Incentive Schemes: Even Quality Goods Can Be Discounted
Some believe that quality goods should not be discounted. I disagree. Quality goods can also be discounted, but in particular forms. Even the iPhone, any model of which cannot be bought cheaper during the year, has incentive schemes at certain times because it can create waves. Discounts are attractive to customers and they are encouraged to come to you to use a discount code. An unscheduled incentive scheme would reduce the brand value.
An incentive scheme is also used to sell luxury goods. If your target market involves people interested in luxury products, your promotional offers should be commensurate with the type of market. Providing long-term free after-sales service when buying expensive cars is an example.
Provide the incentive scheme with the right reason and at the right time. Offer a hundred dollars as a gift to your customers on a special occasion such as their birthday, but provided that they buy $500 from you. One of the good things automakers do is sell the cars of that year at a lower price two or three months before the end of the year. In this way, both the inventory is emptied and the customer can get the desired car with less money.
If you plan to introduce a new product, sometimes offer it as a free product in exchange for buying another product. One way to introduce a new burger by McDonald's is to offer it for free along with another burger. Free items may not cost your company a considerable amount, hence they are more valuable when offered as a gift.
In a promotional campaign, I distributed several thousand brochures about my work. It was really costly to print and distribute them, yet only one person bought a 50-dollar service. I called the distributor and asked why we had only one call. He looked at the brochure and asked, "Why did you think they should contact you? You distributed brochures without considering a discount in it!"