Will not be undersold!!!

Submitted by Corey Smith on Tue, 06/12/2007 - 07:41
My wife received a coupon today from Bed, Bath and Beyond. She likes to get them because they give her 20% off. She won't shop at Bed, Bath and Beyond until she gets one because she knows it is coming. She likes the store. She likes the product. I bet she'd shop there without the coupon if she didn't know it was coming. I noticed something interesting on the coupon today. "We will not be undersold!" Sounds to me like the marketing team doesn't understand that price is only a small component of the customer experience. Seems to me they are telling their customers that if they find a better price somewhere else then they will match it because they have nothing else to offer. Give your customer something more than the lowest price. Help your customer understand that you are more about being the least expensive and more about taking care of them. If you do, you will find that your customers will appreciate you more and won't jump ship because they can get a lower price elsewhere.
Corey Smithis the Vice President of Innovation at Fisher’s Document Systems where he maintains a blog on business and technology.


Corey Smith is the president of Tribute Media a web development firm providing high performing, industry specific websites. He is a businessman, writer, technology fanatic, graphic designer and web developer. His greatest passion is teaching, consulting and speaking.

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Submitted by Tom Gossard (not verified) on Tue, 06/12/2007 - 08:17.
I disagree. Why has Wal*Mart been so successful? Is it because your customer experience is second to none? Probably not. It is all about price. See the Wal*Martization of America. I know of several people leaving jobs involving selling because clients want price more than they want service.

Submitted by Corey Smith (not verified) on Tue, 06/12/2007 - 08:26.
Interesting comment. I shop at Walmart... but hate every minute of it... I hate the service. I shop there because I want a lower price... Is that only reason I shop there? No, there is far more to it than just price. I shop there because I feel the product is the same no matter where I go. I feel the service is no better at other stores. Because the product is the same, I go for price. However, if I am getting one or two things, the place comes into play and I'll go to the closest store because it is not worth the drive. I ignore promotion because I hate obtrusive marketing. I don't believe that WalMart has been so successful because they are the lowest price. I believe that WalMart is so successful because they are the lowest price on the same products you can get elsewhere. If a sales rep can't compete against price it is because they simply don't know how to help the customer understand that there is something more than price to consider. Commoditization introduces an interesting twist into the whole Product, Price, Place and Promotion equation.
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