Red $10 Sneakers and Software Pricing

When I was at college, many years ago, I happened to see someone on campus with a red pair of sneakers.  Cool, I thought.  Next time I was in Manhattan, I visited some shoe stores on Delancey Street.  To my complete delight, I found a great looking pair of sneakers priced at only $10.  What’s more, they were colored a bright red.  I was very pleased.  Laid down my ten bucks and walked out the store, smiling.
I couldn’t wait to actually try out my new sneakers.  The opportunity came that weekend, when a bunch of friends and I went to the local bar, where they had a live band and dancing every Saturday night.  I thought I was going to be so cool in those red sneakers.
They felt a bit strange when I first put them on, like the soles weren’t very thick or something.  I thought that must be the nature of sneakers in general – somewhat thinner soles than those I was used to.  Up to then, I’d always worn real leather shoes, which I bought at a special store in London, where I used to live.  By the end of the evening, my feet were feeling a bit strange, and when I got home I found that my feet were sort of wet. One of my roommates (a fellow student) started yelling at me, telling me that my feet smelled like I’d just walked across the Sahara without taking a break, and without taking my shoes off once.  Whew!
I didn’t risk wearing those shoes again.  Some time after that, I discovered Reeboks.  I thought they were extremely expensive, but several people strongly recommended them. They cost me around $80 – about 8 times as much as those cheap red sneakers!
I continued to wear the Reeboks.  I found the shoes were good for walking, dancing and more.  They didn’t make my feet ache.  One other big plus: I could get these shoes in extra-wide size.  I have very wide feet, so narrow shoes really didn’t work for me.
The Reeboks lasted me a few years.  So, if I did the math, they were much better value than the cheap shoes.  I’d worn them almost every day for 3 years, so that works out to a price of about 8 cents a day – 125 times better than the $10 a day sneakers!
This experience wasn’t the first time I’d discovered that it’s frequently best not to just buy the cheapest product available.  I have stories I could tell about buying certain professional audio products, various items of clothing, and more – including software.  I have occasionally lucked out with a cheap software product – I used the first version of MacAfee Antivirus software, which was free!  It worked very well!  I’m not a fan of the current version of McAfee Antivirus, however.
This reflects on the subject of software pricing.  Buying the cheapest is often not the smartest decision.  Neither is buying the most expensive.  Software should be priced appropriately.
We have heard from prospects several times who tell us they are going to use some other software program and so won’t be using our Scheduling Manager Gemini software simply because the other program is cheaper.  Often, they tell me this without blinking – they say this as if it’s perfectly obvious that cheaper is better.  The reality, however, is different – there is always a reason that some product is cheaper than another – perhaps it hasn’t been tested well, perhaps it doesn’t have the same features.  Perhaps it is not supported by a company who can provide the support necessary for a business entity.  If you’re running a business, you don’t want to have to wait countless hours or days to get a problem resolved when you call the company’s support line – if they even have a support line you can call. Frequently, the very cheap software programs provide support only via e-mail, with no guarantee of turnaround time.
I have seen many software companies who started out with a big splash, and offered their products at ridiculously low prices.  Some of them make grandiose claims that they challenge the imagination, like “free support for life”.  I ask myself some questions. How would they be able to sustain a reasonable organization at the low prices they offer?  Will they still be around in a year or two to offer any kind of support at all?  I have seen several companies appear on the horizon, only to disappear a year or two later.  Our company has been on business over 27 years offering software for service businesses to a wide variety of service businesses.  Fortunately, we have enough consistent users paying their ongoing support fees each year to sustain our support department and ensure that we have adequate funds for development for new and useful functionality.
So, what can be concluded from this?  That one should always buy the most expensive?  Well, no, not in my opinion.  I believe one should buy the software program that’s just right for you.  Frequently, the most expensive item in any particular market is the best, but not always.  If I wanted a new car, perhaps I would get a Jaguar.  However, if I take into account that I’m running a window cleaning business and I’ll need to be able to transport ladders and other cleaning equipment, the idea of a Jaguar doesn’t seem right!  Perhaps a van would be more appropriate!
In other words, when making purchase decisions for your business, take a variety of factors into account – consider all the factors that will go into making your purchasing decision a valuable addition to your business’s assets and management tools for the future.  An item may look very nice and function very well at home.  But, for serious business purposes, one needs industrial strength tools!