Black Friday has come and gone, but now we’re into Cyber Monday. Great. If you waited all year to get a great deal on Black Friday, then hopefully you weren’t disappointed. On the other hand, if you purchased a new PC five weeks back in October – only to find that it was marked down by $200.00 on Black Friday, my question to you is, “How does it feel?”
The honest answer is that it feels bad. It has to feel bad. If it didn’t, then you wouldn’t be human. The way that people justify the loss is by saying things like, “I needed it…err, and that’s the way it goes.” Sure thing pal. I believe you if you believe you.
On Black Friday, Apple offered a small savings on the iPad – yet enough that anyone who had purchased the iPad just a week before, experienced a small taste of remorse. Regardless of what world you live in, you – nor anyone else, can stand there and tell me that you need an iPad. As an Apple fan and owner of lots of Apple products since 1984, I can tell you wholeheartedly that I love that company. But still, no one can say that they NEEDED a product that has only been out in the marketplace for less than a year.
What you meant to say is that you have established a need (which is not really a NEED unless you’re a student and your college has mandated that everyone have an iPad). To someone who has money to burn, buying an iPad is like going out for a nice dinner – it’s no big deal. But to other folks, making a purchase for an iPad as a laptop replacement, can be that much more painful when the price is dropped on Black Friday.
You may not run sales or discount days in your business, especially if you’re a consultant, plastic surgeon, or accountant. But some professionals have their own version of Black Friday that occur with greater frequency. Have you ever seen an ad for a chiropractor’s “For This Week Only” offer? They run the ad about once a month (sometimes more), offering a full exam for about the same price that you could buy lunch for two at a sub shop.
If I paid $300.00 for an examination, only to find that the next week, that same exam was on the blue light special table, I’d be pissed. Let’s say that you walk into the chiropractor’s office a week after the special had expired, and ask for the doctor’s Black Friday deal. If he or she gives you the deal, then hey – good for you. But wait! Doesn’t the fact that you got the deal say something not so great about the doctor’s modus operandi?
Personally, I like to do business with folks who establish and then follow a consistent business policy (with regard to pricing). A very nice woman who responded to the special Black Friday edition of the Mind Virus E-Zine, stated that she knows that – inevitably, everything goes on sale. Her statement is the very reason that I never have a sale on any of my products.
I never want people walking away from a Mind Virus purchase – feeling as if there’s a chance that they had overpaid. For example, if anything, my prices go up, not down. Waiting for my prices to go down is really nothing more than waiting for them to go up.
Have A Great Day!
…Dr. Marc