Derek Halpern with Social Triggers has written a great piece “How to Raise Your Prices by 71% (and Have People Gladly Pay It)”.

Here’s our summary and comment:

•Perceptions Matter (!). Perceptions are tied to perceived value. Further, people are going to be more inclined to enjoy/use their investment when they value them more. In so doing, that creates even more value. Creating the perception of value is emotional.

Case in point: When you lay down $100 for a date at Swanky Inn, you are going to eat slower and enjoy your time differently than your date to McDonalds. This is even if the salad you order is exactly the same salad.

I’m not saying that the nice place can or should serve a crappy salad and charge more for it. I’m only talking about perception – and you know as well as I do that you’d be willing to pay more for that salad at a different locale.

•Brands are born from customer experience. Therefore, create the experience that lives up to the prices you charge. You ought to deliver a better product/service for more money. But, again, regarding only perception, you client experience better kick ass if you want to charge more for what you do (especially if you are delivering a better product).

In the article, Derek identified two means to affect customer experience: meaningful customer service and customer interactivity. This interactivity should show your intention to invest in your customers and assure them that they each have a face.

•Brands get communicated with words. You’ve gotta choose the right ones that evoke the right emotions. Is your restaurant a “bar and grille” or an “inn”. With every ounce of how your brand communicates you are instructing (or not instructing) your customer how to engage with and best enjoy your product or service.

If your words can tell someone how to best use your product, you’re serving them, which, in turn, serves you. Outback Steakhouse tells people to say, “Let’s go Outback tonight”. Outback then becomes an “every day” option for eating out. But that is only so because they have let us know that they are; they have created the expectation that their price, their speed of service, and their entire experience works on a whim.

Brands make promises. Deliver on them. Set the right expectations with the words you use. And this becomes especially true when your setting an expectation on PRICE. If your brand’s price perception isn’t aligned, you’ll have a lot of confused customers (who aren’t willing to spend much).

Tags: brand, brand development, communication, customer experience, emotion, expectations, perceptions, pricing, promises, words