If you have ever been an infomercial junkie or have just been up in the wee hours in the morning flipping through channels, you’re probably well versed in infomercial pricing. The magic kitchen appliance that slices, dices, cubes, chops, blends and irons usually sells for $299, but in honor of today’s infomercial, they will take $100 off of the asking price, giving you a $299 product for only $199. AND, if you call in the next 20 minutes, they’ll slash the prices further, selling you the magic kitchen appliance for the low price of $99. But, wait! There’s more! For some reason, they have decided that you NEED this magic kitchen appliance, so, by calling the number on your screen right away, you can have not one, but two magic kitchen appliances for the low price of $99. That’s $598 worth of merchandise for only $99. A $499 savings!
The creators of the infomercial and its pricing structure know what they’re doing. They know how to make the deal look too good to be true. Generally, it is just that.
When you call to order your two magic kitchen appliances at the incredibly discounted price, you find out that they are going to be charging you $49.99 for shipping, $29.99 for credit card processing, and $9.99 as a service fee. Now, your $99 deal turns out to be $188.97. So, instead of paying $99 for one magic kitchen appliance and getting the second free, you’re actually paying $99 for one and $89.97 for the second appliance. Moreover, had you only wanted one appliance, you’re not getting a discount much greater than the original discounted price of $199 per magic kitchen appliance.
Without doing the math or maybe just because of the persuasiveness of the infomercial’s salesmen, you might still decide to purchase the exciting magic kitchen appliance. Unfortunately, the magic kitchen appliance probably brakes after a use or two. It’s a good thing they threw in the second appliance for free! Combined however, you probably will only get 4 uses out of the magic kitchen appliance. So, you actually paid about $47.24 per use. Looks like the magic kitchen appliance wasn’t such a great deal after all.
If infomercials have taught us anything, its the importance of transparency when purchasing a product. We deserve to know the true value, capabilities, and dependability of the product we are considering to purchase. Similarly, we also deserve to know the exact cost of the product. Are there hidden fee? Recurring fees? One-time only, set up fees? Instructional fees? Support fees? And so on.
Because we expect pricing and product information to be made clear and transparent to us, we try to do the same thing for you, our current and potential customers.
We don’t exaggerate the capabilities of our professional service automation (PSA) software solution. The solution offers the exact features we promote, which is why we offer all visitors to our site the opportunity to download a free, 30 day, fully functional trial. This enables potential customers to verify the usability and functionality of the app before placing their order or paying us.
Similarly, all of our pricing information is clearly displayed in pages of our eStore. There are no hidden fees, no recurring fees for software licenses, and no addition support or one-time only fees, such as setup fees, registration fees, etc.
Our pricing is fully disclosed to all potential customers because it is not contingent on factors, such as the number of computers in your LAN, the size of your customer base, access to customer support, etc. In fact, our licenses are perpetual, so there are no recurring fees for the licenses you buy. One purchase, and the system lasts you a lifetime!
We are also committed to a policy of complete transparency. Because of this doctrine, we want potential customers to be able to evaluate the pricing of our PSA solution without having to speak to our staff. You should be able to stay anonymous when researching various PSA solutions, and should not feel like you’re being pressured into purchasing our PSA. Because of this belief, we welcome inquiries if potential customers need help selecting or verifying pricing or product information, but our website is built to provide potential customers with all of the information upfront.
So, while we can’t offer you something as unbelievable as a magic kitchen appliance that does just about everything imaginable plus more at an unbeatable price, we can offer you something a lot more real and dependable: a real, comprehensive PSA solution, at an affordable price, that helps you manage your IT businesses better.
How’s that for transparent?
Until next time,
Success Team