I stayed in a hotel
recently
that offered guest soap
that had the dimensions
of a regular bar of soap
except it was half as thick.
Because that is all
the average hotel guest would use
during a stay.
More is wasteful.
It costs the hotel
additional money to supply.
It creates more garbage.
And it doesn’t add value
to their guests.
More is not always better.
Figure out what your customer
needs
and offer your products
in that size.
It is Easter Weekend
in North America.
I know. I know.
It is still March
and Easter is ‘supposed’ to be
in April.
That’s our expectation.
And because it is
our expectation,
most people I know
are unprepared for Easter.
They are surprised
it is this weekend.
They haven’t bought
Easter flowers or chocolates
or bonnets or…anything.
Customer expectations
are important.
If we deviate
from those expectations,
expect to invest
MUCH more time and money
and other resources
into marketing.
And even with that increase,
expect to lose
some sales.
Work with customer expectations
if you can.
I gave my readers
(customers)
5 months warning
about the increase
in prices for my Romance Novels.
This did a couple of things.
It prepared the readers
mentally for the price increase.
They had time
to grumble about it
(which they, surprisingly,
didn’t do with me),
to get angry or upset
and then to calm down
before my next book (product) released.
It also gave my readers
an opportunity
to buy the existing books
at the lower price.
That bump up of sales
at the end of the year
was VERY much welcomed.
And it relayed
that I was being open
and honest with them.
Readers (customers) might not
take any action
upon hearing about
a price increase
but they like knowing about it
in advance.
Consider giving your customers
notice
of price increases.
In 2023,
for the first time ever,
I’m increasing
the prices
of my Romance Novels.
I received
NO pushback
from readers
on this price increase.
And I’ve seen
NO decrease in pre-orders
for my 2023 releases.
Why didn’t I receive
pushback?
2022 was the year
almost every business
increased their prices.
That included
publishers and writers.
I was one of the few
exceptions.
Readers expect me
to increase my prices.
And readers, being human,
also like being right.
Increasing my prices
makes them happy.
Increasing your prices,
if you haven’t increased them
in years,
might make your customers happy also.
Your customers are likely
expecting the price increases.
Don’t disappoint them.
There’s an ever-going argument
posed by new writers
about whether or not
a Romance Novel
should have
a Romantic Happy Ever After
(or, in some cases,
a Romantic Happy For Now).
These writers
don’t understand
Romance readers
(or any customers).
Romance readers
are buying how the story
makes them FEEL
at the end of it.
They are buying
the Romantic Happy Ever After.
They’re plunking down
their cash
expecting to get
that happy,
all is right with the world
glow
in return.
THAT is what they’re paying for.
Seth Godin
shares
“Most of what we encounter
is driven by emotions,
and our emotions are always relative.
When we’re shopping for a car
or an avocado,
we’re buying the way it makes us feel,
not how it would make someone else feel.”
Understand what your customers
are buying EMOTIONALLY.
And it is ALWAYS an emotion.
Then give them
that emotion.