Pricing on your website (Part 2): Why we don't

Posted on January 10, 2007 by Dave J.

Why don’t we B2B marketers put prices on our websites? There are three basic reasons I’ll explore here.

1. We are lazy.
The general lack of useful content on our websites is testament to our laziness. Our prospects have gotten more sophisticated and expect more content, including pricing information. This laziness also extends to not overcoming the other two reasons why prices aren’t on our websites.

2. We like to keep our prices a secret.
Yes, we’d rather that our competition didn’t know our prices. But this alone is NOT the reason why we don’t list prices on our websites.

A bigger benefit is that without published pricing information, we force the ‘website visitor’ to raise their hand and become a ‘prospect’.

Further, ‘visitors’ tend to lack any sophistication about what a price does or doesn’t include. Requesting a quotation gives the vendor the opportunity to fully explain what their price includes and what options there are.

And, of course, if your prices are highly negotiated, having published prices may cause all sorts of problems.

3. We can’t easily show prices.
This is the mother-lode of reasons why not. Since these reasons are internal to a business, they may not be that obvious.

  • Channel conflict:
    If we don’t sell our products directly, we aren’t in control of our prices, our dealers are. And different dealers may sell at different prices. You may just piss them off, too, thinking that you want to take the business in-house.

  • Geographical:
    The web is ‘world-wide’, yet trade regulations, local safety codes, and freight costs vary significantly. Warranty support in other countries can be more expensive. Or you may not want to sell to certain regions all-together.
  • Assumptions:
    Further to the ‘visitor’ being unsophisticated is the fact that they may quickly assume that your price does or doesn’t include things. It drives me crazy seeing ads for iPod accessories that include this statement: “Does not include iPod”. As stupid as this looks, how long would the text need to be next to your product price if it was in a Sunday circular?
  • Commoditization:
    We hate commoditization…if prospects could just shop online, how much would they focus on making price comparisons? How would that change what we sell and how we price things?

Ending thoughts:
Please don’t think I am just making excuses or trying to justify why prices *shouldn’t* be on our websites, I am just trying to show what the roadblocks are. It seems that too many people just assume that #1 or #2 are the primary reasons why we don’t put our prices on our websites. Hopefully, I’ve painted a fuller picture of the issues involved.

We’ll explore ‘why we should’ in our next installment.

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  • Larry Hendrick

    Yes, one and two are almost smoke screens for not displaying, but three brings up a lot of interesting points.
    1)Is there a suggested list, or not
    2)would you publish direct purchase prices or “list” prices
    3)freight or regions can be distinguished easily but unserviced areas would require individual listings.
    4)in some industries(?), the truly unsophisticated wouldn’t be a live prospect anyway, but would be in others.
    5)commoditization is a discussion all its own and would require lots of room.
    6)great topic of discussion. I am ready to see the other side of the coin ‘why you should’

  • Larry Hendrick

    Yes, one and two are almost smoke screens for not displaying, but three brings up a lot of interesting points.1)Is there a suggested list, or not2)would you publish direct purchase prices or “list” prices3)freight or regions can be distinguished easily but unserviced areas would require individual listings.4)in some industries(?), the truly unsophisticated wouldn’t be a live prospect anyway, but would be in others.5)commoditization is a discussion all its own and would require lots of room.6)great topic of discussion. I am ready to see the other side of the coin ‘why you should’

  • Jon Miller (Marketo)

    As I assume you will conclude in the next post, these reasons don’t outweigh the value of posting your pricing.

    #1 Being lazy — not an excuse.

    #2 Your competition already knows your pricing, whether you publish it or not. Forcing someone to become a prospect just to get the pricing makes you seem like you are hard to do business with.

    #3 Consumer products manufacturers list the price on their website, even though I can also buy it through a channel (often at a lower price). The “published” price is often just a guide, anyways.

    Just like buying a car, in B2B you never pay the actual listed price — but it sure helps to know whether you can afford a Porsche or a Yugo before you start shopping.

  • Dave J.

    Thanks for checking in, Larry and Jon. I could have written way more about the subject, so I think you guys have helped expand the subject in a couple areas for me.

  • Dave J.

