When someone asks you why your company does things a certain way, don't say it's because that's what your competitors do. That makes your company average. And average companies perform just average.
About two months ago, Fast Company told me they were no different than their competitors.
Yesterday, ShutterBooth told me they didn't show their prices on their site because many of their competitors don't show them either. I asked them why they weren't different than their competitors.
They said "great point" and then deleted the original tweet about how they were like their competitors.
Below is the full conversation. The tweet highlighted in yellow has been deleted by ShutterBooth at the time I am writing this. I'm surprised how they actually tried to remove any evidence of them implicating themselves as being average.
Come on guys. Not cool at all.
Comments
I don't know what's worse -
I don't know what's worse - the fact that Shutterbooth want to be average or the fact that they want to hide it from everyone.
Nice piece, Tim - ever thought of a career as a brand strategist? :)
@Danny - I'm not sure which
@Danny - I'm not sure which is worse either. I was interested in their photo booths and was trying to find some prices. Hence my original question to them.
Brand strategist? That sounds like fun! :)
Interesting. It would seem
Interesting.
It would seem to me the right move would have been to acknowledge your "great point" and then do something about it. Like, oh, showing their prices? Erasing the Tweet on their desire to be like the rest of the competition is not doing something about it.
Looks like your idea went to the graveyard of good ideas. Sad.
I find this post pretty
I find this post pretty interesting. Mainly because Shutterbooth hasn't responded here yet, and also because it seems they are trying to take the easy way out things.
To be honest I have no idea why other photobooth companies hide their prices. It always pissed me off having to wait for a response before I even knew if it was in my budget.
Since we started I've tried to keep our pricing as simple, as open, and easy to find as possible. We've expanding from our two rental packages, and will be working to keep things simple just like before.
I think part of the reason for the hidden pricing is because of how the wedding industry operates. You're able to charge more for your service just because it's a wedding. I'm willing to guess that if you requested pricing for a birthday party, and a wedding on the same exact date, for the same time period you'd get a much lower pricing on the birthday party.
Just my two cents.
I'm sure you're right about
Interesting....I am in the
Interesting....I am in the wedding business. I don't think any vendors should post their pricing. How do you differentiate yourself with pricing? Lowest price? If a vendor takes time to contact the client and discusses their event and what they can do isnt that a more effective and personalized approach? Your not buying shoes but a service on what can be the most important day of your life.
Well said, and I think you
Well said, and I think you have a great point.
When a vendor doesn't have
When a vendor doesn't have pricing, it usually means they are way out of my budget and they don't want people to know they're expensive... they know people will look for a price.. but if they don't see it, they might look around their site more and then hopefully get their heart set on them and book them anyway.. when really that's a bad idea bc they will suffer for it bc it doesn't fit their budget. But for me, I just assume they're expensive and don't bother contacting them even if I like what I see!
Interesting subject. That's
Interesting subject. That's pretty shady for Shutterbooth to try to remove their post, kind of makes one wonder about their other business practices.
I have a photobooth rental business and list my prices on my website. Why would I want to hide them? I have a few local competitors, one lists their prices up front like I do and the other has their prices hidden in their FAQ, again, why hide the price or make the client search your website for it. I'm not going to buy the "if a vendor takes the time to contact the client" thing either, you are not making the whole process of the client trying to find out how much you charge a more personal experience for them, you're making it a hassle for the client by having to contact you then wait until you get back to them. I can see how not having the price listed would be a plus for some slick sales person though. You get the client to contact you then you talk them in to using your service.
I have found though that having my prices listed doesn't really matter that much anyway. In this day and age it seems that most people would rather email and ask "how much" instead of doing a bit of reading and I'm not saying specifically for my business, people are like that everywhere in the country.
It isn't 'shady', it is the
It isn't 'shady', it is the way a lot of things work in the service industry. Contrary to what people like to think, you don't purchase things based on price, you purchase them based on emotion. It is very typical for a good sales person to avoid talking about price until you have your potential client emotionally attached to your product and service.
I would refer to the practice
I would refer to the practice as "self-servicing". Not showing pricing on the web site only benefits Shutterbooth and NOT the client. The prime reason for not showing pricing is to encourage people to contact the company, thereby giving SB the opportunity to SELL their service. The other prime reason is so that they can charge different prices in different regions, higher in lower competition areas and less in places with more booth vendors. Not showing pricing upfront lets them change pricing on a whim without anyone being the wiser. Smart marketing but again, is not intended to help the client, but get them to spend more.
I can say honestly, as a planner, their booths are technically no better, and in many cases inferior to other vendors popping up out there. They have the market cornered on the "Elegant" image and that allows to them to impart potential clients the PERCEPTION of higher quality when in reality they use lower priced equipment yet charge a premium price. many companies use this practice to great success. In any case, they have done very well for themselves, but you can do a lot better than them. We use a variety of booth vendors and most of them at least measure up to SB and many exceed the service and quality of them. ShutterBooth is more like the McDonalds of photo booths rather than the Cadillac.
Post new comment