Beating The KMart Booth
I’m sure we probably all agree that competition is a good thing. But sometimes it can be really frustrating. You may have a really great product, but you see another booth that has something similar and is selling it for dirt cheap.
You know the quality isn’t near what yours is. You know the items won’t last. Yet, you find yourself struggling to compete with them. There’s no way you could sell your items for that price. You’d take a serious loss. What do you do? Just figure you have to tough it out and figure that it’s a loss?
To that I would say "No Way!". Sometimes it can be hard to see past the frustration. However, the challenge of competing with cheaper products has been around ever since there has been commerce. There are a lot of companies being very successful at beating the cheaper product. I’d like to start a discussion here as to how you can successfully beat the cheap booth. One of my readers referred to it as the KMart booth. That’s how this post got it’s name.
To start let me encourage you to post your thoughts. Take a minute and add a comment or frustration to the list. It really helps others to know they’re not the only ones struggling with a given issue. If you have some ideas and some success stories please feel free to share those too.
So what can you do to sell your products when you’re competing against cheaper products? The first key I’d like to highlight is that you shouldn’t be competing on price. At first that might not make sense to you. You might be used to thinking that the only thing that matters to a customer is price. But, that just isn’t the case.
Consider these three items from the article Value-pricing strategy: "We’re not the cheapest but…".
- Customers are value conscious rather than price conscious e.g. some customers will pay extra for prompt delivery.
- Customers assign a personal value to a product or service e.g. a teenager is willing to pay a premium price for a concert performed by his idol.
- The selling price is based on customers’ perceived value rather than on the vendor’s costs e.g. an ebook costs less to produce than a paperback but readers will pay more for it because of the value placed on format and instant delivery.
The idea is that you should be competing not on the price of your product, but on the value of your product. People aren’t just buying the other product because they see it as cheaper. They buy it because they think they are getting the value they want.
They might even know that the product in that other booth isn’t as good as yours. They have it in their mind that for what they are paying the cheaper product is good enough. It is better than paying the higher price even for a better product.
So what you are competing against isn’t price. It’s value. You’re competing against the mindset that they are getting something good enough for what they paid. This is often times called perceived value. What you need to do is change that perception. You need to change what they perceive the value of your product to be. You need them to compare what they get from purchasing your product with what they get from purchasing a cheaper product and see yours as giving them more of what they want.
So just how do you do that? How do you change that perception? This is exactly what we are going to talk about. So stay tuned, and jump in with your comments at any time.
Search Terms:
Value Based Selling
Value Added Sales
You are SO right on this. I market my things…orginial design; all made by me; made in the USA; will custom make. People like to talk to the person that makes the products and that will sell the product faster than anything.
Eva
Yes, I also think the originality and personality of the crafter are important. More the clients admire us, find us nice, original, interesting, passionate, more they will be able to buy our products, even expensive ones.
If they have the feeling they will be the only ones to own it/them, it is important too.
If we love our own product, it’s a first step to make our customers love them too. We must not feel sorry or apologize for the price of them, what doesn’t mean either that the price must be insane, but if we are able to explain our items, how they are created (without giving all the secrets), how we made them with love and patience, time spent on them, all that without being aggressive or make the customers guilty, we have a big chance to make these same customers appreciate these items for what they really are : unique.
I also think our products must be useful and can last a long time. So, if they are expensive, it is justified by their utility and their long-lasting quality.
If we can make dream our customers a little, it’s better, because it puts them in a fantasy and they will buy without understanding what happened to them !
Not easy to do, needs some training, but we can do it after a while.
We must give the feeling that life is fun and made to buy our creations. If we reach that goal, we win and earn, that’s sure.
Happy New Year to all,
Yael
I love handmade items, I never hesitate to buy them. I sew, crochet, just learned to knit. With years of sewing under my belt I can see a handmade piece a mile away, that I wouldn’t buy. When shopping online I can tell by looking at the pics whethter or not there is quality workmanship put into a piece. When I see it, it’s bought.
I don’t need to read a profile or anything, the work itself says it all to me.
I like the thought that customers would see the difference between quality and junk. It would be nice if they all had Sherryl’s talent for spotting the quality goods. Sadly, that just isn’t the way it is.
I entirely agree that getting the opportunity to talk one on one with people is one of your greatest assets. It’s where you have the opportunity to shine and make a real connection with potential customers. No doubt, the connection people make with the artist is one of the reasons people end up making a purchase.
However, even if you take the cheap items out of the picture (and in some venues it’s a real problem), you still need to consider how to make your product more attractive.
Let’s suppose someone comes along and talks to you and the person in the booth next to you. You have similar items. You are both very likable people. Which person does the customer buy from? How is it you can add value to your items so that they buy from you?
It isn’t that you don’t like the person in the booth next to you, but this business and you must compete.
In shows, I sell vintage stuff a lot. But mainly my bread and butter sales are literally that- bread and butter! I am known mostly for my Finnish cardamom bread in our area. I also do some other special things like marionberry coffeecakes, stuff like that. I use REAL butter in my baking, and I sell it fresh, not previously frozen. A lot of people sell their stuff from the freezer! I don’t apologize for my price (I’ve been told I need to raise it LOL), b/c I know I’ve put quality ingredients into it. And people know that I’m funny about this, and customers who might buy one loaf of bread from me often return the next time and buy several. I’m not an overly confident person, but in this, I am proud, b/c I know I’ve done my best. Gaining some confidence in your product helps your customer know it’s something different that the cheaper thing.
I agree, presentation is everything.
It can be daunting, and frustrating, with some of the competition now days. But I, luckily, have the personality to hold my own during a craft sale. My sister always said I could sell a pair of glasses to a blind person. No offense!
But online selling is a completely different world because your potential customer can’t touch and feel and hold the item you are offering and see the quality first hand. And it’s a little harder/trickier to get them to feel your passion.
Unfortunately, for me, I live in an area where craft/art sales do not do very well. And the larger cities are so far away that I just can’t do the traveling as much. So I rely on the internet more and more.
I’ve also found I’ve spent so much time researching HOW to market, that I’ve not done ANY of the marketing that I normally do, and that’s really hurt this winter.
If you do something well and it works, stick with it. There is no magic solution, and not everything works for everyone. So, for me, it’s back to what I do best. Back to the forums to feed my passion for my product to the buyers and keep on creating!! lol
I love the article, and the comments! Thanks everyone
I understand what you mean about studying how to market and not doing any marketing. It can be a tough balance. You want to increase your knowledge and move forward, but you need to also spend time selling your products. The money has to still come in and there are only so many hours in a day.
You have to look at it as an investment. You’re looking to improve and increase business. The education is well worth it in the long run. You just have to decide when the right time is to invest.