Productized Services: Feedback for purplesoundstudios.com
Over on Indie Hackers, Zencentric asked for feedback about his team’s new productized service offering, purplesoundstudios.com.
is it clear what we are offering?
is the price too low? (we know it’s low but don’t know if it’s too low)
Edit: That site has shut down since this review; the images are from the original launch page.
About The Price…
It looked too good to be true. The pricing created anxiety. Unlimited requests for that price? Good results for such a low monthly price? (Further down the page there were some before/after examples of their work – noteworthy quality.)
Maybe there was something to it. Maybe purplesoundstudios was shipping this work to other countries and using geo-arbitrage and cost-of-living differences to make it a win-win. If that was the case, then sure, it was a good offering, and I’d have added an FAQ explaining how they could hit that low price and offer that level of quality, and maybe that would have been enough.
Or maybe it was an introductory price. But then since the price was the main feature of what made this service offering unique and spreadable, increasing the price would kill the offering.
But if the founders were thinking this was the only price suited for this kind of economy, I’d have considered this other idea: think of the other value that could be offered.
The Two Options Actually Offered The Same Value…
At the time, two options were available: one that was basic, and another with more of the same.
More of the same? Yes, the Basic package promised a better sound. The Premium package promised a better, better sound.
A better sound was the overall value of the whole service offering. That’s a given. But both of those options offered only one value: raw capacity.
And raw capacity becomes a commodity. And a commodity gets them stuck at a low price. And when they wouldn’t be able to scale the raw capacity value, their overhead costs might balloon, and that’d be the end.
The Biggest Opportunity: Options That Compete Against Each Other
Assuming this was a small team and the strategy was not to ship this raw capacity to other countries, then we were left with the question: what other value could they provide?
While a better sound was the overall promise, the single offering created a yes/no choice in the mind of the visitor. “We offer raw capacity, take it or leave it.”
Other situations the visitor might have been going through:
- “When I’m putting together a new podcast, I want to look for professional sound expertise so I can get a unique, professional sound on my own.” Value: innovation, exploring possibilities, learning.
- “When I’m ramping up production of my YouTube channel and I’ve found the sound I like, I want to automate the sound engineering so I can get on with the creation of new material for my audience.” Value: automation, quality guarantees, availability.
- “When I’m creating something completely new and I’m hitting my own limits in sound engineering, I want to look for other sources of inspiration so I can develop my tastes and find a new creative thread.” Value: new perspectives, innovation, exploring possibilities, learning.
What if their visitor:
- Wanted their undivided attention for a short amount of time?
- Wanted to jam with them over some ideas, innovate with their sound, get trained…
- Wanted to learn how to do it themselves?
It was tempting to think this would dilute their service offerings (having too many choices), but in fact, it might have strengthened their authority on the subject.
And, more importantly, it might have offered options that would force the visitor to choose amongst their other services, instead of going elsewhere.
This approach creates what’s called a value-ladder. Every rung of the value-ladder adds more value, takes more risks for the client, is more custom than the previous one.
How About This Value-Ladder for purplesoundstudios?
Let’s imagine these offerings instead:
Top of the Ladder:
A Two-Day Jam Session
$$$$ for two days
Value: Availability, Innovation, Exploring Possibilities, Learning New Things
Middle of the Ladder:
Your Audio Team (Monthly Retainer)
$$$ / month for five requests
Value: Certainty of good results, weekly process automation
Bottom of the Ladder:
One-time Audio Enhancements
$$ per block of 140 minutes, satisfaction guaranteed, 4 day turnaround
Value: Certainty of good results, quick turnaround
The overall promise of “better sound” is kept throughout all of the options.
Each option forces the visitor to consider the other options.
- 140 minutes won’t cut it? Look to our monthly price.
- A monthly thing is too much of a commitment? Try a sample of 140 minutes to start.
- Want more availability but not at a monthy rate? What about two days of focused attention for your project?
So consider a value-ladder when you find yourself stuck offering raw capacity for a low price. You’ll create higher-priced, more valued offerings, help the visitor choose amongst your own alternatives, and be more helpful to the struggle they came to you to get solved.
Stay Sharp!
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