Luxury: It's All Relative
Kenrick Cleveland
"The saddest thing I can imagine is to get used to luxury." --Charlie Chaplin
I'm not sure luxury is really the saddest thing I can imagine. I understand the intent behind the thought but ultimately, there are many things sadder. I am a huge fan of luxury and yet as a pragmatist and a realist, I can see the pitfalls inherent when an average person believes they have to have a luxurious, rich life thereby racking up plenty of debt.
In a article on MSN, "Uncommon Sense: Luxuries you can live without -- and should", http://moneycentral.msn.com/content/Savinganddebt/Savemoney/P107710.asp) author MP Dunleavey points out the new frames used for certain items which were once considered ordinary and mundane purchases. These purchases are simple things we use for daily life and historically haven't cost an arm and a leg, but have now become commodities.
Pots, sheets, tennis shoes, watches. . .all of these things have been reframed, making them appear far more valuable. . . cookware, linens, athletic footwear, time pieces.
She argues that while the original products may be necessary, the "new, improved and reframed" need not suck us in. (Which is, unfortunately, what it is doing to "average Americans" who can no more afford a $5,000 plasma screen TV than they can a trip to the moon.)
To contrast this reasonable approach to luxury items, this Wall Street Journal article, "The Psychology of the $14,000 Handbag: How Luxury Brands Alter Shoppers' Price Perceptions; Buying a Key Chain Instead." http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB118662048221792463.html describes a technique used by retailers pushing the limits of reason. The strategy involves a first tier of products priced far outside a normal person's ability (and hopefully inclination) to buy. It also involves a second tier, a product or products that stretch the consumer's ability to buy, but not by too much. For example, if you just HAVE to have a Tiffany's product, think about a $135 key chain.
When shoppers are face to face with prices they simply cannot afford, retailers will "move you right along to where you can salvage your pride," says Dan Hill, president of Sensory Logic.
Working with a wealthy clientle gives us the benefit of not having to put the screws to our prospects and clients. If someone cannot afford our products and services, we know that what we have to offer isn't right for them. However, the psychology behind this price perception remains the same for the affluent as well.
framing ourselves as 'absolutely not the cheapest alternative, but definitely worth the price you pay' and really putting out there exactly what we require we are most definitely altering perceptions. Along those lines, one of the saddest things I can think of is getting used to accepting less than what we're really worth.
What are you worth?
Kenrick Cleveland teaches techniques to earn the business of wealthy prospects using http://www.maxpersuasion.com/ persuasion. He runs public and private seminars and offers home study courses and coaching programs in http://www.maxpersuasion.com/ persuasion techniques.
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