Pricing: It's a topic that often makes both sellers and buyers uncomfortable during the sales process, especially when it comes to sharing price information on industrial websites. A study of 900+ industrial purchasers and suppliers from ThomasNet.com revealed a disconnect between what buyers are looking for and what they're finding online—74% expect to find product prices, but only 23% of company websites offer them!
Buyers in the industrial field need and want pricing information to know how much to budget, to understand how pricing works, and to make sure they're getting a fair price among competitors. The uncomfortable part comes when they can't find the information or they feel it's intentionally hidden by the seller.
Why can't they find pricing online? When working with sellers in the industrial space, we've heard many reasons for the uneasiness about including pricing information on their websites. They may have concerns that the buyer might have sticker shock, that their pricing may be too complex to explain, or that it leaves them with no flexibility to adjust pricing during the sales process.
But let's face it: With pricing being part of every buying decision, it shouldn't be ignored. As buyers, we've been trained to be able to find what we're looking for easily and if we don't, we look elsewhere. The transparency and helpfulness needed to provide this are core principles of inbound marketing. Yes, even with pricing, and even when it's complicated.
Check out the following five examples of how industrial companies are answering questions about pricing on their websites.
Let's start with the most obvious—providing prices for your products. In this example, CASE IH provides a "build and price" tool for their agricultural equipment. Website visitors simply choose a model and configure a unit to get a price, much like a consumer may build and price out a new vehicle online. The experience is quick and easy for the website visitor.
However, and especially in manufacturing, pricing isn't always straightforward. Complex products and services come with complex pricing that can't be simply shown with a price list, but this hasn't stopped HUI Manufacturing from providing website visitors with information on the topic. They've done a great job breaking down the complexity of their pricing for industrial enclosures by explaining all the costs associated with them. This blog post aims to help potential buyers understand how to find cost-effective solutions.
A&K Crust, a manufacturer of dough products, does a great job controlling pricing messaging with helpful advice for their potential buyers. A blog article with tips on how to calculate pizza ingredient needs and costs provides their potential buyers with ideas on how to balance costs and profit. A free downloadable pizza ingredients and cost calculator is one of several resources they offer.
Find yourself being asked for quotes without enough information to provide an accurate estimate? EDL Packaging, a manufacturer of packaging equipment, also tackles the complexity of their pricing with a blog article that reminds its potential buyers of the pitfalls of requesting a quote without providing enough information and guides the buyer with the right way to get a realistic capital equipment price.
When you're not the lowest price option among your competitors, articulating your value is critical. Crane Engineering digs into the true cost of choosing the cheapest product versus one that has long-term value in one of their blog articles, "3 Times When 'Expensive' OEM Parts Saved Money."
In another example, Kaysun Corporation's blog article, "Quick Tips for Selecting a Molder to Control Total NPD Costs," advises potential buyers to consider a full-service molder that adds value in executing new product development.
There you have it—five examples of industrial companies effectively addressing price on their websites, proving it doesn't have to be uncomfortable! These companies have faced the topic head-on to improve their potential buyers' experiences online and their visibility to those looking for pricing.
Topics: Content Marketing, Website Design
