Chris, you old diggity dog!
I value your perspective, too, and am glad to read that things are going so well for you!
With no disrespect, the fact that
"quality materials, excellent craftsmanship and outstanding service" is a message that hasn't been enough to justify a 10-20% premium doesn't surprise me. They're all pretty-much intangible to your customers. It's difficult for them to equate the value of any of those things with cold hard dollars. And in tough economic times (as you rightly suggest) they have even less value to most people.
Customers want better value. And in the age of Wal*Mart, they've come to associate lower prices with better value. But lowering prices isn't your only option. It's easier, but has a cost...especially if you maintain quality of product and service. I know you know it, but it bears stating: You can easily wind up doing twice the amount of work, to earn the same amount of profit. It can also be extremely difficult to recover margins you've given away.
If you want to maintain profits (and quality of product and service) then you have to figure out how to demonstrate the unique value you bring to the customer's table. Easier said than done, I know. But not impossible.
You've heard it before: Focus your marketing communications on the
results you help your customers achieve. It's not really
that hard to do. Have them state their business objectives when you take on the project, ask them how they will measure success, follow-up (systematically) to ensure what you provided is doing the job. Get quantified facts...numbers, percentages, dollars. If they're not getting the results they wanted... then haven't you got another terrific sales opportunity on your hands? If they are, then you've got a great little testimonial or case study to share with your other customers and prospects.
An alternate, or complimentary approach is to demonstrate the
risk of not choosing the right provider, or of confusing lower prices with better value...
You must see failed applications all the time, right? Customers who buy elsewhere, then come back to you to get it done right. Isn't that an expensive lesson that other customers can learn from?
Buy yourself a Flip video camera (Cheap, compact/portable, great quality) Start yourself a blog and start recording and posting narrated videos...
"This poor fella tells me he paid a couple of grand for this wrap. See how the graphics are coming unglued here? Poor choice of materials, inexperienced installers. This wrap is failing, and will cost him another $3500 to get it done right, by a professional. In other words, the $1500 he saved on his initial purchase just cost him $2000." You can do the same thing with failures you see in the field. When you see failures, shoot some video and give a little narration that provides your analysis.
Or you can just charge less and work harder for your money, if you think that's actually easier.