    Thanks for checking in, Larry and Jon. I could have written way more about the subject, so I think you guys have helped expand the subject in a couple areas for me.

  • Anonymous

    Dave, I applaud your determination for more pricing transparancy (the Dilbert cartoon was great!). The president of the ANA (many big B2B members) just gave his top 10 of the most important marketing transformations for 2007. Here is # 5:
    “Media Buying Metamorphosis: Media buying and selling will be transformed. The old, antiquated ways of doing business will give way to new, automated, highly transparent processes, as demonstrated by the growth of online media buying exchanges.” I believe more product pricing transparancy will be demanded by the B2B product/service prospect too, since the B2B customer will have more control, as does the B2C customer does.

    I see your role becoming more of a CMO than you already have inititated it to be. #3 says:
    “Hail to the Chief: The chief marketing officer will rise in stature as a C-suite player, not only serving as chief brand architect and marketing discipline integrator, but also as the enterprise’s business system innovator, organizational teacher/ motivator and, most importantly, chief revenue builder.”

    http://consumerengagement.blogspot.com/2006/12/anas-top-2007-transformation-consumer.html

    I think your on the right track with the all the reasons “why we don’t”, but the one to focus on, IMO, is Channel Conflict – “And different dealers may sell at different prices. You may just piss them off, too, thinking that you want to take the business in-house.” I think that increasing commoditization is coming wherever it is possible in this global marketplace. That may have the greatest affect on pricing transparancy and even eliminate some of the channel conflict in the process. By you doing these posts, you are ahead of the curve, and can help your company focus on product quality and customer service, as “pure price” becomes less of buying factor.

  • Anonymous

    Dave, I applaud your determination for more pricing transparancy (the Dilbert cartoon was great!). The president of the ANA (many big B2B members) just gave his top 10 of the most important marketing transformations for 2007. Here is # 5:”Media Buying Metamorphosis: Media buying and selling will be transformed. The old, antiquated ways of doing business will give way to new, automated, highly transparent processes, as demonstrated by the growth of online media buying exchanges.” I believe more product pricing transparancy will be demanded by the B2B product/service prospect too, since the B2B customer will have more control, as does the B2C customer does.I see your role becoming more of a CMO than you already have inititated it to be. #3 says:”Hail to the Chief: The chief marketing officer will rise in stature as a C-suite player, not only serving as chief brand architect and marketing discipline integrator, but also as the enterprise’s business system innovator, organizational teacher/ motivator and, most importantly, chief revenue builder.”http://consumerengagement.blogspot.com/2006/12/anas-top-2007-transformation-consumer.htmlI think your on the right track with the all the reasons “why we don’t”, but the one to focus on, IMO, is Channel Conflict – “And different dealers may sell at different prices. You may just piss them off, too, thinking that you want to take the business in-house.” I think that increasing commoditization is coming wherever it is possible in this global marketplace. That may have the greatest affect on pricing transparancy and even eliminate some of the channel conflict in the process. By you doing these posts, you are ahead of the curve, and can help your company focus on product quality and customer service, as “pure price” becomes less of buying factor.

  • SEO Ruby

    I think we have two levels of B2B that need to be realized and discussed separately.

    1: The manufacturer / service provider that works directly with the end consumer.

    2: The manufacturer that works with distributors.

    For each of these scenarios, there are different ways of dealing with pricing or engaging the potential end user.

    Dave – one thing you stated that caught my eye was: A bigger benefit is that without published pricing information, we force the ‘website visitor’ to raise their hand and become a ‘prospect’.
    This assumes the visitor wants to become a prospect. Because the buying cycle in B2B is quite long, many times the visitor is in their research phase and wants to engage with a company at a distance via collecting information (including pricing).

    As for the manufacturer / distributor model – with the right solution in place, it is easy for a manufacturer to get pricing to the prospect without stepping on any distributor’s toes. It’s all about the solution.

    There are many websites out there for prospects to look at. The more information you provide, the more likely prospects are going to lean on you as a resource.

