“I never came here to win, this is what I wanted.”

This simple piece of wisdom resonates with what we as shop owners go through on a daily basis when we quote orders. Many times, we are put in the position where we want to get that extra order or another client, but our competitors seem to be charging less than our price.

The temptation to quickly say, “Oh, I’ll match that,” can be extremely damaging and ultimately lead to an unhappy you and an unhappy client.

Here are some simple reasons why we need to resist price matching and be confident in our services.

Your Cost is Not Their Cost – Your Price Shouldn’t Match Their Price

Credit: Dani Diarbakerly

We determine our product / shirt cost based on our cost. Those costs include:

• Payments on Machines
  • Did you just buy a top-of-the-line machine while they use an old press and 10-year-old screens? Your quality will reflect that so charge more.
• Rent
  • Do you have a full-service shop with a loading dock, offices, etc., while your competitor is working out of their mom’s garage? Charge more.
• COGS and Supplies
  • Some of us use premium ink while some of us use budget inks; some of us use premium washout products while some of us use economy products — charge accordingly.
• Labor
  • Labor costs have increased dramatically over the past two years, and you need to adjust your prices based on that increase.
  • Your monthly payroll may be $10,000 while someone may be working out of their garage and willing to give away their labor. Your business isn’t the same and again, you don’t want to rush to reduce your price.

I feel these elements are the most logical way to analyze whether or not to reduce your price. However, I also like to analyze the underlying psychology when we do these transactions.

As we discussed, every shop is different, but overall in the printing industry most of us, unless we work mainly online, have a personal relationship with our clients. We talk to them directly via email or phone and know what their preferences are, who’s easy going versus who’s more difficult to deal with — and that’s part of what makes our industry unique.

Every shop owner I have met is emotionally connected to their business, their clientele, etc. Sometimes we are hungry for business. We feel competitive and there might be a big client who insists on paying $6 per T-shirt with no questions asked. In our mind, we might think, “Wow, I’d really love to get this big corporate client, but $6 is really low for what they are asking for.” It is easy to fall into that temptation, but this is how the situation plays out:

We run the order and barely cover our costs, or we lose money at the end of the day. Tell me how you feel? Not good. You feel taken advantage of, like this big corporate client with this huge bank account left us, the little guy, not fairly compensated, etc.

Furthermore, maybe you missed your kid’s soccer game to run the order, or you pushed back another job to get it done and are now left with a bad taste in your month. If they come back for a re-order, it’s hard to justify, and maybe your energy toward them isn’t the same excitement you’d bring when you know a job is going to make you big profits.

Your client, on the other hand, will feel like they are giving you business, they deserve good service, they deserve to be pushed to the top of the product schedule, etc. But this ultimately will drain and frustrate you.

We as business owners need to learn, after the first time, what happens when we bend to a lower price unnecessarily, and thus feel empowered to say no. Over time, that shop that may have provided a customer with the super low price may not have delivered the quality the client was hoping for, and they most likely would return to you for a quote on a future order.

Everything is relative, so once that customer has that experience with another vendor, they may come back to you and be willing to pay you more based on any or all of the following:

• Quality
• Lead time
• Customer service

As a business owner, you have to know, and stand behind, the value provided by your service and products. Every business is a little different — there will surely be times where you offer the most affordable pricing, and there will be times you could be the most expensive!

At the end of the day, if you can provide rationale and deliver a product that matches your pricing, your clients will find it easy to work with you and your team. Learn to avoid price matching, be confident enough to say no, and focus on the strengths of your business and ultimately you will be the winner.