I was reading a competitor's newsletter the other day. They were talking about their pricing.
"...pricing as low as $ XX per project per month..."
Clever. Penalizing those with more projects on the go. The more success you have, the more you pay the piper.
It got me thinking.
There's a lot of fine construction software out there (some real duds too), and each company puts their spin doctors to work on how to share pricing with you, the prospective buyer. And each company is trying to figure out how to extract as much $$ from your wallet, and still make you feel like you're getting great value.
They'll marginalize the cost (dollars per day, dollars per project) and hide some of the extras. Some will "bait and switch" you, get you on board, then upsell you to the package/module you really need.
Here's the formula, simple and sweet:
You'll buy when PV > 10C (that is, "perceived value is at least ten times greater than cost").
For instance, when you pay BuildIT for a 1 year subscription, in your mind, if you don't see $8 - $10K in your pocket by year's end, you'll go elsewhere (or stick with your free legal pad or spreadsheet).
When we started BuildIT many years ago (an eternity in Internet Age years), we sat around a small particle board desk and tried to figure out what we should sell our first release for. We knew it had to be greater than 0 (we weren't registered as a non-profit). We came up with a number, and surprisingly, people bought.
Over time, we've refined the application, figured out the language of our customer, added more valuable time-saving tools to the system, and one other thing:
We've drastically reduced our price.
Why?
We understand a few things that the other guys are having a hard time figuring out.
- We can't be all things to all people. BuildIT is not an "all in one" solution. It is a tool which helps you in 3 main areas: scheduling, online file management, and communications. Because we have a narrow focus, we can have a narrow price point as well. The big guys that offer complex, enterprise suite solutions, well, their pricing is also complex, and enterprise level (read: big money).
- You'll pay for many features you won't ever use. You'll pay thousands just to get started. And you'll pay equally as much if not more in getting ramped up, training, lost time during the transition. And sadly, the thing you bought may end up on the shelf in the back room just next to your year-end file box from 1998. We know that simple and rudimentary is a good thing. It means those on your team with the least amount of technical aptitude (that may be you) have a shot at using BuildIT with success. Get them using the email system, and viewing the schedule on a regular basis ... and the battle is half won. Simplicity and ease of use - it's definitely the ace up our sleeve.
- We've kept our company simple, not adding layers of staff, management, overhead, boardroom furniture, stuff that our competitors get YOU to pay for. We don't spend $1000's on advertising, expensive trade shows, playing trains/planes and hotels. We don't have "distributors" - there's no need for that added cost. We are the envy of the industry - just Google: construction scheduling software, and look who comes up on the first page. Our competitors are still trying to figure that one out.
- We've made the system easy to use, and easy to learn, at any time of the day, in any time zone. This allows us to price BuildIT ridiculously low, so pricing is the least of your hurdles to getting started with us.
BuildIT pricing: starting at $96/m small business subscription.
So, whether you're doing 2 projects this year, of 200, you'll pay the same price.
We're honored to be competing with packages that are in the $5K - $10K price range. I often refer our test drivers to those packages. See what's out there at that price.
Your PV (perceived value) of BuildIT will skyrocket in their shadows.
Scott Hutchinson
scott@builditsystems.com
1 866 585 5050 ext 1