What is "Price Transparency," really?
I hear it referenced often enough, usually when it comes to whether or not to display prices on your photography website. I’ve also heard references to companies such as Everlane where they have a radical transparency strategy as an example of baring it all in service to your customers, so that they can be assured there are no hidden costs.
When I see the argument for being transparent with pricing, it’s in the context of showing your full pricing menu on your website, publicly and for all clients to access (as opposed to having them inquire and be sent to a password-protected pricing page or be emailed a pricing pdf). I’ve struggled with the use of the word ‘transparency’ in this case and I will try to explain why.
When I visit the Everlane website, they do indeed have a Radical Transparency promise. They even trademarked the term. From their website:
“OUR PRICES
Radically Transparent.
We believe our customers have a right to know how much their clothes cost to make. We reveal the true costs behind all of our products—from materials to labor to transportation—then offer them to you, minus the traditional retail markup.”
My biggest issue with the photography industry and transparency is this: Photographers advocate for putting all prices on display for clients, but are they truly transparent with what their price values consist of?
We all can put a price on our website, but what is that price? If we say transparency is how Everlane sees it - “the true cost from materials, to labour, to transportation,” can you tell me as a photographer with 100% honesty that you have done this work and it’s reflected in the price?
Transparency isn’t just displaying a number (because you could put anything there - true or untrue), but breaking that number down. Do your numbers account for your time, your materials, your transportation, your skill and talent as a service provider?
Especially in the world of photography, many determine their price not on their own business and personal factors - doing a cost of business set of calculations, but based on how they feel about their work (usually low because of imposter syndrome) or based on what others are charging in their area. Or, they run their numbers, frighten themselves to death with the numbers they’re seeing, and charge less because they feel doubt to ever ask for the price they need.
The truth is that many photographers are NOT TRANSPARENT WITH THEMSELVES in order to place that information honesty and authentically on display.
I find that transparency seems to be correlated with the term ‘affordable’ in our circles. It’s much more magnanimous to say you want to be affordable to people than tell them you’re scared to bits to ask for your correct price because it feels high. I understand this position, but if we aim to be in business we need to be able to afford to keep our doors open. In this same way, the term transparency could indeed also be a disguise - when the numbers are all on the website, the photographer isn’t confronted with trying to sell and is relying on the numbers to do that. Avoiding a pricing conversation is like sticking our business heads in the sand while negotiating one of the most critical aspects of being successful. And if they aren’t displaying a price that even truly accounts for all their costs, then the transparency becomes actually misleading, which is the opposite of what is trying to be accomplished with transparency.
The goal is to know your numbers, understand them, get comfortable with them and then find ways to attain them, so that you can serve your clients at the highest level and that they are rewarded with beautiful imagery and that you are rewarded with monetary compensation. We should be able to stand behind our numbers, state them confidently. The same feelings and energy we have in taking an amazing image should be imbued in our entire sales process.
Can you imagine a sales rep talking you up on the benefits of some amazing products, leading you through options and giving testimonials from others, and then when you ask about price, handing you a flyer and disappearing? This would be what we consider transparency - but we’re taking ourselves out of that conversation. Showing numbers, but hiding ourselves to prevent the discomfort of that conversation. It’s harmful to your business to run when the client needs you the most - because the price is usually the final conversation before booking. Choking here can have a big impact on your bottom line. And as a photographer and business owner, you can’t choose to be with your clients when dealing with the great parts - the photography, but then abandoning them in the other parts. You’ve gotta stay the line in ALL of it.
Before you are transparent on your website about pricing, challenge yourself as to whether that price actually takes all of your costs to produce your work into account. Truly and deeply. Then, you can be proud to herald that price, showing clients the true costs that photographers have in their service.
By the way, Everlane was accused of having their transparency exposed as a sham. While the concept can be a sound strategy, the failure was in execution. So tell me, are you radically transparent with yourself when it comes to what your true costs are to run the business? If you can tell me an unequivocal YES, then I’ll have no issue with those prices displayed on your site.
What’s an alternative to displaying all of your numbers in the name of transparency? Try writing a commitment of excellence, which instead of just listing numbers, has you promising that that for the financial investment you ask for, you commit to the highest level of service and integrity in conducting business. This approach goes well beyond a price sheet and speaks to your dedication to the client experience as a positive and high value one, while maintaining a sustainable income for your business. Want more food for thought on price reveal on your website? Click here to learn who the prices on your website are really for.
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