Jody and Jim (not their real names) run a small web design studio. Their initial pricing strategy was to keep base prices low, putting time caps on every deliverable during the website design and build. New clients were informed about this policy up front. Things like design time and content population were included in the original quote. If the project became more complex or the client wanted changes, the design team let them know that they would incur an extra charge and got their approval to go ahead.

Despite this, when clients were presented with a ‘higher than expected’ bill at the end of the project they were very annoyed. They were thrilled with their website but not at all happy with Jody and Jim. The result was unhappy clients, negative reviews and fewer word of mouth referrals.

Something had to change. The priority was to leave every client delighted at the end of the experience. A smart move on Jody and Jim’s part when you consider peak-end rule.

The team decided to simply increase prices to reflect the fact that every single web design project goes out of scope. Now at the end of a job, the client is delighted with both their website and the company—all as a direct result of this firm pricing strategy.

The ability to truly empathise with the customer along every step of their experience is what separates great businesses from good ones. How are you doing that?

Image by Leo Hidalgo..