How do you compare the different values for services?

Netflix provides such a great value at a low cost that it’s impossible not to compare everything else to it.

And this leads to the main event, Netflix vs Daily Burn!

I also use the iPhone app called Daily Burn to track my calorie intake and workouts.

I was considering upgrading my Daily Burn account from the free version to the Pro. The free version of Daily Burn offers 90% of what you would ever use to track your daily nutrition and workout history. The Pro version gives you a little more flexibility and options to use tools the free version doesn’t have.

The practice of offering a good online product for free with the ability to upgrade is a super common strategy. As I was contemplating the pros and cons of upgrading my Daily Burn account, the cost of the Pro version was a stumbling block for me.

Daily Burn has two pro versions – the Pro Lite for $5.99/mo and the Pro for $9.99/mo. I was trying to compare the value I would gain by comparing the service to another service I pay for. The first thought that came to my mind was Netflix and the tremendous value they offer for $10/mo.

Like most of you, I love Netflix. In fact, I use Netflix as my primary source of digital entertainment. I stream Netflix to my TV and watch it on my laptop and iPhone. For $10 a month, Netflix delivers a huge amount of entertainment and value to its customers. By itself, Netflix takes up roughly 30% of the bandwidth for the entire Web (crazy!).

It was hard for me to justify ponying up $10/mo for the Daily Burn Pro when I might use it once or twice a day and it only has a few additional options/tools than the free version.

This raises the questions:

Is Netflix’s price structure too good to be true?

Is Daily Burn’s price structure out of whack?

I compare the services this way – Netflix is an obvious choice for me. I do not have to think about justifying the price. With Daily Burn, I have to sit and think about it. I question the value of their service.

When someone considers your product, will they think – Deal! – or will they question the value? If they have to contemplate the value, you have probably lost them as a premium or paid customer.

Perhaps Daily Burn’s Pro is a tremendous value but was presented horribly to me, the customer, allowing me to stumble over the cost.

If Daily Burn added video testimonials from Pro users talking about how the Pro version changed their lives, perhaps I would see the justification of the cost.

Instead, I’m going to stick with the way things are because the pain point is not obvious enough to me.

Do you compare the different values for services this way?

What other standards do you use to compare the costs of different services?

There is a myth that only the marketing department controls the brand outside your business’s four walls. Even if you are the programmer who never talks to a single client, your marketing is how the program works, feels and functions. If you are the front desk worker, your presence is marketing how you reach out to people both in person and over the phone. If you’re the boss, every policy you make markets how you feel about your employees and your company.

Knowing that marketing isn’t just one aspect handled by one small group within a company makes you examine how you can get greater returns on your marketing efforts. If you hire the best coder in the world yet the design and troubleshooting are highly lacking, how does that reflect on the company?

What about the HR person who is told to hire someone for the lowest cost? Someone can be excellent on paper, yet move the company in the wrong direction with her marketing. It’s no fault of the HR person if he was told to find the best person for the lowest cost.

If you have a customer support person who hammers out calls but lacks in personality or compassion, how does that make the customer feel? Look at zappos.com. They built an entire company around talking with people on a personal level.

When you want to focus your efforts on marketing, don’t forget to look at the other people in the company doing the marketing. Cheers.

This guest post is from Chelle, a freelance real estate marketing assistant and writer. If you enjoy this post, be sure to check out her real estate marketing blog for more marketing ideas. If you would like to guest post on the Unconventional Marketing Blog go to the guest post page to learn more.

There’s a very simple question that many marketers and businesses fail to ask themselves:

“What do people need?”

We think we know the answer to this, since most businesses offer specific products/services that meet specific needs. For example, if you are sick, you see a doctor. If you need your car fixed, you go to a mechanic. If you need to buy something, you go to a store. You have a need; the business meets it.

But what many businesses fail to recognize is most consumers typically have more than “a need”. We usually have several needs. And on top of needs, we have wants, too. When you think like a customer you can identify these needs and wants and use them to enhance their experience. Enhancing their experience is one easy to implement strategy for attracting and retaining new customers, and for many businesses can even be an additional source of income.

Thinking like your customers is as easy as asking yourself these questions:

• Why does the customer need my product/service?
• What will the customer need while using my product/service?
• What will the customer do before and after using my product and/or service?

You should be able to come up with a decent sized list of things you can do to meet these extra needs of the customer. Some of these things you may not be able to provide yourself – but you could partner with existing businesses to extend your auxiliary services through referrals. Referrals, when chosen wisely, can not only bring more business to you, but also increase potential income if you are able to collect a small referral fee or commission.

To give you a few ideas on how you can use auxiliary services, here are a few examples of add-on services a business could provide:

• Shopping centers offering childcare so parents (and other shoppers!) can shop in peace
• Doctors calling in prescriptions ahead of time so the customer doesn’t have to wait in line
• Mechanics offering pick-up and drop-off services for your vehicle so you don’t have to go through the hassle of dropping your car off
• A vet offering medications, grooming supplies, and referrals to dog walking services or groomers
• A wedding planner referring a caterer, reception hall, musician, travel agency, or florist
• A moving company offering packing services, boxes, and property clean-up services
• A web based business providing forums or automated call center for support

There are endless possibilities when you start thinking like a customer and what they need. The more you offer, the more your business will grow and become profitable. Just be careful you don’t get too big or too far off base from your business – most customers would not be too keen on having surgery at an auto repair shop!

Are you thinking like your customer? Do you understand what they need? What auxiliary add-on services could you provide to enhance their experience while expanding your business?