Value vs Price - My Philosophy

Business has a funny way of working out sometimes. As I interact with person after person and client after client, sometimes you get a fresh dose of reality, and sometimes you are just in awe at some of the stuff you come across. So with that said, let me explain a few things about this entity called SunArcher:

I COMPETE ON VALUE, NOT PRICE: It's amazing how a lot of people really do not know the difference between value and price. Price is a function of value, though value can dictate price. When comparing prices, make sure you're comparing apples to apples. The number one gripe I get is "why so high? I can go to Wal-Mart and spend xxx."

And to those folks, I say: "The nearest Wal-Mart is at..." Apples and oranges. Wal-Mart provides standard portrait photography, and if that's what you need, I'm probably not the photographer for you anyway. Wal-Mart is subject to limits. Will they provide a makeup artist? Let you choose more than one pose or look? Provide a hair stylist? Shoot you outside?

Very few people gripe at a Mercedes-Benz costing $50,000. Why? Because those that can afford one are usually the ones that can appreciate the craftsmanship and the intrinsic value behind the name Mercedes-Benz. The name itself has value. Or another example: if I said I owned a Samsung M520, would you know what that was if you didn't own one? Is it a TV, a radio, a cell phone, a DVD player, or an LCD monitor? (FYI: it's a cell phone) What if I said I owned a Blackberry 8700c (I do)? Or an iPhone? Value. Just in the names Blackberry and iPhone. Instantly recognized. And you know what they are without asking. That fact alone gives those names value.

The name ExxonMobil has value (we'll talk about these damn gas prices later). Is it more expensive per gallon than the Jiffy Mart or the no-name brand station? Yes. But what exactly are you paying for when you pay an extra five to 10 cents a gallon? Mobil sponsors a NASCAR entry. That costs money. I'm paying for that. I'm paying for Exxons and Mobils to be in more than three states so when I travel, I can use my gas card. That's why the station with the more expensive gas isn't necessarily the one that's first to go out of business (again, we'll talk about that in another blog).

To wrap it all up, look at it like this: an old axiom that I learned in the Air Force was "quality, price, speed: pick two." You want it good and want it cheap? It will take longer. Want it fast and cheap? Don't expect the highest possible quality. Want it good and fast? Expect to pay more for it. Of those three, I fall into the latter category. Know this and take it into account when checking out what I have to offer. The only way that I'm gipping the customer by charging $75 for what they can get a Wal-Mart for $25 is if I'm providing exactly what they can get at Wal-Mart. And again, until Wal-Mart starts providing makeup artists, hair stylists, custom sets, the skimpiest of skimpy outfits (if any outfit is worn at all), and portfolio-sized prints, it's not even a comparison.