Do you join mailing lists from big box companies to catch their latest sales alerts? Do you subscribe to small businesses to keep up with their latest offers, classes, and products? Of course you do, we all do.

But, if your inbox is flooded with sales and specials from these companies on a daily basis, how does that affect your decision to buy? What do you think about these sales that never seem to end?

Why Your Sales Offer Isn’t Special If Your Sale Never Ends

All Sales, All The Time

I was carelessly perusing my inbox and I noticed something. I noticed a bunch of hoopla in the form of:

• some great sale offer
• a limited time offer
• an act now or miss out
• a never-to-be-offered-again
• an ending in 48 hours deal.

I’m sure you know the routine. A bunch of noise that I see every day from product and service companies cluttering my inbox. So I did what I usually do. Delete. Delete. Delete.

If I’m not already looking to buy something, why should I pay attention to the message in the email? Why not push that delete key to the limit? I’ve become so accustomed to sales pricing that the special offers don’t phase me. I expect them to be there. Do you even pay attention to the flood of special offers anymore?

Sale Fatigue Is Real

As a business owner,

1. Are you guilty of being a repeat “sales offer” offender?
2. Are your products/services always on sale? (rhetorical questions – feel free to shake your head yes or no)

Herein lies the problem. If you’re constantly telling the consumer about a deal too good to pass up, the deal loses significance and it becomes expected by your customer.

This reminds me of the big box retailers and departments stores. Have you ever noticed these types of stores are ALWAYS having a sale? Why are they always having a sale? Because their regular prices suck, they’re all too expensive!

If we think this about big box brands (and I know I’m not alone in this), what do you think YOUR customers will think if you’re constantly pitching a sale?

You guessed it.

Your prices are too high to start with.

That’s what we think when we see a slew of sales offers constantly bombarding us. We think this when we go to the store and products are always on sale. The deal is no longer special. There will always be a discounted price. Which means I refuse to pay full price.

If you’re guilty of the always on sale phenomenon, your customers will also refuse to pay full price. These sales actually cheapen your brand.

It’s Time To Evaluate Your Pricing Strategy

When you want to have a sale, make it count. Your sale is not going to be special if you’re constantly devaluing your product or service with a sales sticker. Price your products and services appropriately in the first place and quit putting yourself on the cheap table!

Using a promotional price gimmick every day just makes you look overpriced. And you’re setting a low standard with endless sales offers. This doesn’t positively impact your brand or your bottom line.

If you’re going to use promotional pricing, do so with a plan and a purpose. Pull out a calendar and spread your sales offers apart. Make sure you tell me why your promo should make my head swoon. Really make it sizzle!

Now, I know the stats on how many times we have to see an ad before we respond, and blah blah blah. These stats apply to repeat exposure to the same message. For example, a 3 day sale that only happens twice a year. You can promote that sale for months because you’re promoting the same message of a valid limited time offer.

This is how promotional pricing is supposed to work. It’s supposed to have a real start and end date.

Leave it to the big brands to play games with their pricing strategy. Do not devalue your brand with endless promotional gimmicks.

If you feel you need to constantly offer discounts for someone to buy your products and services, maybe you should be evaluating your

a) real value to your customer

b) competitive position in your market

c) pricing structure

d) all of the above.

What are your thoughts on these never ending sales? Do you pay attention to the message and buy, or do you tune them out?