Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
James Schramko here and in this little video I’m going to talk about price and experience,
and how expectations can change depending on the environment where something is sold.
Comparison points
I’ve just been out of the shops. I went out to replace the hard drive on one of my
iMac’s that failed which is a different story altogether.
While I was there I thought I would get a haircut. Now, I have a fairly short haircut
as you can see and my standard haircut is to get a number 1. I’ve had haircuts all
around the world. I’ve had it in Sydney, I’ve had it in Paris, I’ve had it in Rome,
and it’s great to get different comparison points.
A unique experience
But I’ve just had this haircut in Sydney and it was a different experience than normal.
I’m going to outline a few of the things that happened and then you can see why I’m
making this video.
Number 1 is, when I arrived there I asked if they had the availability to do a haircut.
They confirm that I meant right now and I said “yes, right now”.
Secondly, they directed me to a little table that had products laid-out on the table and
they sat me down on a chair where I’m literally looking at the products. So it was not a traditional
waiting lounge and I wasn’t waiting in the same place where I would get my haircut. It
was like a little product display.
Is this getting expensive?
The next thing, a lady came over and she put a little bit of fragrance on her hands and
she held her hands on either side of my shoulders and asked me to take three deep breaths (deeply
breathes in and breathes out) so in around three she gave me a massage with this stuff,
and this is like the pre-haircut phase.
Next I put on a cape and they take me on to the next chair where I get the rinse and massage
and shampoo, and this is all great. By now I’m thinking “this is going to be expensive”,
but I don’t care because I’m enjoying this and it is an experience now. It’s not
like the barber shop with the standard waiting queue, the magazines, busy, and the buzzing
which is just for a reference point, costs around $22 normally in Australian dollars.
So now I’ve had this shampoo and I move over to this next person’s chair. This is
a different lady, now we’re getting in the “specialist”.
A great experience
She comes in, she asks what I would like, and she gets the comb out. She confirms that
that’s what I’m after. Then the first thing they bring is a glass of water but also
offers me a tea, and I’m thinking “this is going to be more expensive now”.
And the specialist gives me that haircut and it’s really neat. She pays particular attention
to how I’d like the sideburns, how I’d like the back, and she creates a conversation
around me being at the shops there, Christmas, and all the usual stuff but it’s very friendly.
So after I’ve had the haircut she then asks if I would like the complimentary men’s
facial. I said “what’s that?” she said “we’ll put on a mask and you can have
a steam washer” or whatever. And anyway, I decided to skip that because I actually
had to go to my next appointment.
The price for the great experience
But in any case, it sounded like it was pretty good and again it just built up my expectation.
When we got around to the check-out she asked if I have been there before and I said no.
They got my first name, last name, and phone number into the data base and then the bill
and I’m bracing myself, and it was $26.
Expectations built up
You know, I would have happily paid $35 ? $45 based on what I thought the experience was
compared to normal, and I was really pleased. But what I think they probably do is they
probably sell a lot of extra products that people are looking at when they’re sitting
in that little demonstration. I imagine that people come back and they have a great repeat
customer phase, and I’m really interested to see what they will send to me via email.
But my point is this. If you can do something a little bit differently to the other people
in your space, if you can create a better experience, you can charge more. And if you
choose not to, then you just compound the loyalty and you have a good feeling. Now I
would actually go out of my way to get a haircut at this place again based on my first experience.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this little lesson, leave your comments right near the video,
and I’ll catch up with you in a future episode.
I'm James Schramko. This is SuperfastBusiness.com.