“Here Is The Sure Sign That You Absolutely Should Raise Your Prices”

Yesterday a couple came in the store. He is a craftsman that makes fishing flies by hand (and sells them by mail for a fortune) and his wife is a well known local artist. The best way to describe them is colorful.

They are endlessly interesting, and a joy to deal with. Anyway, they bought a high end vacuum cleaner from me.

I happen to have a case of my book open on the shipping table (we do a brisk internet business). The wife say the book, and read a couple of paragraphs. The said to her husband “You should read this”...and then realized that I wrote it.

She asks me “You should know about this. My husband has a fantastic internet business. He is booked up for a year and a half with customers on a waiting list. They are waiting until he has the time to make their custom made fishing flies. “

He says “Yeah, the hours are killing me. Do you have any advice?”

Me-” Sure. Raise your prices.”

He was afraid of irritating his customers. He asked how much..5%...10%?

I told him what I’m telling you (and you don’t even to have to buy a $700 vacuum cleaner)

If you have a long waiting list of eager buyer...that’s the market telling you to raise your prices. You raise your prices (I suggested a 50% increase and then a 20% increase every 30 days until the waiting list shrinks) until the demand gets closer to the supply.

Let’s pretend that you have a restaurant. Every night there is a line of customers that goes around the block. You raise prices. You keep raising prices until the line starts to shrink. Then you maintain prices.

If the line outside your restaurant goes away, you have Specials. You start advertising.

My customer said “I don’t want to charge more than I do now. I’m the only guy that does what I do. (he also makes custom lure cases...whatever that is) I don’t want people to think I’m in this for the money.”

I told him “You are unique. What you do is unique. You’re an artist. Art is worth whatever the customer feels it’s worth. Do you think a portrait painter just takes what the paint and canvas costs..and adds a markup? No. Art is worth what the market says it’s worth. Your market right now is telling you to raise your prices””.

He said “I don’t want my customers to complain”

I said “You told me your customers are mostly wealthy. Do you know what wealthy people like to do? Brag! Your buyer doesn’t want to tell his buddies at the lake ‘yup, I got this real cheap” NO. He wants to say ‘Guys, do you know how much this lure is worth?’ . Right now, your buyers are bragging that they are on a year and a half waiting list!....raise your prices. Make more money...spend more here…” ( I really said that.)

I have known this couple for years. I knew I could get away with it.

If you have repairs that are stacking up and you can’t find the time to get to them...raise your price. The herd will thin until it’s manageable and your customers will get faster service.

““But Claude, if I have plenty of customers why should I market and advertise?”

To get better customers. More profitable customers.

But Claude, my problem is that I don’t have enough customers coming through the door”.