Whether you are selling a brand, product, or service, the most important part of the sales cycle is the customer, and probably the ultimate goal for most business owners. What happens when your customers think or perceive your product as too expensive? You might think that lowering your prices or increasing your marketing will do the trick, but this could just result in losing your customers’ interest or worse, losing the sale.

The best approach in this situation is to elevate the value of your product or service. When a customer overlooks the price of a product or service, because of the benefits that impact them specifically, it is called perceived value.

This “value” varies between customers because everyone has different values and cultures. This technique helps to enhance the value of your product and make it worth so much in the eyes of others that the price will not matter. For example, luxury goods brands as Cartier, Louis Vuitton, Prada or Rolex managed the brand equity and perceived value expertly, and are able to command very high prices for their products, and they rarely have to offer discounts for their products.

Here are 4 free and simple ways to add value to your product or service.

Target Customer Values

This may be a no-brainer, but you cannot increase the value of your product, without knowing your customers’ values. With this being said, you must be familiar with your customers either through email marketing, surveys, analytics, or social media presence.

Through consumer product research, you can take a deep dive into their demographics and learn about their cultural, social, purchase habits and personal values and how they impact your product. Read more about this in Tomo360’s article The Importance of Customer Profiling. From here, tweak your product values to match the values of your customers. For example, if your customers are environmental advocates, your marketing messages should be crafted to emphasize the value around this area.

Benefits Sell, Not Features

When a customer is deciding whether to buy a product or not, they care about how it benefits them. Sometimes this could be emotional satisfaction, in other words, a brand could be an extension of their image and satisfy their needs. For example, I always wanted to own an Audi because my friends own them, and I wanted one too! By advertising only the features of your product or service, you seldom catch anyone’s eye. It is important to remember to focus on what the customer will gain from the product, as well as how it will impact their families, or the environment.

Provide Giveaways

Most people love freebies and giveaways. If there appears to be more with your product – it’ll be worth the price! Adding freebies, trial offers, free ebooks, or bonuses with your product can hype up the value. For example, try adding in a sample of another product, or creative packaged promotions. If customers think that they’re getting more, they will overlook the price.

Maintain a Positive Image

Peer reviews are more powerful than a sales pitch. Customers enjoy hearing success stories and what other customers are saying about your product. Include them in your social media, website, or YouTube. When customers can relate on a personal level and see that others have used the products and enjoyed them, it pushes them to buy. If your customers love your products, they will want friends to know about it. Turn customers into advocates by creating incentives for them when they brag about you.

Remember that the basic formula for customer value is Benefits – Cost = Customer Value – so make sure your products’ value & benefits are perceived to be “worth” more than the cost, to keep customers happy and your business growing.

Did you like this article? You must be interested in your customers? We are, too! Try reading Successful Marketing Programs for Current Customers next.