How Much Does Your Product Cost?

This is the first in a series of posts I plan to write on pricing in the information management industry. 

I saw an interesting ad today for some training of relevance to me. It was developed by one of the industry's leading experts on the topic, looked to be of great quality, and packed a lot of content into a very short course, which is perfect for me. I decided to buy it, but there's no pricing and no way to purchase. I checked the package it's part of, and same thing. I finally found a "Store" button, which showed me the pricing, but it took several more clicks because I had to decide how long to have access to it as part of the purchase process. The time it took me to find pricing, evaluate the options, and get to the payment page took almost as long as the runtime of the course itself. 

I'm a big fan of the "They Ask, You Answer" approach to marketing developed by Marcus Sheridan. One of the key tenets of the TAYA approach is that there are 5 really big questions that almost all customers have, and that you should be answering: 

• How much does your solution cost?
• What are the negatives or issues with your solution?
• How does your product or solution compare to alternatives?
• What is everybody saying about your solution?
• What is the best solution available?

He notes that most organizations are afraid to answer these, for fear of scaring customers away. Instead, he argues, organizations that don't providing pricing drive customers away because they get frustrated. You may have experienced this yourself when shopping for a car. There is generally a price, but it's understood that that's the starting point for haggling. This process has been so uncomfortable for so many people that we've seen a surge in "no-haggle" buying - there's a price, you take the car at that price. 

The information management industry is notoriously opaque in its pricing. Go to the website of any vendor listed in the Gartner Magic Quadrant, Forrester Wave, or any other analyst report. Go to the website of any vendor you've seen at a conference or whose webinar you've attended. 99 times out of 100, you won't be able to find pricing for their products. If they are really transparent, you might be able to find pricing for training, or certification exams, etc. And hardware often has pricing listed, too - it's pretty easy to find scanner pricing, for example. But you likely won't be able to see and compare two RM solutions. 

I know what you're thinking, and what the vendors are howling: Every organization is unique. Yes...and no. Unless you're delivering custom software for every customer, at some point a customer is getting a set of capabilities. You know how much those capabilities cost - if you are on a government schedule, that pricing is probably public, and certainly your sales people know where the starting price is. It should be pretty straightforward to make at least your "sticker price" available. 

If you disagree, please reach out to me at jwilkins13@gmail.com. I will keep your name and organization, and any organizations you reference, confidential.