In the previous articles we’ve looked at some of the reasons why so many websites don’t even make a passing reference to prices. There are a couple more commonly-cited justifications for this though.
One that I particularly dislike is that it would somehow put the sales team at a competitive disadvantage if the price list were out there. As far as customers go, I genuinely think it’s an advantage in converting website visitors to enquiries. And as for the competition, if letting their sales team know our prices is driving the issue, we really need to reassess our priorities (which, I needn’t remind you, should be customers).
I suspect most of us know our competitors’ prices anyway. In which case, they’ll know ours.
Finally, there’s the argument that “all of our sales are bespoke systems or customised products, so there’s no simple quotable price”. This may well be true. But my local car showroom rarely sells two cars in a week at the same price, such are the customisation options available. They wouldn’t dream of advertising the car as ‘price on request’. Sure, they’d expect to do some sort of ‘deal’ with a customer wanting a lot of optional extras. However, every extra is still priced clearly, up front.
What if there’s system building involved, at a price? Again, customers expect to pay for this, and even if an accurate figure can’t be given on a website, an indication certainly can be.
Final part tomorrow.