Neodism

I want to offer more incentives to my clients for my SMS service. I currently offer them a free trial period, 3,000 free texts, 1¢ texts past that, unlimited keywords (I don't know why you would need multiple keywords but I know my competitors offer one keyword and charge $20 for every additional one. Maybe I'll start a thread on the subject.), a local phone number for their subscribers to opt-in to, and I am also considering throwing in a free mobile site.

I think that's a lot to offer when I am only charging $125/mo with a $67 set up fee and no contracts. But... I want to offer more. I want to add something to the bundle that will really push them over the edge into buying my service.

Jay Rhome

I'm all about over delivering but NOT about going for freebie and cheap deal seekers, they make the worst customers.

The one extra thing you can do is simply taking your (or an employee) personal time to help them set everything so they succeed and remain your customer. That will go a long way above just adding another feature.

And don't sell yourself short!

Kevin AKA Hubcap

Unlimited keywords allow you to track multiple campaigns for the same customer.

Just wondering what SMS service are you using??

trumpador

I'd be going to the competition's customers and asking them what they wish they had or what sucks about their current arrangement.

Find what ever your competition is missing and offer that. That is, find at least one thing that your competition does poorly and do that. Really, really well!

Randomly offering features will make your business a mile wide but only an inch deep. Less is more in some instances. Perhaps this may apply to your market.

tq

I agree, completely


Unfortunately I am guilty of this, good advice.

The 1st step is acceptance right?

Dmagnet

Okay, I don't agree with this because it is not my style. First of all, after offering SMS service for more then 2 years I am now convinced more then ever that most business owners should not be handling their own SMS campaigns. They are not marketing experts. They are usually too busy "wearing various hats" and trying to run their business. That is what we should be charging for.

In my opinion our service that we provide should not ever be reduced to what the cost per text is. Most clients are looking for a specific return on their investment. SMS, if done properly, can deliver extremely high returns. Ask the client what type of ROI they would need to see in order to justify the monthly investment. I find that most small businesses don't even understand how to determine the lifetime value of a customer. For example, in Atlanta the average pizza customer spends about $650 ($25 biweekly) per year. Many businesses don't see the customer at lifetime or even an annualized value but rather, in the case of the pizza owner as a $25 customer. If we educate the business owner then he/she will see the value of return and the the investment cost will be justified. Increase your value not by giving more but by showing how much the client is making back by using your service.

You are offering an extremely valuable service. It should not be cheapened. I know times are rough but the old adage of you get what you pay for still rings true. You may pick up some clients that you may not have had with less aggressive pricing but you may also "turn off" business owners that see you as too cheap.

This is our industry and if we are not careful we will turn what we are offering into a "who has the best price" type of business.

Just my 2 cents. I wish you continued success.

fitz10

I get that you're trying to "stack the value" here, but price is rarely going to push a customer into working with you unless they're freebie seekers or bargain bin hunters (not exactly ideal customers). I'm not saying that you should be ludicrously expensive or rip people off but it seems like you'd be better off providing additional value by having great service, a unique selling point (aside from "look how low our prices are"), better client education, etc. Just a thought. Good luck and let us know what you decide.

Eddie Spangler

What happened to building a list and selling blasts? That is going to be a better way for you to show these people the value of what you are offering AND you will have something valuable to leverage long term.
STRONGLY suggest that you DO NOT present this offer in the manner you are describing.

I really understand where you are coming from and you want to give this overwhelming package so people will just say yes to you. ( I know this because I have fallen into same trap myself)

The truth is that YOU ARE AFRAID TO SELL or maybe its more of a fear of rejection.

What happens is that they will take your offer because of the freebies and the trial offer but they are NOT COMMITTED to the big picture, after all they have literally no investment in this thing. So time goes by and they dont get results and dont want to do it anymore because they were hoping for some kind of miracle just because they have the ability to send text messages. Now there is no way they will commit to the $125 mo.

Doing it the other way will give them a chance to see that it works THEN maybe down the road they will want to build their own list and pay you even more per month to help them with that and it just keeps growing from there....

I promise you that if you let these small biz owners do it themselves it wont work. I know a person who has sold sms through izigg to about half a dozen local business in the last few months and they arent doing jack with it and are totally using it the wrong way and locked into a 6 to 12 mo contract, now all these biz owners think sms is all hype. She is a saleperson and not a marketer and sold them a valuable tool but no real support on effective ways to use it. Which one are you?

The biggest message that people keep telling you over and over yet you continue to ignore is STOP getting hung up on selling the price.

Having followed you for a while now, I must say with all the respect and encouragement to you possible, get out there and SELL the service and value instead of giving away the farm to people who have no idea how to grow crops on their own.

Peace.
Eddie

iameros

Some really excellent advice here, especially for those of us starting in mobile marketing. I'm based in South Africa, which is a country that was an early adopter of mobile technology and as a result using mobile for marketing is already well entrenched.

I've personally been involved in the mobile industry for almost seven years now, developing and selling mobile value added services.

I'm now looking to branch out into mobile marketing and was planning on a very similar strategy to the OP. However, after reading this thread, it's given me a fresh perspective on how the direction I should take and the package that I will approach potential customers with.