Williams Sonoma had a $275 bread maker nobody was buying.
So they put a bigger model next to it for $429.
Almost nobody bought the $429 one. Sales of the $275 one nearly doubled.
Same machine, same shelf. It finally had something to be compared to.
Your membership has the same problem.
A prospect walks into your sales office and sees $450 a month. Is that a lot? They have no idea. Nobody walks in knowing what a luxury gym membership should cost, so they find something to compare it to.
Show them one price, and the only thing they have to measure it against is the Equinox down the street. You don’t want to win on that comparison.
Show them ten, and they freeze.
A client recently walked me through their membership pricing. Five tiers. A features list under each one. Then a page of rules. If this, then that. Unless this, then that.
Halfway through I had to stop them and ask them to explain it again.
If I needed it explained twice, a prospect standing in your sales office has no chance. They go home to “think about it.” They are still thinking about it.
Three tiers fixes both. The top one is your bread maker.
Something like this:
- Essential, $295. The way in.
- Signature, $450. The one you want sold. Put everything people ask about in here: towels, sauna, guest passes.
- Private, $1,200. Its whole job is to stand next to the $450 and look expensive. If someone buys it anyway, congratulations.
Then delete everything else. You’ll pay $700 a night for a room without blinking. Then a $45 resort fee shows up at checkout, and it’s all you talk about on the drive home. Your members feel the same way about every add-on.
It’s not every day you get the chance to be the opposite of a resort fee. Today is that day.
