later.

These are interesting financial times of course so lowering prices could increase business. But there is a truism among sales people that may apply.

"If you want to increase revenue, don't drop your prices. Find a way to add value to the product/service and then raise the price."

Food for thought ;-)

in my business of designing and creating original clothing, we started out charging on the low end of standard. I don't believe in undercutting and would not knowingly perpetuate it, so we weren't exactly giving things away, but our stuff was a deal for the quality. when we had enough business to become concerned about our turnaround time, we raised prices and kept our high standards of quality.

speaking of food for thought... how about some thoughts from the pros on figuring out a pricing structure in general? because I have been looking at this and have seen prices on the internet that are *all* over the map - some so low that all I can do is shrug and some so high I wonder who could be paying so much. I don't want to undercut, but I do have a hard time imagining charging some of the more lofty prices I've seen out there. and of course there is also a *huge* middle ground. I bet I'm not the only one who would love to hear how you figured out what to charge and how to structure it.