  • SEO Ruby

    I think we have two levels of B2B that need to be realized and discussed separately. 1: The manufacturer / service provider that works directly with the end consumer. 2: The manufacturer that works with distributors. For each of these scenarios, there are different ways of dealing with pricing or engaging the potential end user. Dave – one thing you stated that caught my eye was: A bigger benefit is that without published pricing information, we force the ‘website visitor’ to raise their hand and become a ‘prospect’.This assumes the visitor wants to become a prospect. Because the buying cycle in B2B is quite long, many times the visitor is in their research phase and wants to engage with a company at a distance via collecting information (including pricing). As for the manufacturer / distributor model – with the right solution in place, it is easy for a manufacturer to get pricing to the prospect without stepping on any distributor’s toes. It’s all about the solution. There are many websites out there for prospects to look at. The more information you provide, the more likely prospects are going to lean on you as a resource.

  • pk

    SEO RUBY says: “As for the manufacturer / distributor model – with the right solution in place, it is easy for a manufacturer to get pricing to the prospect without stepping on any distributor’s toes. It’s all about the solution.”Can you please be more specific? I am struggling with this issue. We have a strong reseller channel that threatens to take business elsewhere if we appear to be going direct. We displayed prices below list price on our site for about two days before the backlash made it clear we would lose more business from channel partners defecting in one week than from hiding pricing from prospects for a year. Do prospects truly understand that “list prices” may be significantly higher than actual retail prices? Showing noncompetitive list prices might appease the channel, but what good does it do to show prices that make your product appear to be inordinately expensive? Won’t you disqualify your product in the research round of the buying process?Would it be better to explain, “Why Don’t We Show Prices?” than to actually list prices?Thanks

  • pk

    SEO RUBY says: “As for the manufacturer / distributor model – with the right solution in place, it is easy for a manufacturer to get pricing to the prospect without stepping on any distributor’s toes. It’s all about the solution.”Can you please be more specific? I am struggling with this issue. We have a strong reseller channel that threatens to take business elsewhere if we appear to be going direct. We displayed prices below list price on our site for about two days before the backlash made it clear we would lose more business from channel partners defecting in one week than from hiding pricing from prospects for a year. Do prospects truly understand that “list prices” may be significantly higher than actual retail prices? Showing noncompetitive list prices might appease the channel, but what good does it do to show prices that make your product appear to be inordinately expensive? Won’t you disqualify your product in the research round of the buying process?Would it be better to explain, “Why Don’t We Show Prices?” than to actually list prices?Thanks

  • Dave J.

    PK–Its funny, even though this post is from January, I was just thinking about it today. We have a customer who is asking for quotes from their different locations, which qualify as different territories and pricing models. Its tricky and causes fights, too.I think you are on the right track…posting a link to explain why you don’t list prices and then hopefully you give them incentive to register as a lead, so you can get them connected with a distributor.In one of the cases I cite in this series, I refer to the office furniture business, which has exactly the problem you have. They have high discounting and strong distributors, putting the manufacturers in a difficult spot.I hope this helps somewhat. It is a problem that you are smart to try to tackle, even if the answer is “no posted prices”.

  • Dave J.

    PK–Its funny, even though this post is from January, I was just thinking about it today. We have a customer who is asking for quotes from their different locations, which qualify as different territories and pricing models. Its tricky and causes fights, too.I think you are on the right track…posting a link to explain why you don’t list prices and then hopefully you give them incentive to register as a lead, so you can get them connected with a distributor.In one of the cases I cite in this series, I refer to the office furniture business, which has exactly the problem you have. They have high discounting and strong distributors, putting the manufacturers in a difficult spot.I hope this helps somewhat. It is a problem that you are smart to try to tackle, even if the answer is “no posted prices”.

  • Jon Miller (Marketo)

    As I assume you will conclude in the next post, these reasons don't outweigh the value of posting your pricing.

    #1 Being lazy — not an excuse.

    #2 Your competition already knows your pricing, whether you publish it or not. Forcing someone to become a prospect just to get the pricing makes you seem like you are hard to do business with.

    #3 Consumer products manufacturers list the price on their website, even though I can also buy it through a channel (often at a lower price). The “published” price is often just a guide, anyways.

    Just like buying a car, in B2B you never pay the actual listed price — but it sure helps to know whether you can afford a Porsche or a Yugo before you start shopping.