I received an email last week from someone who said that I was naïve not to believe that the only thing customers care about is price. Of course, there are those that only care about price. If you do a survey at Wal-Mart, I’m sure most people will focus on price. However, if you do the same survey in Neiman Marcus, I doubt the primary concern is price.

Studies have found that about 27 percent of consumers only care about price. On the other end of the spectrum 17 percent only want the best; in essence they don’t care about price at all. However, the majority, or 56 percent of the people, will buy based on price or value. They buy based on price when the value is the same or they can’t differentiate the value. This means it up to the seller to explain the value proposition.

More: Of Course It’s About the Money

My favorite definition of client is “someone under the protection of.”  It’s powerful, because it changes the paradigm in an industry that is too often antagonistic. If you think this approach is too consumer focused, consider the following:

How long would you keep your attorney if you didn’t think he was protecting you?  How about your financial planner?  How about your CPA? How about your doctor?  So why should someone keep his contractor if he doesn’t believe the contractor is protecting him?

More: Protect the Client