Nowadays, discount sales earn you a bit of savings if you are the one buying. But they eat away big chunk of profits if you are the one selling. When people are cash strapped and less interested in spending, offering discounts on products or services is the worst thing for the small businesses to do.

When you are faced against big business, by discounting you are giving a wrong message to customers that your services or product are no more worth what they used to be. Your client also starts expecting discounts all the time.

What can be the alternative for not discounting? How will you make your services and products look worth their value while not offering any discount?

You will have to market smarter by developing packages of services or treatments and retail offers of added value.

You will have to highlight added value to make full price more appealing. If done well, you can have a service or product that is more appealing and sells better than if you’d have offered equally attractive discount on it.

Let’s take example of marketing beauty therapy treatments. If you were offering beauty therapy package combining bikini line waxing with facial treatment and back massage and selling for $150 in the current downturn, you can add in brow shape, a lash tint, file and polish, keeping same price. The full package becomes worth like $200, but the client is still charged only $150.

All the beauty treatments suggested above are extremely low cost and can be done when the client is wearing mask during the facial. This way the added treatments are neither eating into your profits nor extending your overall time of entire process.

At the end the client gets better value at no extra cost and you get higher sales, more profit without spending extra time!

This approach works for any type of treatment or therapy or service. Whether you do hairdressing, reiki, laser treatment, aromatherapy, reflexology or osteopathy, this can be made to work.

It will not be right to consider that your clients expect discounts, products or services for less, free treatments or under priced therapies. But what they actually want is service and product at right value.

Think creatively and work to alter consumer mindset by offering exact same product at no less cost but with added value. Package your products and earn more without discounting.