Will people pay $xx?
Maybe. There are a lot of factors that go into a purchasing decision. It’s really all about value. If the perceived value is equal to or higher than the price, a person will buy it. The trick is to find the right balance.
A frequent concern is that a MT down the street charges a different rate. It is absolutely OK for you to charge something different – as long as you can justify it! It’s called differential (competitive) advantage. What sets your service apart from theirs? Although you do have to account for the price levels in your area, it isn’t the most important factor. Sometimes it can even work in your favor!
A MT I knew had an office on Union St. in San Francisco, a posh little shopping district. She was charging $60/hr and couldn’t seem to get clients to save her life. She looked at what the other massage businesses in the area were doing and realized that she was by far, the cheapest place around. Seems like it would be a good thing, right? Nope! It turned out that her low price was giving her potential clients the idea that she offered a sub-standard service. Believe it or not, when she raised her rates to $85/hr the clients started coming in!
Build the value of what you do, tailor it to your specific clients’ needs and you are on your way to finding the success you want.
Differential Advantage
Simply put, this is what makes you different than your competition. Just like you never see a business advertising "we have the same prices as everybody else!", you need to talk about what makes you better as well.
A differential advantage (DA) could be anything, but it's important that you find out what yours are. Pricing is an obvious one, but others can be location, convenience, specialty techniques, parking, outstanding customer service, testimonials, education, experience, etc...
A little less obvious can be some of the intangible DAs, things like a warm and welcoming personality, inspiring trust, creating security, excellent communication skills, personality, sense of humor. These things can be harder to pin down and you can't really advertise most of them ("Come on down for the funniest massage in town!"), but they have an important impact on the value that people perceive in your service - and on client retention.
Most people are willing to pay more for something that they see more value in. Differential Advantage is a topic that warrants its own post, so keep an eye out for more on setting you and your business apart.
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