Last week I gave a concrete example of when you might want to bundle your services to net more profits. Today, I’m going to talk about when you might want to unbundle. First, what do I mean by unbundling? It’s charging a base price and then offering additional options or add-ons that your clients can opt-in to if they ‘d like to get even more than your base your option. This is particularly good if you think that some of the market is price sensitive (and will buy the base option) but others will want the extras and will be willing to pay for them.
For example, my daughters were eligible for a cell phone upgrade and I took them to the Verizon store to get their ‘free’ phones. I won’t digress to tell you that the phones weren’t exactly free. Instead, I’ll tell you what the salesman carried out for the girls to look at first. The CASES! (He had the actual phones in their boxes tucked under about 20 cases.) Fortunately, my kids know that I’m not a fan of buying this type of accessory at the Verizon (or Apple) store and in fact, my oldest had noticed that Walgreens was selling cases for $5. BUT, so many customers want to get the case while they’re there and Verizon does offer a 25% discount if you buy it then and there (and they were priced from $19.99 up to well over $30). Of course, the salesman also goes on about protecting your precious new phone. Oh, and that’s before he tried selling me not one, but two, different types of insurance for the phone. So, the case, the insurance(s), and any extra chargers, etc. would all be examples of add-ons in an unbundled pricing strategy.
What other things have you bought lately that were available with add-ons or options? Is there something in your business that can be offered this way? Oh, and you may offer both bundles/packages as well as options- it’s not an all or nothing tactic!