The value of knowing your value

Setting prices can seem like a dark art, particularly in the service sector where there are fewer direct material costs to mark up.

It’s a challenge that Stephen Bolton, commercial director at Lancaster Business View, knows well.

Advertising and sponsorship, be it in print, online or for events like the successful Red Rose Awards, is a major source of income for the brand, which began as a print publication in 2005.

Stephen explains: “It can be difficult to pin down the value of the intangible benefits, like improved awareness and reputation, that advertising and sponsorship deliver for our customers.

“We’ve previously based our rate card around our overheads, comparison with other similar businesses and a degree of intuition. However, with the cost of business rising, I felt it was time to take a more strategic approach to our pricing model.”

Short, impactful pricing advice

Stephen discovered ‘Pricing with Purpose’, a series of two, full-day workshops delivered by Lancaster University Management School (LUMS) through the Lancashire Forum.

The programme is designed for the owners and directors of Lancashire SMEs that want to review their current pricing strategies to future-proof their businesses.

Pricing with Purpose is one of a range of fully-funded Business Excellence programmes that are part of Boost; Lancashire’s Business Growth Hub. Each is designed to help the leaders of Lancashire SMEs overcome the barriers to business growth.

Stephen says: “The programme was a great opportunity to hear from academics and professionals about the latest pricing strategies and tactics, while also building relationships with other like-minded Lancashire business leaders.

“When Mark Prince, the business strategy expert who delivered the programme, showed us one of the pricing models it was a massive eye-opener for me. It was a checklist that we could work through to set our prices and immediately introduced some structure into our approach.

“It means that we now have a firm basis for setting our prices and have gained a lot of confidence as a result.

“The programme also clarified for me that we have underestimated the value that our service offers to businesses. We constantly work to understand what Lancashire business leaders need and provide it through innovative services like the LBV hub website where subscribers can post their own news and the mentoring that’s now available to all Red Rose Awards nominees.

“This understanding of the world in which Lancashire businesses operate offers huge benefits to customers and we need to be more confident in reflecting that through our rates.

“It’s not simply about putting prices up though, we are more confident about questioning all our rates and that means reducing them if we need to. If an event or product isn’t selling as we might have expected, then we are much more comfortable in taking a second look and adjusting our costs if necessary.

“In short, we are now more in control of our pricing and much more assured about making the decisions we need to, to ensure that Lancashire Business View continues to thrive.”

Gain the tools to thrive despite the growing cost of business

If you are a director or the owner-manager of a Lancashire SME, the Business Excellence programmes could help you move your business forward and weather the ever-growing costs across wages, materials and transport.

Fully-funded places are available on the next 'Pricing with Purpose' programme starting on Thursday 27th April.

The Pricing with Purpose programme is funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) for Lancashire businesses that employ from two to 250 full-time employees and have a turnover of less than €50m (or equivalent in GBP).

To find out more and apply contact lancashireforum@lancaster.ac.uk or enquire online.



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