The Losing Leader

Over the Thanksgiving holiday, I was able to spend much appreciated time with family. My mother, owner of a very small flower shop in a very small town of Russiaville, IN, was asking my advice on marketing her company. One idea that came up was the offering of a "losing leader," a product that your advertising "leads" with, and yet you offer such attractive pricing on it that you lose money... hence the name. The theory, of course, is to get them in the door and up sell, or rely on repeat business to make back the small loss. We've all seen it in weekly specials, value menu deals, and the like.

"Oh, yeah..." I said, "That's a great idea to generate more awareness of your shop."

And that's when the question hit me... "What's your losing leader?" Mom asked.

[Gulp] Don't you just hate it when you're giving advice that you've never taken yourself? So, my mind started spinning. What is a good "losing leader" for a b2b service-based company? Free consultations are too over-used. Can this principal even be applied in our industry? With average ticket sizes over $1,000... what sort of "deep discount" could companies like ours offer that doesn't eat up our overhead or look just plain cheesy?

Here is what I determined:

• It can't be free. In the business world, if it doesn't cost anything, it isn't worth anything.
• It must be a service that is in constant need. In order to accomplish the intended effect (drawing hoards of new customers) there need to be hoards of people in need of the service.
• You must actually be able to deliver considerable value for the discounted price that you set. The whole idea is to make such a memorable impression that they desperately want more of your services.

For my own company, I have one simple idea, but I'm open to suggestions: Learn more about the $150 proof-read here.

What have you come up with for your own businesses? Share your ideas by way of comment below.