The Corona Crash: Why now is the wrong time to slash your prices

1st April 2020

Up until now you’ve been doing pretty well right? Then there was this – the announcement, the lockdown, the fatalities, the panic, the purge. And now those orders are not flooding in. The phone does stop ringing. No one’s invited you to do a TED Talk yet and all the whispers of unicorns has vanished.

You can feel the icy fingers of failure tightening around your neck. So, you act. You make an introductory offer and drop your price. This brings in a few orders, but nothing sensational. So, you do it again, then again and again. Before you know it, every day will be sale day – spring sale, Easter sale, St Crispin’s Day sale, Burmese New Year. The price has become the message. You are now only about the price.

I call this affliction ‘Price Bombing’ or ‘Repetive Roundel Syndrome’ a term that’s made it into the Robot Mascot Glossary of Terms. It’s one of my cardinal sins of branding. I’ve been banging on about it for years and it’s just as relevant today as it’s ever been.

My business partner Daniel Priestly makes a good point about being cautious in dropping your prices. He states that if your price drops and the market drops, it’s like getting two blows to the gut.

For example:

30% less clients x 30% lower price is WORSE than a 50% drop in clients at your normal price. To see how this works have a look at the illustration below.

I know it’s tempting to flag that you’re cheaper than the competition or the low-cost alternative, but I’m pretty sure you didn’t set out to be a minor princeling in the land of slim pickings. This tactic could devalue your brand and drive your business into the ground.

We could view this unusual situation and the unusual times we find ourself in as a re-invention rather than a recession. It could be the time to innovate, to diversify and discover something new about yourself and your clients.

Instead of dropping your price here’s some things you could consider:

1. Ask clients what new challenges they face. They will have bigger problems now and they will need bigger solutions so this is a time of great opportunity for entrepreneurs.

2. There may be less clients now or they may be harder to acquire so make sure your service or product is the best in the market. Perhaps create additional features and benefits no one else has, perhaps you could improve the customer service or aftercare. Whatever you decide to do, be the best and turn your brand into an irresistible brand.

3. If you’ve branded correctly your core essence will always remain the same but what will change are the marketing messages around your brand and these will need to reflect the points above. Your new set of messages should become your marketing and they should convey an offer that is irresistible.

Always keep in mind why you did this in the first place, and don’t lose sight of what makes you great. View these challenging times as an opportunity. An opportunity to build a deeper relationship with your clients. If you live up to your words, people will remember and you’ll exit this shit storm as a leader. An investible entrepreneur with an irresistible brand and an irresistible offer.

Back to Articles