In today’s corporate world there is a pattern going around where companies feel they have to compete on price, at all costs or they will fail. In other words, they race to the bottom of pricing to get the business without realizing it devalues what the client thinks of their service or product.
Develop your product and your service to be different (and better) than the other guys and create a message about your product or service, that is the reason a client should choose you and your company. Why – Because when you refuse to price what you do inexpensively or even possibly cheap, you stop having competitors and start having imitators. Then you become a standout in your field of service or product, and other companies will want to copy you.
The story of Yeti is the perfect example. Two brothers, Roy (28 yrs old) and Ryan (32 yrs old) invented the Yeti cooler in 2006. At the time the best of the best coolers on the market were the Igloo and Coleman coolers which were both sold for about $30 at Walmart. The brothers were professional hunters and fishermen and those coolers kept breaking. It made them mad one day and they created a much better cooler that would hold up the demands of professional users. The problem was, they needed to sell it for 10x what the Igloo and Coleman were selling for. $300
No retailer (Walmart, Sears, etc.) would stock their $300 cooler because they were told no one would buy them. Undeterred, they went directly to the end user. The fishing guides, hunters, sports companies etc. They created almost a cult following for their Yeti coolers. Today, every retailer wants their product in their store and Igloo and Coleman have tried to copy the success of Yeti and failed. The brothers took the company public in 2018 with a valuation of $1.7 billion and today the company is worth $3.1 Billion.
All because they refused to race to the bottom and compete at the low price of the competitors. They created a better product and the market responded. Whatever it is you do, don’t devalue yourself and your service just because someone else did. Stand tall and tell the customer why you, your service and your product are the best choice. KT